Yours Completely (Billionaires and Brides 1)

The messages had come all night. From her phone. There wasn't anyone else who could have sent them. The woman of his dreams was just that. In his dreams. It was over.

The lobby was empty. Most of the guests from the wedding were either already checked out, or still sleeping. It was far more peaceful now than the first time he had seen it. Without the celebrities, their entourages, and mass amounts of security, the place was calm and welcoming. He could see himself coming back to visit if it was like this.

“Sir?”

He wanted to see her one last time, to smell her hair and feel her pressed against him. He wanted the text messages to be a figment of his imagination. He wanted her to walk into the lobby and fall into his arms, telling him that not a single one of the messages real.

“Just a minute more,” Jace told his driver. “The plane will wait.”

Just a few more minutes, he thought. He checked his phone and his watch again, hoping that time had slowed. As much as the plane would wait, his business would not. He couldn't stay here forever. This isn't how he wanted to end things with her.

“Sir? Are you ready?” The driver stepped forward, ready to usher him to the waiting car.

Jace didn't see her anywhere. Maybe she was waiting for him to come somewhere else? Somewhere private?

“I'll be right back,” he told the driver as he headed to the front door. Jace's steps were fast and sure as he hurried along the path to the gazebo.

His polished leather shoes squished gently on the dewy ground as he ran up the dirt path to the small gazebo. His thoughts were on their conversation there, the way the sunlight had sparkled in her hair....

But the structure was empty. Somewhere, a lonely bird called out across the water.

The barn. She had to be at the barn. If she wasn't at the gazebo, she would be at the barn. He smiled, turning quickly and heading back down the path. He could just see her smile in his mind's eye as he walked in and found her grooming one of the white horses. She'd be so pleased.

But the barn was empty except for the two horses.

Commander popped his head up over the stall door and huffed a hello. Jace walked over and patted the gentle giant's nose. The grooming tools were all neatly stacked away and the stable was clean, but there was no sign of Ella.

His heart sank and he felt like he might fall to his knees. For the first time since he was a child, Jace felt like crying.

She was gone. The woman he had fallen in love with was gone. She had meant her messages and there was nothing he could do to change that. If she wasn't here or at the gazebo, then she didn't want him to find her.

Anger bubbled up in his chest. If she couldn't do the right thing and just say goodbye in person like a grownup, then he was better off without her. What she was doing was rude. He didn't deserve to be treated like this. He was Xavier Connor, CEO of Connor Conglomerate and worth more than a billion dollars. If she was going to throw his feelings away so callously, then he didn't need her.

He would leave and never come back.

It was what his father would do, and for the first time in his life, his father's decisions made sense.

Love did nothing but cause heartache. That's what his father always said, and he was right. Crying and moping over something as simple as a three day fling would accomplish nothing. Instead, Jace squared his shoulders, promised himself that his heart wouldn't hurt so much in a few days, and headed out to the car to go to the airport.

As the car pulled away, he looked sadly at the inn.

Ella...

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ella pounded on the cellar door. Her hands ached from the repeated blows on the door that clearly wasn't moving. She'd tried screaming, but she knew that no one would hear her. Just last week, one of the kitchen staff had been stuck in here for hours before someone came to look for her.

Except no one was coming to look for Ella. The only person who would notice she was missing was probably on a plane back to his real life already.

She couldn't believe Delores would do this to her.

A sob choked Ella's throat and made it hard to breathe. Her knees buckled as she checked her watch and knew he was gone. She had wanted to say goodbye. She had wanted to see him one more time, to tell him how she felt and that she couldn't wait to see him again.

But now she couldn't.

She tried banging on a different wall, but the sturdy ancient cellar walls absorbed everything. She was trapped and had no way to tell Jace goodbye. No way to tell him that he was all she thought about all night.

Despite spending the night trapped down here, she had hoped she'd figure out a way to escape by now. This was her last chance to see him. She could only imagine the things Delores had told him about her with her trapped.