Chapter 266.

He sent another message.

Christain: Blue, call me.

Then another.

Christain: I’m serious. Call me now.

He watched the messages sit on the screen. There was no reply.

What if something had happened?

The thought arrived so abruptly that he stopped walking.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe properly.

His phone rang.

Christian snatched it up so quickly that he nearly dropped it.

Adrian.

He answered immediately. "What?"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Christian?"

"What happened?"

"Listen to me."

Something in Adrian’s voice made Christian stop pacing.

Adrian rarely sounded uncertain. Even when things went wrong, he had a way of speaking that suggested he had already begun working through the problem.

This was different.

His voice was controlled, but Christian could hear the strain beneath it.

"What happened?" Christian repeated.

"It’s Mrs. Hayes."

Christian’s stomach tightened. "Emilia’s mother?"

"Yes."

"What about her?"

"We believe Dante went to her apartment."

Christian’s grip tightened around the phone. "What do you mean, you believe he went to her apartment?"

"One of my men traced a lead to Mrs. Hayes’s building. Dante was seen there earlier, but we lost his signal befire he left. A signal only came up an hour after he left. We’ve been trying to reach Selena, and no one can get through to her."

Christian’s expression changed.

"We’re checking the building and the surrounding streets. I’ve instructed my people to contact the authorities if we can’t establish her whereabouts."

Christian pressed his free hand against the kitchen counter.

For a second, he saw the situation as Adrian must have seen it: a woman who had been going about her life, a man with a history of violence and manipulation, an unanswered phone, a location that had suddenly become important.

A trail that had gone cold.

"Does Emilia know?"

"She was with me when I received the message. She showed me a text from her mother saying she was travelling to Florida tomorrow. She’d called her twice without getting through."

Christian closed his eyes briefly. "Jesus."

"We have a lead on Dante’s location. We lost the signal, but we’re working to narrow it down. I wanted you to know in case we need your help."

"Of course you’ll have my help."

Adrian wasn’t simply worried about a missing woman. He was thinking about Emilia.

Christian understood that kind of fear.

He swallowed. "Keep me updated."

"I will."

"And if you need resources, anything at all, call me. I don’t care what it costs."

"I know, Christian."

There was another brief silence.

Then Adrian asked, "Is everything all right with you?"

Christian stared at the front door.

For a moment, he couldn’t answer.

He looked down at the phone in his hand. At the unanswered messages, and at the call log filled with attempts to reach Kylie.

He heard his own breathing.

"Christian?" Adrian prompted.

Christian drew a breath.b"Kylie went out."

"All right."

"She went to get something from the store."

"Okay."

"That was an hour ago."

Adrian didn’t speak.

Christian looked at the clock again. He couldn’t stop looking at it. "She hasn’t come back," he continued. "Her phone isn’t connecting."

"I’ve sent messages. Nothing."

"Maybe her battery—"

"Don’t."

The word came out harshly.

Christian shut his eyes. "I’m sorry."

"It’s fine."

"No, it isn’t." Christian pressed his fingers against his forehead. "I’m standing here trying to tell myself her phone died, and I can’t make myself believe it."

Adrian was quiet for a moment. "Have you spoken to your security team?"

"They’re checking the street and the store. One of them saw her leave, but nobody followed her because I was home."

He heard how it sounded. He heard the implication.

He had been home, his men had been outside, and Kylie had walked away without anyone watching her.

He had spent so much time trying to make sure she never felt trapped by his money, his security, or his need to protect her that he had failed to consider how quickly an ordinary trip could become something else.

"Christian," Adrian said, his voice sharper now. "Listen to me. Don’t assume the worst before we have information."

Christian looked toward Kylie’s bedroom.

The door was still open. He could see the corner of her bed from where he stood.

He had never been afraid of admitting that he cared about her. He had never tried to pretend that she meant less to him than she did.

"She doesn’t just disappear," Christian said. "She would have called me if something had changed."

Adrian’s voice softened slightly. "Then we’ll find her."

Christian stared at the floor.

He wanted to believe him. He needed to believe him. But the silence in the apartment was beginning to feel like a warning.

He looked at Kylie’s bedroom again, and suddenly he couldn’t stand the sight of it.

Christian lowered the phone and stared at it.

His hand began to shake. He tightened his grip around the device until the tremor became less obvious.

"Christian?" Adrian said.

Christian had forgotten the call was still connected.

He lifted the phone to his ear. "I’m here."

"Tell me exactly when she left."

"About an hour ago. I was on a call with my mother. She went out to buy gummies."

"Gummies?"

"Yes."

The word sounded absurd in the circumstances.

Christian swallowed. "She said she was going to the store. I didn’t ask her to wait. I didn’t think—"

He stopped.

He didn’t know what he was trying to say. That he hadn’t thought something could happen to her?

That he had assumed the street was safe because it was familiar?

That he had been too occupied with his own family to notice that she had been gone too long?

Adrian interrupted gently.

"Christian, I need you to focus. Did she tell anyone where she was going?"

"No."

"Did she take her phone?"

"Yes. She’s not answering it."

"Get your men to check the store," Adrian said. "I’ll send someone to help with the surrounding area. We’ll look for cameras, witnesses, anything that tells us which direction she went."

"I’ve already sent my team."

"Good. Keep them moving, but make sure someone stays available to coordinate."

Christian was already reaching for his keys.

On the other end of the line, Adrian went silent.

Christian ended the call. He stood at the door for half a second, then turned back into the apartment.

"I’ll find you, Blue."