Chapter 14

14

LUKA

W here the fuck is my phone? I pull open some of the drawers on my desk. I never put it there, but where the hell else could it be? I know I brought it along. I checked it around lunch, wondering where June was.

She's been eating lunch with me every day this week. As disappointed as I was that she didn't come down today, I knew I had no leg to stand on to text and demand she come. I debated going up, but I decided not to. She's been so excited about Paisley and her brother coming; I'm sure she is getting prepared for their visit.

I powered through lunch, and now I'm done with my work for today. The project is pretty much complete. Testing still needs to be done, but my part in it is nearing its end. They can handle that themselves. If they need something, they'll have to figure it out. I've given and sacrificed all I'm worth. I've noticed the gradual fading of the light in June. This is wearing her down.

"Dana." I hit the call button. "Have you seen my fucking phone?"

"You left it out here, sir. Can I bring it in?"

That doesn't make fucking sense. I've never left my phone anywhere that wasn't in my reach. "I'll come and get it," I respond.

I can't help but try to retrace my steps today. There is no way I left my phone out there. I'm sure I had it around lunch. There was only one time that I left my office: when I'd gone upstairs to one of the boardrooms to meet with Yanetti. I know I didn't take it with me. He was only here to drop something off. I wanted to collect it myself.

I pull up security footage and scroll back to when I left my office last. I watch myself exit and step onto the elevator. The second the door closes, Dana stands from her desk, going into my office. I grit my teeth. I informed Dana that she was no longer welcome in my office. I wanted to fire her, but I told June I wouldn't.

There is no way for me to see what she did in my office. I don't have a camera in there. This is especially important given the nature of my work. It's even more critical considering June joins me for lunch. That normally ends with me eating her.

A few seconds later, I see Dana exiting my office. My phone is in her hand.

"The fuck!" I bark, pushing back from my desk. There's no reason for her to have my phone. I hit the other call button on my desk.

"Sir?" Owen says, answering.

"I need you down here. I'm firing Dana, and I want you present." I don't trust the bitch now. I should have pushed to fire her. If she made June feel a certain way, that said it all.

"I'm in my office. I'll be right there."

Owen's office is only a few doors down. It's where he spends his days when he isn't with June or me. When I exit my office, Owen is walking up.

"Get your shit together. You're fired."

"What?" Dana's eyes go wide.

"You heard me." I grab my phone off her desk.

"But—"

"Don't." I cut her off. "You'll only make this worse. I'm already toying with the idea of making sure no one else will hire you, but I'm not sure June would be happy about that."

"June?" Dana hisses. Her expression is morphing into one of disgust. I didn't know her face could move. This is the most expressive I have ever seen from her. She normally has a stoic, icy demeanor. "I don't understand what you see in her."

"She's everything that you are not." I glance at Owen. "I want her gone. Send someone to collect her things."

"My bag." Dana jerks open one of her drawers. Owen grabs her purse before she can, looking through it before handing it over to her. She snatches it back.

"It's been years, I can't believe you're choosing her."

"I didn't have to pick." I grit my teeth, trying to control my anger. I'm not quick to rage, but Dana has been trying to get between June and me. June is the one person or thing I simply can't live without. If not for June, I would have said fuck this whole project a few weeks ago. She would tell me to finish, even if it came down to her detriment, and I believe it has.

Owen leads Dana to the elevator, escorting her out. I unlock my phone for the first time, realizing how late it is. I'd set an alarm for six so that I wouldn't be late.

"Fucking hell." I rush upstairs as fast as I can. I click through my phone and see that June texted and called me. I want to snap Dana's neck. It's not until I see another alert that I fucking lose it. "No."

I burst into the penthouse. I'm in a full panic, searching for June, knowing that she's not here. The alert on my phone indicated that she left the building two hours earlier. She is on a plane, and I know where it's going and that her brother was fucking taking her. How the tables have turned. A few weeks ago, it was me trying to rescue my own sister. Unlike me, though, Jackson paid close attention to the love of his life and nipped that shit in the bud before it could happen.

All of her stuff is still here. It doesn't appear that she took anything with her. Not that she would need to. Cottonwood is home to her. I alert my pilot that we need to be wheels up as soon as possible.

An ache forms in the center of my chest. It only grows worse when I catch sight of something on her nightstand. I go around the bed to grab it, already knowing what it is.

She's pregnant. Now she will forever be mine. I wrap my hand around it.

"I'm coming for your little ass, kitten."