Chapter 32

*Natalie*

“Are we crazy?” I ask Zane, as I walk into the man cave, narrowing my eyes and shaking my head. I toss my bag over the back of the couch onto the seat. Zane drop his keys on top of the bar and begins to work his arms out of his long wool jacket.

I walk around to the front of the couch, slipping out of my jacket and slinging it over the back, and then sit into the smooth cushiony leather and look up at Zane, “I mean, we were just there *yesterday – right?”* I ask.

Zane nods, tossing his jacket onto the bar, a dark expression on his face,

“That’s Alexander,” he says, “He moves fast.”

“That was like a freaking alternate dimension…” I shake my head, “All of her stuff was just… gone. It was like she was never there. And that girl looks *just like* Sophie; Zane, you know that’s not right…” I look at Zane, his eyes squint a bit, his jaw set; he is silent.

I continue, “She never mentioned *moving out of her place…”*

“No. She didn’t…” Zane is far away, lost in thought.

“We were in her *closet,”* I say, “and she had not a single thing packed… she didn’t have a single box…” I ponder the bizarre scenario, and my heart starts pounding, fear rising up in me…

I think about the men in black suits that followed us through the club and poured into the foyer…

And Sophie in their grip as the elevator doors closed…

There is silence between us.

“Do you think he – ”

“Don’t say it,” Zane cuts me off.

“But Zane – ”

*Did he kill her?*

"I don’t know!” he snaps. He sighs, leaning onto the bar top with one arm and looking down, “I feel responsible for whatever happened to her.”

“Yeah, well… you told us to trust you, and now look where we are,” I say, stiffly, my thoughts shifting to Zane and his ‘negotiation’ with Alexander last night…

*To just throw around that kind of money… for her…

He must have feelings for her…*

Zane looks hurt, and I continue, unable to hold back the tsunami of emotion rising up inside of me.

“One *hundred thousand dollars,* Zane?” My voice comes out in more of a cry than I intended.

He looks up at me, wincing.

“Without even *talking to me* about it first!” I feel the vicious storm whipping inside of me, and I press ahead, “For *another woman!”*

*There it is.*

Zane looks at me with softened eyes and tips his head to the side.

“Is that what this is about?” he asks. “Natalie…” Zane crosses the room to me, and slides in beside me on the couch, eyes open wide. “Men like Alexander negotiate in terms of money,” he says. He stares into my eyes, and I feel him reaching to my fingers with his, threading his fingers through mine and holding my hands firmly in his. “Its all about what’s in it for *him.* I went in offering *money* because that’s what he understands.” He squeezes my hands tighter.

There is a long pause.

*I need to know – *

“Do you have feelings for her?” My fear spills out of my mouth, laying bare between us.

*I am standing with you on the edge of a cliff…*

“I…” he pauses, looking deep into my eyes.

*Please… don’t push me off…*

He finally settles on his words, carefully treading, “…care about her…” he says slowly, keeping eye contact and nodding a bit, “…I want to protect her… but I don’t *love* her…” he says, his eyes pulling me in like magnets, “I love *you.”*

I am a mess of exposed wires, and I’m not sure if his answer reassures me.

He slides his fingers up my arms and wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest.

I relax into him, feeling him all around me – I usually feel safe here. Secure. But there is something unsettled about how I feel right now…

I tip my head up, looking at him, “but what about… attraction. Are you attracted to her?” I ask, pulling back a bit.

“Well…” he answers, considering, “There is a certain amount of attraction there… I mean… She has a nice body… She’s surprisingly curvy for how skinny she is… and she has a nice rack,” he says. I feel waves of fear rush through my body. He turns and looks down at me, his brow furrowing, shaking his head a bit, “I mean, I think her tits look kind of like yours, that’s what I thought when I first saw them…” Zane says, “but, I don’t want to be with her like I want to be with you. I am completely comfortable with you… I am completely myself…”

I think about all of the secrets Zane has kept from me as says this…

*The women, Alexander and his club, his lifetime membership…*

My mind flashes to an image of Sophie walking us through the club last night… guiding me through the back hallways…

*Sophie.*

My worry sears into my thoughts, nagging and persistent…

“Do you think she’s okay?” I ask, my brow furrowed.

Zane sighs, a worried look in his eyes.

“Should we go to the *media?”* I ask, the idea popping into my head, “If they knew *Sophia Cortez* was *missing – ”*

“The media is owned by, like *five people,* three of which I know are involved with Alexander, so even if there is a story there, if it involves Alexander, they just won’t run it… Plus, we don’t know she’s missing – necessarily,” Zane says, “We might just not know her as well as we think, and we could end up just looking like we’re crazy…” Zane says

*Maybe…*

My mind flashes to the ‘message not sent’ text from this morning.

“But, her phone is off, too…” I say, my heart beginning to pound again, in fear.

