Page 39 of Undefeated Love
“Kat. Don’t leave me again. I love you.” Alex’s voice carried over the excited wedding party.
Katlin leaned in and kissed her brother’s cheek. “I love you, big brother. I’ve got to go, now.”
She turned, lifted her dress, and ran down the hallway toward the parlor where she’d met with the Ladies of Black Swan less than half an hour ago. She slipped out the back door and crossed the limousine parking area.
Yes. Bobby had turned around, and the car was running.
She opened the back car door and heard Nita calling her name. Turning, she saw her sister-in-law standing in the door to the house. Katlin waved and blew her a kiss.
Nita’s eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped.
When she turned to crawl into the car, she realized that she’d lowered her flowers for the first time since picking them up.
Oh, shit.
CHAPTER17
Three WeeksLater
Katlin Gone Almost Two Months
Alex smiled as the Guardian Security CFO strode into the Washington Center. Maybe he knew where Katlin was or could at least help to get in touch with her.
“Barry, what brings you to D.C.?”
“You.” He glanced around. “And Top Cooper.” Barry Howell had been Katlin’s and Alex’s friend since high school. Once he received his law degree, he became Katlin’s personal attorney and later the lawyer for Guardian Security as well as their chief financial officer.
Alex immediately jumped to the conclusion that Barry was there in that capacity. “Are we in trouble? Which office fucked up this time?”
“That’s not why I’m here.” The head of their corporate finance glanced around. “I need a conference room and a few minutes. I’ll start with Top Cooper. When I finish with him, I’ll need to see you.” His tone was very terse, totally unlike the warm friendly man he usually dealt with.
“Barry, you’re scaring me,” Alex admitted.
His high school friend met his eyes. “I’m just doing my job. Don’t shoot the messenger. My wife would really hate that.”
A thousand terrible things ran through Alex’s mind, most of them dealing with Katlin. When she had her TBI, Alex had learned that he had her power of attorney. Had something terrible happened to her? She’d disappeared so quickly after the wedding. Was she sick? Had there been an accident? “Is she…” He couldn’t say the word. He swallowed hard and tried again. “Is she…”
“Oh, fuck.” Barry laid his hand on Alex’s forearm. “As far as I know, Katlin is fine. That’s not what this is about.” Under his breath he added, “Not exactly.” Removing his hand, Barry squared his shoulders and scanned the busy security office. “If you can spare a conference room for a little while, you’re going to appreciate the privacy. I’m quite sure you don’t want anybody else to know about this until you’re ready to tell them.”
More confused than ever, Alex showed Barry to the large conference room often used for training. “You can set up in here. Text me when you’re ready for Top and me.”
As soon as the corporate attorney entered the room, Alex closed the door behind him and flipped the hall sign to Occupied. He then went in search of Top Cooper.
Ten minutes later, his phone buzzed with the text.
I’m ready.
Alex assumed that meant he was ready for both of them.
In true lawyer fashion, Barry had taken the head of the large oval table and covered it with stacks of paper. He looked surprised when they both walked in without knocking.
Alex didn’t care. It was his company, at least half of it was. This was his office. He took the chair on one side of Barry and Top took the one on the other side.
“What the hell is this all about?” Top Cooper thundered in his best Marine Corps voice.
“Okay, I’ll start with you.” Barry picked up a pile. “Top, can I have a dollar, please?”
The salty Marine rolled onto his hip in the large comfortable conference chair and dug out his wallet. “If you want something to drink, I can just have someone send you in a soda. You don’t need to pay for it. We have a whole refrigerator full of them.”
