Chapter 10

Igo in early to work, trying to avoid Erik, but I have no luck. He ambushes me and has a few things to say to me.

"Annette resigned! This is why you don"t get involved with people you work with. She was doing so well, and her social media campaigns were bringing tons of new people to the club. We can"t afford to lose her."

"Calm down."

"She did quality work that won"t be easy to replace."

"I"m sure you"ll find someone."

He"ll find someone, but I"m not sure what will become of me. I already miss the bright sunshine Anne brought to my day, and I wonder where she went.

"Do you have a new address for her?" I ask.

"She put in a P.O. Box." He looks at me, and his eyebrows climb. "You care about her."

"I told her about Lauren—that we can"t have a future together—that I can"t love her. She decided to leave me."

Which put a sour taste in my mouth. It hurt more than it should.

"You"re an idiot. You were happy. You were slowly opening your heart to her. It doesn"t have to be all or nothing."

"She wants more than I can give her, Erik."

"Is this about that one soulmate belief you have?"

"What of it?"

"It"s bullshit, brother. It"s an excuse to keep your heart safe from another heartache."

"I barely survived."

"You"re a different man now, Max. Besides, love means taking a chance—risking it all. Are you too much of a coward to do that?"

I grimaced. "I"ll think about it."

"The clock is ticking, my friend. I"ll send Jason over."

Erik leaves and I"m a little rattled. It is true that I"m a different man now and I have more tools at my disposal to deal with depression. I think of Anne"s beautiful smile and the way she always makes these silly jokes to get me out of my grumpy moods. She was also trying to teach me some social skills, so I"m not too rough when I talk to my employees. She keeps calling me her growly bear.

There"s a knock on my door, and Jason, my head of security, enters my office.

"Is there something you need?"

I brought out the file I have of Annette and gave it to him.

"I want you to find her. Use your hacker friend, Zane, if you have to."

Jason silently takes the folder from me and backs out of the room. Jason is the epitome of cold and unfeeling, which is one of the reasons I hired him for my security. With his military experience and special ops training, he can get any job done. The most important part is that I trust him.

It"s been two weeks, and Jason hasn"t brought me any results. I"ve snapped at him several times, but he"s unmoved and just keeps going like the freaking Terminator. I"m getting antsy. We"ve even positioned a PI at the mailbox place, in the off chance she goes to get her last paycheck. But there"s something wrong with me. I thought I had been safe and had kept my heart from getting itself attached to Anne.

But apparently, I didn"t do a good enough job. Every day is a struggle. I didn"t realize how much I depended on her glow to keep me afloat. I keep berating myself because I shouldn"t depend on anyone for my state of mind. I miss her, though. I don"t even know what I will say to her when or if Jason finds her. After all, nothing has changed. Has it?

After a long, unproductive day at work, I return to the house and sit in my living room drinking wine. Memories are everywhere around me, and they"re breaking my heart. My cell rings with an unknown caller. I normally wouldn"t answer it, but you never know.

"Hello?"

"This is Beth from Dr. Randall"s office in Mount Sinai Medical Center."

"What is it?"

"Miss Annette McKinnon put you as an emergency contact."

I stand up, hardly able to breathe.

"Is she okay?"

"I haven"t been able to reach her, so I thought I would call you."

"What is this about?"

"Well, if you see her, could you tell her the result from her procedure is back, and the doctor needs to see her? Have her please call and make an appointment with me."

"Okay, I will."

My mind is going a mile a minute. What procedure? Where is she? My phone rings again, and it"s Jason. I hurry to answer.

"What do you have for me?"

"I went back to the beginning and found out that Annette is friends with Keith"s girlfriend, Julie. They worked together in the magazine that Keith and Julie work on now. I"ve been trying to contact her, but she won"t take my calls. I"m going to send you the number. Maybe you"ll have better luck getting through."

"Thanks, man."

I dialed the number Jason gave me, and a woman answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Julie, this is Max Lewis from Midnight Heat."

"Oh, do you want to talk to Keith?"

"No. I want to speak to Anne, but I know you won"t connect us. Tell her the hospital messaged her that her results are back, and she needs to make an appointment."

"Sure, I can give her that message."

"Is she okay? There"s nothing life-threatening happening?"

"No, nothing like that. She"ll be okay."

"Can you tell her I"m sorry?"

"About what?"

"Everything."

"Will do." She says and hangs up.

"Thank you."

I hang up and realize that not even knowing where Anne is now can get me out of my funk. I need to see her. I need to be with her. As Erik said, I"m not only an idiot; I"m a jerk for treating Anne like I did.

I send a quick message to Keith and book a flight to New York. I need to bring my girl back home.