Zane sighs.

He slides from our embrace and stands and walks to the bar, leaning on it again, arms tense, deep in thought.

“We’ve gotta get back in there…” Zane muses, finally.

“Why?” I ask, slightly annoyed at the thought of him using this to go back there.

“It’s the only way we’ll find Sophie, or find out what happened to her,” he says, “Otherwise, we may never see her again.”

“You mean…” I slide out from the couch and cross over to him.

“Alexander is so fortified and networked… I’m talking police, judges, senators, representatives, the heirs of old *old* money, fucking *royalty…* If we don’t get to her, and soon, we may never see her again. And we will never know what happened.”

“But you talking to him didn’t help things… Maybe it should be *me… Alone.”*

“I’m not throwing my beautiful wife to the tigers…”

I think about going back into Alexander’s, alone, and fear shoots instantly through my body.

*I wish Zane could be there without being there…*

My mind flashes to our security cameras…

“Can’t cameras be, like, really tiny?” I ask.

“I think so…” Zane says.

“What if… like you could be right outside in the car, watching what I see on a computer screen…”

Zane pauses.

The corners of his lips twist up, “Like, a hidden camera?...”

I nod.

“And if anything happened to me, you would know what was going on, and you’d already have it on video, too.”

“We’d have to be recording it… Hmm. That could work,” He says.

*What am I thinking? How dangerous is this?*

“How would I get him to let me in after last night, though?” I ask.

“…Well…” Zane says, brainstorming, “…What if you told him that because of what I *did* last night at the club, you’re *breaking up* with me… and you want to talk to him because you want to work for him as one of his girls…”

“Oh yeah right, I’m sure he’d want *me,* mom of two…” I nod, a tight smile on my lips.

“He’d want you,” Zane says, raising his eyebrows. “Actually, last night he said something about me giving you to him to be one of his girls – “

“Wait, what?” I ask, I know I shouldn’t be flattered by this, but I feel myself beginning to smile. “You never mentioned *this,”* I say.

“We haven’t talked!” Zane says, throwing his arms up in defense.

I think about the cold coffee this morning and the cold shoulder last night.

“Okay, okay, you’re right,” I say. “But – what’s this?” I ask, smile playing on my lips.

“You know, you don’t have to sound so flattered. I thought it was actually kind of offensive.” Zane says; and then he smiles, teasing me, “but you sound a little excited about it.”

“No!...” I say, and then I tip my chin downward, “I mean… *my* man just offered some – serious – money for *another woman,* so I’m feeling a little… you know… I don’t know… *not enough?* Not enough of a woman for you… So… Maybe it feels good if Alexander think’s I’m good enough to be one of his girls…”

Zane shakes his head.

“Good enough? You’re everything. You’re my beautiful woman. You’re my Queen. You are the reason we are doing this. You. *You* are the one with the fantasy about a *woman,* right?”

I smile.

*“Right?”* He asks.

I give a tiny laugh and nod, “Um hum…” I say softly.

My smile widens.

“You are the one who wanted Sophie. You picked her. You texted her again…”

Zane cocks his head to the side.

“I am actually getting myself into all kinds of trouble on account of you,” He says, smiling.

I laugh.

“Honey… You’re totally hot,” Zane says.

I smile and laugh a bit.

“Of course Alexander wants you, you’re totally fuckable,” he says, smiling at me.

I scoff.

“You are!” Zane says. He slides his fingers around my waist, and then down to my butt, grabbing the cheeks and squeezing them. I smile as I feel his hands sliding up to my lower back, and then further up to my shoulder blades, caressing my skin.

I tip my head up and look into his gorgeous blue eyes, “Do you think he’d actually believe that I’m breaking up with you?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

“I think you can make it believable,” he says, giving me a look. “Just channel some of that energy you were throwing at me earlier,” he says.

I laugh and give him a sideways glance and then shake my head.

He rubs my arms a bit and then reaches over to the bar and grabs his phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask, twisting my head and trying to get a glance of his screen.

He has *‘spy shop’* typed into the search, the results popping up.

“There is a spy shop not to far from here,” He looks at me with those icy blue eyes with those long lashes, and smiles.

I smile back.

*This sounds insane, but intriguing.*

*And he is so fucking gorgeous, he can get me to do anything if he looks at me like that…*

“You want to go?” He asks.

I hesitate, furrowing my brow.

“The sooner the better, for Sophie’s sake, I think,” Zane says.

I nod, “We have Savannah until five…” I say. Savannah usually watches the kids at home after school until we’re done with work.

Zane grabs his keys off the bar and I walk to the couch to grab my bag and jacket. We slip into our jackets and I toss my bag over my shoulder. He offers his arm to me as I walk toward him, and I slide my arm through his as we head for the glass garage.