Page 81 of Billionaire Unexplained: Kaleb

“Believe me, it makes a lot of sense to me,” she commiserated. “Your heart is safe with him, Anna. Kaleb would never intentionally hurt you. I’ve known him for a long time, and I’ve never seen him look at another woman the way he looks at you.”

“I know he’d never intentionally hurt me,” I said in a barely audible voice, still stunned from finally putting the words to my emotions and how I felt about Kaleb.

“Everything you’ve said to me will never be revealed to anyone,” Lauren reassured me softly.

I nodded again.

For some reason, I trusted her, and I wasn’t a woman who trusted easily.

However, I usually trusted my instincts, and I could sense an inherent kindness and empathy in Lauren that I didn’t see all that often in my world.

I decided right then and there that Lauren Collier and I were definitely going to be friends.

Kaleb

Anna wasn’t home when I got there, and I’d arrived later than I expected.

I’d stopped by my mother’s home for a brief visit on the way to my place since I hadn’t seen her for a while.

I already knew that Anna hadn’t been at Mom’s ranch, and that would generally be the first place I would go to look for her.

I’d searched the house, trying not to jump to conclusions, but I still remembered what had happened to Shelby when I’d lost track of her for a very brief period of time.

Anna was a high-profile celebrity, and whoever owned that shell company was probably pissed off right now because they were no longer getting funds from her.

Her parents had been murdered in cold blood and that murderer was still on the loose.

Maybe I’d like to think she was safe here, but that wasn’t really the case.

In some ways, it would be easier to get to Anna here than in the middle of Los Angeles where there were people everywhere.

Impatiently, I ripped off my suit jacket and tie, tossing them onto the kitchen table before I left the house and headed out to the barn.

I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or more worried when I saw that Bella wasn’t in her stall.

If she wasn’t at Mom’s ranch, where in the hell did she go?

Maybe she had ridden into Crystal Fork, but she usually texted me if she was going there to see if there was anything I wanted or needed in town.

I was about to tack up my gelding to go look for her when I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my pants.

I reached for it, and all of the tension suddenly left my body as I read the message.

Anna: If you’re home, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I wanted to have lunch at the river because it’s such a beautiful day.

I gripped the phone with more force than was necessary.

“She’s fine, idiot,” I grumbled to myself as I walked to the open barn door. “She was taking in the fucking outdoors.”

My gut continued to roll, but I tried to calm my ass down as I saw Bella and Anna approaching from the direction of the river.

Rationally, it made sense that she’d go out for a ride in nice weather like this, but I wasn’t all that reasonable right now.

Christ! I’d jumped to the worst-case scenario, seeing visions of her being kidnapped or murdered in broad daylight.

I didn’t say a word to Anna as I helped her down from Bella’s back and automatically started to take off the horse’s tack.

I couldn’t say anything to her right now.

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