Page 108 of Bound Bride
"I should not have brought you."
"If you try to tell me one more time that I should be back in that hospital, we're going to fight." The corner of Ethan's mouth twitches up slightly. "I'm exactly where I want and need to?—"
He cuts himself off and the car jolts as Ethan slams on the brakes. Both his hands tighten on the steering wheel so I follow his gaze out of the car to the front gate.
They should be closed at all times unless someone is passing through, but they hang open in front of me.
Glass scatters across the road, reflecting the light of our high beams directly back at us, while three guards scramble around the gate.
A fourth lies spread out on the ground with one leg angled awkwardly away from his body.
"What the hell happened?" I'm halfway out of the car before Ethan lunges toward me and grabs my wrist.
"Boss, wait!"
"Boss!" One of the roaming guards briefly raises his rifle at the sound of my voice but he lowers it when we make eye contact and he jogs over. "Are you alright?"
"Me?" I brush off Ethan's hold with a jerk of my wrist. "What happened here?"
"Someone stole a car and ran through the gate. They hit Michael. He's unconscious but help is on the way." My guard puffs out his cheeks. "I was on rotation through the garden when I heard the commotion. The last thing Michael said before he passed out was that the car was silver and I've got people up at the garage…boss?"
Halfway through his sentence, I threw myself back into the car with Ethan. "Drive!"
Ethan wastes no time and slams his foot on the accelerator, narrowly avoiding the cluster of guards at the gate and racing up the driveway.
My heart beats wildly in my chest and a tremor enters my hands while my estate looms before me, a dark shadow clawing up into the copper sky.
Someone left in a hurry.
In such a hurry that they didn't hesitate to run over a gate guard.
Rose.
It has to be her.
"Shit." Despite Ethan's skilled driving, it's still not fast enough and I'm ready to burst out of my skin by the time we reach the house with a squeal of brakes and a skitter of gravel.
I fly out of the car and charge into the estate by slamming my shoulder into the front door.
My shoes skid slightly on the polished floor.
"Rose!"
Silence greets me. Ethan arrives at my shoulder panting and pulls up his phone, but I don't have time to study the cameras.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I race toward our bedroom and fling open the door to find the place empty.
Abandoned.
Her clothes hang in the closet and her shoes are scattered across the floor, but she isn't here.
The medical wing is empty too with no sign of Beatie, the gym is quiet and by the time I make it back downstairs to Ethan, I can barely breathe.
"Where is she?!" I roar as if Ethan someone found her in the minutes it took me to tear through the estate.
"I can't find her anywhere," Ethan replies. His thumb swipes back and forth across his phone as he checks camera after camera until he freezes and his eyes widen. "Kitchen!"
Fuck.
