LAKE
I woke up with a satisfying grin across my lips. I stretched my arm out to Maverick’s side of the bed. I expected her to be still curled at this time on weekends. To my dismay, her side was empty.
I planned on making her a greasy breakfast for her hangover, and with how we ended last night, she deserved a good massage and a beauty treatment.
I got up from bed and went to the bathroom. I used the toilet, then brushed my teeth and washed my face. I put on some sweatpants and a tee before I picked up my phone.
“What the fuck?” I blinked my eyes repeatedly to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming. My bank notified me that I just successfully transferred five million dollars to Maverick’s account.
I didn’t care about the money. If she had asked me, I would have given her an extra million dollars. Then, another notification came from my safe.
“What the fuck is going on?” I dashed out of the room and called her name. Of course, she might be already gone. The notifications were sent four hours ago.
“OB! Huxley! I need you both now! I went downstairs, and they were exactly where I expected them to be.
“Where’s my wife?”
“I just checked the CCTV, she left with a suitcase and drove her car. Are you two okay?”
“Fuck no. She just- Fuck!” My phone almost cracked in my palm as I squeezed it hard out of anger. “Fuck!”
“What’s going on, boss? Is she in trouble?”
“I’ll call Linden.” Huxley grabbed his phone while Owen’s eyes remained on me, waiting for my explanation.
“I know something was off last night before we arrived. She was sweet and flirty, but something happened with her at the Bazz. It thought it was the Martini she drunk. Then she just wanted to sleep with me. I might have fallen asleep after that, but then she never asked to borrow my phone. She laughed, and I heard her laugh at my passcode. She must have accessed my account, but why?”
“I’ll call her number.”
“Fuck.” When it came to Maverick, sometimes I was stupid and dumb. I should have called her phone first before I called the guys.
“She’s not picking up,” Owen informed.
“Of course, she won’t. I don’t care about the money. Track her car and her phone. I want to know if she’s okay. She won’t randomly take money from me when we have a joint account. I have her a card. I’ll call her Nana.”
It took a few rings before Mrs. Bates answered.
“Lake, is that you?”
“Yes, Mrs. Bates. It’s me. Does Maverick happen to be with you? She left her phone. She called you last night, and I thought she came to see you.”
“She did not. She did not call me last night and is not here.” What the fuck is going on? She just lied to me. My mind went blank for a moment, puzzled by her actions.
“Oh, I must have heard her wrong. Can you give the phone to your nurse, please?”
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
No. Nothing is okay. “Yes. No worries.”
Her nurse, Adeline, spoke. “Mr. Winston?”
“Stay with Mrs. Bates. I’ll cover your extra hours. I will send a man to watch the house. Just keep this between us.”
I hung up the phone and left a voicemail for Maverick. “Baby, call me as soon as you get this. I’m not mad. If you need that much, I will double it. If you’re in trouble, you can call your brother. That way, I know how to handle the situation. You’re more than the money I have, Maverick. Please take care.”
Owen stared at me for seconds. “Can’t you just tell her you love her?”
“None of your fucking business.” I looked at Huxley. “What did you find out?”
“She just left the bank.”
Now, I was more confused. “She withdrew the money? I have to go to the Osmium. Track her car. Don’t spook her.”
I’d never slept that long, and I woke up midday, and now my wife could be in trouble. I didn’t have the time to change. After almost an hour, Owen pulled over at the Osmium.
I just got out of the elevator. Linden was already glaring at me. “This has become a bad habit for troubled couples. The next subsidiary I should start is Couples Counseling, or you should create an oral nanotech tracker pill.”
“Are you done?” It agitated me. And I didn’t have time for jokes.
“Whoa.” Linden was a confident and good boss who has never been taken aback. “Your wife is missing? You’re serious.”
“Look at me.” I gestured at my outfit. “I wouldn’t be here if this isn’t serious.”
“Walk me through it.” He led me to the Gunner Room, or the situation room, where his men had access to all the CCTV they could access and the body cams of their men in action.
After I told him everything I knew so far, minus the fantastic, mind-blowing sex last night, he ordered his men.
The sex was incredible. I could still feel my entire body buzzing in satisfaction. And I didn’t have a clue it was goodbye sex.
“Can you access her phone?”
“Are you insulting my capability, Mr. Winston?” asked the eyeglasses.
“Just do it, Don,” Linden said dismissively.
“Uh-huh. It just shut off,” Don said in dismay.
“What do you mean? What about her car?” I was about to tell him the plate number, but her GPS just flashed on the screen.
“It’s on the third and fourth street,” he announced.
Linden nodded and ordered the control man with a mic, “Get a team to that location.”
Linden had just finished his order when the car seemed to stop moving or the GPS went off.
“What the fuck? It looks like we’re tracking a pro.” He stared at me.
I didn’t know what to feel, either to be proud or terrified that someone might have abducted her.
“Should we proceed, boss?” the control man asked.
“Yes. I want that car found,” I was the one who answered.
“What’s going on, Winston?”
“I don’t know. I should call Terzo.”
“Yeah. She’s definitely in trouble. This is Maverick’s doing unless she’s desperate.”
I could barely breathe. I felt like I was hanging by a thread. I was pissed off and terrified, making me harder to think straight.
I dialed Terzo, but he seemed to be dialing someone that I couldn’t go through. After my fifth attempt, it finally rang and picked up.
“Why the fuck is your phone busy?”
“Why so grumpy, mama?”
I wanted to curse the hell out of Terzo, but right now, I needed his help. “Your sister is in trouble.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” He grunted. “Where is my sister, Winston? I swear if something happens to her-”
“Stop threatening me! She could be in trouble because of you and your family. She could be abducted by now, or someone threatened her. You seem to know a lot more than a billion-dollar security company, figure that out. Use your resources because this is what I am doing, and I still can’t get ahold of her. She took five million dollars from my account, and it’s not something my wife would randomly do unless someone is threatening her.”
“Fuck.”
“Are your enemies tried to get to any of you?”
“I don’t think so. My father made sure to spread the message, or he would slaughter everyone who touched his people. What about you? Who are your enemies, Winston?”
“Fuck.” My father. I clenched my jaw hard to the point it ached.
After I told Linden to call me for updates, I left Osmium and went directly to Winston Tower.
My father looked shocked to see me in my sweatpants, and he was not in a suit and tie. “Why are you here?”
“Why are you here on weekends?” I asked back.
“I was about to leave.” He stood up.
“I want to ask you something, and I need your honest answer, Dad.”
“Of course,” he replied calmly, too calm for his own good.
“Do you happen to be involved in my wife’s disappearance?”
“What do you mean, son?” He was still calm, even if he knew why I asked him. It was not a question. It was an accusation.
“Don’t tell me bullshit!” I shouted at him, which I never did before, but I was done with his fucking game. “You’ve been trying to get rid of her out of my life. What did you use to make her leave me?”
“You came here-”
“I owned this place as much as you do, father! Don’t you fucking dare talk to me about insults and threats!” I pointed a finger right at his face. “I have the right to burn it down as much as you do! Why can’t you leave me and my wife to live our lives and be happy for us? I chose her because she’s the one I want to spend my life with. I love her. If you even know what love means.”
“You’re insane to love the daughter of the most wanted criminal.”
I felt like the floor just pulled off my feet. I stared at him in horror. I didn’t have to ask the obvious. He had billions of dollars and connections to figure out that secret.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Do you think I don’t know who she is? A Siciliano. It’s not even harder to track her family tree, and Florence doesn’t need much persuasion with fifty thousand dollars before her.”
“You’re a fucking manipulative sociopath.”