CHAPTER SIXTY TWO.

CHAPTER SIXTY TWO.
Damon's Office.

"What do you mean James was kidnapped?"

Damon's voice came out sharp, disbelieving. He glared at Chris across the desk, his hands clenching into fists. Even though somewhere deep in his gut, he'd known something was wrong when he'd spoken to Alicia at the hospital—the way she'd looked at Adrian, the fear in her eyes—hearing it confirmed out loud made his blood run cold.

Chris met his glare without flinching. "That's exactly what Alicia told me last night. And you can stop with the death stare. It won't help James right now."

Damon's jaw worked, his teeth grinding together. "When?" The single word came out tight, controlled. "When did this happen?"

"She said two days ago." Chris leaned forward, his expression serious. "But she didn't give me many details. I think she was afraid to say too much. Afraid of betraying Alexandra's trust."

"Two days." Damon repeated the words slowly, like he was trying to make them make sense. His mind was racing. "Two days ago. That's—that's before the explosion happened."

"Yeah." Chris's voice was grim.

"Jesus Christ." Damon buried his face in his hands, his fingers digging into his scalp. "I knew something was wrong yesterday at the hospital. I knew it. When I didn't see James around, when Alicia got that look on her face, when Adrian stepped in to shut down the conversation—I knew."

His hands dropped, and he looked at Chris with barely contained frustration. "Why the hell didn't Alexandra say anything to me? Why didn't she—"

"Seriously?" Chris interrupted, his eyebrows raised. "You're actually asking that question right now?"

Damon gave him a sharp look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you can't just waltz back into their lives and expect to be included in everything." Chris's tone was direct but not unkind. "Boss, you're not even sure James is your son yet. You have suspicions, yeah, but you haven't confirmed it. So how can you expect Alexandra to come running to you about her missing child when she hasn't even acknowledged you as anything more than a business partner?"

"I could have helped," Damon insisted, his voice rising slightly. "I have resources. Connections. I could have—"

"She has resources and connections too." Chris challenged. "And she don't need those now. What she needs is someone who respects her boundaries while still being there for her."

Damon opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He leaned back in his chair, his expression troubled.

"You had a history with this woman," Chris continued, his voice gentler now. "A painful one. She's not over what happened five years ago—clearly. She's barely holding herself together right now. And you expect her to just forget all that pain and trust you with the most important thing in her life?"

Damon was quiet for a long moment. Then, reluctantly, "She could have at least mentioned it as a friend of James. The kid knows me. We've spent time together in the past. I thought—I thought maybe that counted for something."

"Boss." Chris sighed. "You know it's more complicated than that.”

Damon closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "I know. I know you're right. I just—I hate feeling helpless. Knowing that little boy is out there somewhere, scared, and I can't do anything about it."

Chris studied him carefully. "Alicia mentioned you went to the hospital yesterday. That you confronted Alexandra about being Sasha."

"Yeah, I did." Damon's laugh was bitter, humorless. "And as usual, she was so damn stubborn I was tempted to grab her and shake some sense into her."

Chris's laugh was surprised, genuine. "You might be ready to get your balls kicked if you actually tried that with her."

Despite everything, Damon's lips twitched slightly. "Yeah, I know. She looked like she was about two seconds away from slapping me if I'd pushed any harder. But above all that fire, above that stubbornness—" His voice softened. "She looked exhausted. Sad. Like she was barely holding it together."

"She probably is barely holding it together," Chris said quietly. "Tisha died saving her life. Her son is missing. And now you show up calling her by a name she's spent five years running from. That's a lot for anyone to handle."

Damon stood abruptly, grabbing his car keys from the desk and heading for the door.

"Where are you going, boss?" Chris called after him.

Damon paused at the door, glancing back over his shoulder. "To ease my woman's burden. Tell my secretary—Elina—to handle my meetings till I'm back."

Chris laughed, shaking his head. "Your woman? Pretty sure she'd have something to say about that claim."

"She can say whatever she wants," Damon said, but there was a hint of warmth in his voice now. "Doesn't change what's true."

He left before Chris could respond, and Chris sat there grinning despite the seriousness of everything. His boss had it bad. Really bad.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

"We need to do what the police suggested, Alexandra."

Thomas's voice was gentle but firm. They all sat in Alexandra's living room—Thomas, Adrian, Margaret, and Alexandra herself. Margaret had been discharged from the hospital that morning, and now they were trying to figure out their next move.

Alexandra was quiet, her eyes distant. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't slept in days. Which she hadn't. The circles under her eyes were dark, too obvious. Her usual sharp posture had given way to something more defeated, her shoulders curved inward like she was trying to protect herself from further blows.

Seeing Damon at the hospital yesterday had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. The way he'd looked at her, the raw emotion in his voice when he'd called her Sasha, the desperate apology—it had all stirred up feelings she'd worked so hard to bury.

She'd felt the almost overwhelming urge to run into his arms, to press her face against his chest and just let everything go. To stop being strong for once and let someone else carry the weight.

But she couldn't. Could she?

"Where is Alicia?" she asked Adrian, needing to think about something other than Damon for a moment.

Adrian shifted slightly in his seat. "She went home to get cleaned up and rest. Said she'd come over later this afternoon."

Alexandra nodded slowly, then turned her attention back to Thomas. Her voice was small when she spoke, vulnerable in a way she rarely allowed. "Will doing what they suggested actually bring James back to me?"

The hope in her eyes—desperate, fragile hope—made Thomas's chest ache. He stood and moved to sit beside her on the couch, taking her hand in both of his. "Let's give it a try first, sweetheart. We have to explore every option. The more people looking for James, the better our chances."

Alexandra's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back and gave him a small, shaky smile. "Okay. Tell them to go ahead."

Thomas squeezed her hand, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "We'll find him. I promise you, we'll find him."

He stood and pulled out his phone, heading toward the front door to make the call to the investigators in private.

The room fell into heavy silence. Margaret sat quietly in the armchair, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes red from crying. She hadn't said much since being discharged. The guilt of what had happened was eating her alive.

Adrian watched Alexandra carefully, Alicia's words from the hospital echoing in his mind. /You're in love with her. But she doesn't love you back. Not the way you want/