Matrimony | H.S.

Chapter 27

☆☆☆

HARRY

She hadn't signed the papers.

I knew that because the guy I'd sent to pick them up had returned empty-handed. So I headed out to face her myself—again. And when I found her this time, I wouldn't walk away until I got a damn signature. The divorce had to happen, and it had to happen soon.

But before I could deal with Rose, I needed to make a quick stop.

I knocked on his door and hoped he'd be inside. He opened after a few seconds and looked shocked to see me.

"How do you know where I live?" Joshua Landon asked with a furious expression on his face.

I smiled at him and blocked the door with my foot before he could shut it in my face and shouldered my way in. "You couldn't stay away from her, could you? Your greed will cost you, Joshua."

"Listen to me you—"

I wasn't there to have a nice long chat. I had better things to do so instead of wasting my time I grabbed him by his shirt before he could back away and, ignoring his loud protests, punched him straight in the face. At least that managed to shut him up.

He staggered. With one hand gripping his nose and the other holding onto the wall behind him, he barely managed to stay upright.

"You fucking son of a bitch." He growled.

"This is your last warning. If I ever see you break her heart again, or hear about it, I'll kill you." Before I could make good on my words, I turned around and forced myself to walk away.

After my quick visit to Joshua, I went straight to Madison Avenue—because I knew she'd still be at the coffee shop, working at four PM. Except she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

Next, I tried the address Sally gave me, where she'd been staying this whole time. And she wasn't there either.

The apartment was on the first floor of an old building where anyone walking past could easily see inside and just as easily break in if they had a mind to do so. She would be the first thing they'd see, sleeping on the couch, right in front of the door, which made me impossibly angry. I already thought of myself as a damn stalker, why hadn't I waited here at night? I would've officially earned that title at least.

Somewhere between worried and slightly pissed off, I went back to the coffee shop. When I walked in, both Owen and Sally snapped to attention. Then they gave me more lies.

"She hasn't come back since you left."

"If we knew where she was, we'd tell you."

"Oh, I hope she's okay—she didn't look okay when she left."

It didn't matter how terse I was with them, they didn't budge. Since I didn't want to scare off their customers, I couldn't very well demand an answer either. Good for Rose—since it seemed like she'd made good employee choices, but not so good for me, unfortunately.

I even walked through goddamn Central Park just in case she thought hiding there in the freezing cold would be a good idea. It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I couldn't go to her other friends, at least not until I could have our investigator dig up their addresses for me, but I knew it wouldn't come to that. She barely saw them anyway.

No matter where she was hiding, she'd come back to her precious coffee shop in the morning, and if that meant I had to wait outside or in a car until she showed up before the sun was even up, so be it. As long as she showed up, I didn't care what I had to do. I was going to get a goddamn signature on that paper.