Page 43 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
I look around. Of course, a few of the guards came out with me, so it makes sense that this place would feel a little less busy than normal.
But the feeling that something is off is heavy on my chest.
“Maya?”
I stride into the apartment, the silence immediately putting me on edge. She’s probably in bed—the pregnancy has been exhausting her—but I need to see her.
I won’t be able to close my eyes tonight until I know she’s safe. Not after letting Kyra slip through my fingers. Rage still boils in my blood, aimed entirely at myself. I should have been faster. I should have shot the tires out on that getaway car before Artem’s men disappeared with her. All I could do was secure Iris and send my men to tail the vehicle.
God only knows what they are putting Kyra through right now. She has no idea what kind of monsters my brother employs.
I push open Maya’s bedroom door.
Silence.
I scan the dark room, looking for her shape beneath the covers. Nothing. My stomach drops. I step forward, a floorboard creaking beneath my boot. No stir. No shift in the sheets.
The bed is completely empty.
“Maya?”
I yell for her as I tear off the covers, check the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, even the hallway outside—anywhere she might have snuck off to, trying to help, trying to find a little freedom.
Fuck, I should have accepted her help when she had offered it, so she wouldn’t take matters into her own hands and try to get involved herself. I can see that now.
And now, she’s gone. I run my hands through my hair in silent desperation as I walk around the apartment again, searching every room in turn like she might suddenly just emerge from the bathroom with a frown on her face asking me what all the fuss is about. But she’s not here.
I don’t know where the fuck she is, but she’s not here.
Just then, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I snatch it up at once without checking who is calling me, praying to God that I’m about to hear her voice come down the line.
“Hello?”
“Anton,” my brother’s voice greets me. Sickness stabs into my guts, and I grit my teeth.
“What the hell do you want?” I snarl back.
“That’s no way to speak to your brother,” he replies, almost sounding amused by my desperation. That only serves to deepen my rage.
“Cut the bullshit,” I snap back. “Why are you calling me?”
“Because I think I have something that belongs to you.”
“What have you done?—”
“You paid good money for her, after all,” he reasons, not bothering to hear me out. “If I were you, I’d do anything I could to get her back. Get my money’s worth out of her, eh?”
I can’t fucking stand it, hearing him talk about her like that.
“Give her back to me, Artem,” I tell him, doing my best to keep my voice steady, though all I want is to launch myself through the phone at him right now.
“Ah, so you do know who I’m talking about,” he adds, and I can hear the grin on his face. “Thought you might. I didn’t know you were the kind of man to pay for such a thing, I have to admit. When my men told me that you were the buyer who had put down a million for her, I knew that he had to be somethingspecial. You think Dad would be pleased with how you’re spending his money?”
I clench my fist at my side. “I would never pay for a woman,” I retort furiously. “I was getting her out of there. Making sure that another one of your sick little buyers didn’t get their hands on her-”
“You can make all the excuses you want, I know you wanted her for more than just that.”
I close my eyes for a moment. I hate to admit it, but a part of him is right.
