A Wonderful Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 2)

He shook his head and put the phone in his pocket. He was going to have to have a talk with her about it. When he was here, he had to work. She couldn't be messaging him and expecting phone calls while he was working.

But that was a talk for later. He was late for his meeting. He'd been in meetings non-stop since landing and had barely even had time to go to the bathroom. Everyone was trying to get caught up while he was in the office. He was planning on calling her later tonight once the meetings were wrapped up.

But, all in all, things were going well now that the was back in California. He glanced around his office and smiled. It was good to be home.

Chapter 32

Ethan

Ethan walked onto the elevator to the parking garage in a daze. He couldn't remember the last meeting that had gone on that long. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week. Unfortunately, he was going to get about five hours before he had to come back and go back to work.

There were going to be more meetings tomorrow that were just as important as the ones today. The new R&D department was causing issues with investors, and he had to make sure everything worked out. It was stressful, but that was his job. He was good at this. He knew he would make it work, but it would mean a lot of hours in the office for the next few days.

He was seriously just considering sleeping at his desk. He felt like he might actually get more rest. He sighed and stepped out of the elevator and into the parking garage. It would be good to go home. He could call Laura from the comfort of his car on the drive home. He was already looking forward to it.

Ethan waved to Bruce in the security office. Bruce and another security team member waved back before going back to their discussion. Ethan rolled his shoulders trying to get the kink out and headed out the heavy door separating the building from the garage. It was a quick walk from there to his personal parking space.

He checked to make sure he had his keys with him. He had left his Corvette in his work parking spot when he left for Colorado. It was a secured lot with cameras, so he knew it would be as safe here as it would be in his garage at home.

Except, when he got to the car, he found out it wasn't as safe as he thought.

Ethan let out a loud expletive that echoed through the empty parking garage.

Deep gouges ripped across the glossy blue paint like deadly wounds. All four tires were flat, and eggs decorated the windows. Ethan's mouth opened in horror as he walked around his beloved vehicle. Not only was the paint job ruined, but whoever had done this had also scratched up the windows and windshield. It wasn't just vandalized. It wasn't safe to drive.

He noticed a piece of paper taped to the driver's side door. It looked like a typical 8x10 white piece of office paper with something printed in black and white. Being careful not to touch anything he got close enough to see it was a picture of him with big X's across his eyes.

He stepped back so fast he nearly fell over. Whoever did this wanted him dead. The message was clear and easy to understand. This wasn't just someone keying a car and slashing tires because they were mad at his business practices. Someone was mad at him.

He fumbled for his phone and quickly dialed Bruce.

“My car's been keyed,” he said as soon as Bruce answered. His voice was calm despite the fact that his heart was pounding in his chest. “Can you pull up the footage?”

“What? Of course,” Bruce replied. Ethan could hear keys tapping in the background and then a long pause. “You're never going to believe this.”

“What?” Ethan's eyes closed. There was nothing good that was going to come out of Bruce's mouth.

“It's gone,” Bruce said, sounding shocked. “The security footage is gone. It's been deleted.”

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose.

This was bad.

“Bruce, I'm going to need you to call the police. There's more than just my paint job messed up,” Ethan told him. “There's a threat on my life.”

“Get out of the garage and get up here,” Bruce ordered. His voice had gone dark and dangerous. “And don't hang up until I'm with you.”

“Of course,” Ethan agreed. He turned on his heel and went straight to the heavy door leading inside.

He'd barely pulled it open and taken three steps inside when Bruce met him. The man's face looked like a thunderstorm, and he had four of the biggest, meanest-looking security personnel behind him. Bruce motioned the four to keep going.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked, his eyes going up and down Ethan, checking for any injuries.

“I'm fine.” Ethan waved him off and put his phone back in his pocket. “I thought we had new cameras after what happened with Carter?”

Ethan shuddered. Two years ago, Carter's car had blown up in this very garage. A creepy picture and a keyed paint job were infinitely less scary than that.

“We did. They're all gone,” Bruce replied. “Someone knew the system. It has to be an inside job or someone who knows our systems.”