Page 204 of Savage Suit
“Ryan—”
I flinched at the sound of his voice. Grabbing the edge of the console for support, I straightened. “It’s over, Noah. I never want to see you again.”
Chapter Forty-One
The door to the black SUV swung open, revealing my driver, Wilbur. “We’ve arrived, sir,” he informed me as he held the door opened, allowing me to exit the car.
He handed me the case with Ryan’s laptop and the handle to a rolling trunk with everything she’d worked on.
“Thank you. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Keegan.”
I’m not sure why I bothered to show up at the presentation. I’d already canceled tomorrow’s press conference. Inside, I was broken. The past two days had been torturous. Ryan left her engagement ring but hadn’t taken her phone or her laptop. Quinn was inconsolable. Nothing I said helped her. Since the night my world fell apart, she and Logan had been at my apartment. Hoping she’d heard from Ryan, I’d called Quinn. Not an hour later, her and Logan had shown up at my door.
Had either of them known about Megan, I’m sure they would’ve turned against me too. I just couldn’t bring myself to admit such a transgression. I wasn’t attracted to Megan Buford. Once, I’d respected her savviness. In the back of my mind, something niggled at me, but I was too distraught to figure out what.
I couldn’t think beyond my worry for Ryan.
Our only method of contact with her was email, but even if she had a way to check her messages, she wasn’t. I’d sent dozens of emails and they’d all gone unanswered.
I knew why she left her devices. She didn’t want me to track her, and I definitely would have.
“Mr. Keegan,” Ms. Jovan greeted with a smile.
I responded with a simple nod, hoping against hope Ryan showed up. She had put so much time and effort into the bid. As she’d requested, I’d made all involved believe I had spoken out of anger and really had no intention of buying the House of Amage.
“The Amage brothers’ and the other executives have already arrived. You can go up right now, Mr. Keegan.”
In my adult life, I’d never felt as wretched or removed from the business at hand. Over the years, I’d gotten so accustomed to being alone, it hadn’t bothered me. Then, Ryan stormed into my life, and it had felt like a brush with heaven. Now, she’d left, hating me. Because I’d betrayed her and lied to her.
“Sir?”
Clenching my jaw, I glanced away. My emotions were ragged, naked on my face. Each time I looked in the mirror, my guilt, sorrow, and regret reflected. I didn’t want the weight of anyone else’s probing gaze.
“Thank you, Ms. Jovan,” I said, turning toward the elevator.
“Noah!”
The sound of Reid calling my name halted me. Shocked, I turned. As he closed the distance between us, he raised his hand.
“I’m so sorry Megan did what she did,” he said, low. “She was with me when I opened the email you sent to me weeks ago. I didn’t think anything of it. I never changed my email.”
“What do you want?” I asked coldly. I didn’t give a fuck why that woman exposed my secret to Ryan. It was done and she was gone. She’d been his problem, then he’d turned his back on her and she became mine.
“She should never have sent that email to Ryan.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Quinn called me a short while ago and told me that Ryan was gone. She blames me for Ryan’s disappearance. I thought Quinn hated me before, but she detests me now. She wants me to die slowly and painfully.”
“Quinn might be on to something.”
“I’m here to see if there’s anything I can do to help since the email debacle rests on my shoulders.”
“Fuck the email,” I snarled. “What about the fucking videos?” I still hadn’t found them on Ryan’s phone or laptop, though it didn’t matter. She had to have seen them since she knew what happened on the business trip.
“What videos?”
“Mr. Keegan?” Ms. Jovan called. “They are waiting for you, sir.”
“Yes, of course.” Turning, I started for the elevator, but when I heard Reid’s footsteps following in my wake, I didn’t have the energy to tell him to fuck off. At least, he refrained from talking to me on the ride up.
