Fuck this place. No one was going to tell me how to run my life—a life I suddenly realized I never wanted to leave. And that epiphany hadn’t come from the bottom of a prescription bottle or inside those walls. It had come in the shape of a gorgeous man who’d saved me with nothing more than a quick wit and a simple conversation. And he was sitting only yards away in a parking lot because his name was on a magical fucking list.
I dropped the phone from my ear and pushed the conference room door open, then the hallway door, and finally, the front door of the entire building. I didn’t stop until my high heels hit the asphalt of the parking lot.
Voices called my name behind me, but they were all muted by my newfound determination.
My feet kept moving in search of a pair of golden eyes that I soon realized were nowhere to be found. As I came up empty, nerves didn’t take over. I didn’t have a million thoughts of guilt and worry. I was no longer allowing the free fall to dictate my life.
I squared my shoulders and smiled proudly, feeling like myself for the first time in months.
“Levee!” Doctor Post called, but I quickly slipped behind a car, squatting low until the voices disappeared.
I wasn’t going back, not even to explain that I wasn’t going back. I wasn’t in the mood for an argument. I was in the mood to start living.
Without my phone, I couldn’t call Sam, but there was only one place I needed to go. So I started down the sidewalk and hailed a cab.
He’d know where to find me.
AFTER ALMOST THREE hours of chugging coffee, smoking cigarettes, and talking myself off the ledge of rage, I decided to head back and see if I could charm my way in to see Levee. As I pulled into a parking spot, I was thrilled to see a familiar face. Carter, the barrel-chested bodyguard who had driven me home from Levee’s house after our fight the first night together, was standing out front, barking into a phone. I threw my car in park then jogged up to him. Maybe he could get me inside.
His eyes grew wide as I approached. Using his hand to cover the phone, he asked, “She’s not with you?”
“Levee? No. They won’t let me in. I was hoping—”
He lifted the phone back to his ear. “Sam just arrived, Mr. Williams. She’s not with him. We’ll keep you updated.”
Mr. Williams? Levee’s dad?
He hung up. “Come with me, Sam.” He walked toward the door.
I grabbed his arm. “What the hell is going on? Why would you think Levee was with me?”
“Follow me,” was his only reply.
The receptionist glared at me as Carter escorted me past her and into a back office. I was already a bundle of nerves, but the moment I caught sight of Henry’s hollow eyes, I realized something was terribly wrong. He stopped midpace, and hope filled his empty expression.
“Oh thank God!” He rushed in my direction and peered over my shoulder. “Where is she?”
“I have no idea.” Bile rose in my throat.
He threw his hands over his mouth and spun in place to face Devon and the Men in Black conferring in the corner. Several other people lined the walls, all looking equally as devastated by this realization.
“Someone please tell me what the fuck is going on!” I barked as my gaze flashed around the room, pleading for some answers.
But no one so much as made eye contact.
“Damn it!” Henry screamed, swiping a hand out and dramatically clearing off the desk. He pointed an angry finger at Devon. “Find. Her. Right fucking now.”
Find her.
Fuck.
Devon nodded and started to leave the room, but I caught his arm first. Someone was going to give me some answers.
“Fill me in.”
He didn’t. With furrowed brows, he snatched his arm from my grasp and headed out the door.
I approached Henry who looked like he was about to fall apart at any second, but so was I. “Talk to me. Now!” I roared, all patience gone.
“Devon put you on her banned visitors list. She lost her mind. She called me in tears and I told her to stay put, but she took off. We assumed she was with you.”
I menacingly leaned into his face. “What the fuck do you mean she took off?”