“Sorry. I’m going to be working late today. Do you want to come here after class, or are you going to the condo?”
“I’m going to hang out with Kelly.”
“Okay. Remember, don’t ditch your new guard.”
“I’m not. Relax, Landon.” I hear the aggravation on the other end of the line, and I feel like an asshole.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” She ends the call, and I hate that the honeymoon’s over too. I promised it wouldn’t be, but we’ve been back two weeks and that’s precisely what it’s been.
“Hey, what’s up, Landon,” Danny asks, taking a seat in front of my desk. “You look like shit.”
“She’s miserable.”
“Miserable? Already?”
“I guess. I don’t know what’s wrong. Maybe the thrill is gone, but she’s short with me all the time now.”
“She’s pregnant, and you’re a bit overprotective.”
“And you think I should just stop being concerned?”
“No, not at all, but I saw you ask her if she was okay three times in ten minutes yesterday. It was a bit much for me.”
“Damn it. I don’t know how to fix it. She’s so upset that I feel the need to ask. When she was happy, I didn’t ask, but when she looks so upset or sounds different, I begin to panic. I can’t lose her.”
“Just give her some breathing room.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“Well, you have the trip to L.A. that you have to go to. You could leave her here with her guards and handle it. Maybe she’ll feel less overwhelmed and actually miss you more.”
“Fuck, I don’t know if I could leave her overnight.”
“It’s a day-and-a-half trip. I’ll be here, and so will James. It’s not like we can’t check up on her if you want.”
“I guess that’s for the best. I was going to just take her with me, but since I never mentioned the trip, it won’t be a big deal.”
“Well, let me know if you need anything. I’ll be handling the Greenberg install half the day tomorrow, but I’m available if you need me.”
“Of course.”
When I finally head home, I begin to pack for the trip. “What’s going on?” she asks.
“I forgot to mention, but I have a business trip to L.A. I have to leave first thing in the morning. I should be back on Wednesday.”
“Oh, okay. Well, that’s good because Kelly wants to hang out.” She walks out of the bedroom without another word, and I head into my office to make the flight arrangements. I feel like I’m making the wrong decision, but when I get back to our bedroom, Lara’s asleep in our bed.
****
The whole trip is a total bust. Lara hasn’t answered her fucking phone all day, but the tracker says she’s at home. Her security says she hasn’t left the condo, but I feel like something’s wrong. She was supposed to meet with Kelly.
I call Danny after my meeting. “I need you to check on Lara. I haven’t heard from her all day, and her security said that she’s in the condo. I have a bad fucking feeling.”
“Okay. I will check.”
Twenty minutes later, his number comes up on my phone and my heart sinks in my chest. “She’s missing.”
“What?” I roar.
“Her rings and phone are here. Her security doesn’t know when or how she left, but she’s gone. I don’t know where she went. I’ve called Kelly, but her ass gave me the runaround. I told her it’s fucking serious.”
“I’ll be up in the air in half an hour. Find out where she went.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lara
My head throbs, and the cut on my head stings. I look through hazy eyes and see that bitch and know that I’m going to end up dead if I don’t find a way out of here. How in the world did they get a hold of me? I press my hand to my head and feel the bareness there. My rings are gone. “Son of a bitch.”
“He has no way of knowing where you are,” my old bodyguard tells me, laughing hysterically.
“Why are you doing this?”
“He deserves someone better than you.” His secretary glares at me with venom practically dripping from her lips as she spits out her words with her fist clenched at her sides in rage.
“Better than me? What makes me so terrible for him? I’m wealthy, smart, young, pretty, and I love him.”
“Love him? He’s been miserable for weeks now.” Has he really been upset? I know I’ve been moody, but my mom told me it would pass in time. I hoped to talk to Landon about it, but then he had his impromptu trip. “It’s no wonder he didn’t tell you about the trip that’s been on his calendar for months.”
“Months?”
“Yes. You stupid girl. He probably went to relieve some tension with the Hollywood actress that he went to work for. They can look really sexy at those events, and with you being all pregnant and frumpy, he can’t pass up a hot opportunity.” That’s why he didn’t want me to go? He went to guard an actress personally.