The Billionaire’s Creed

MYKEL

“Fuck!” I screamed out my frustration in the office. I was shaking in anger as I pressed the button. “Elise, cancel everything in my schedule for today. I’m going out.” I hung up, not waiting for her reply. She would do what I said anyway.

Before I could put on my jacket, the door swung open. Elise walked in with a confusion looked on her face.

“May I know why?”

“No.” I stuffed my laptop back into my bag and grabbed my keys. “Stay on your phone. I might need your help.” I strode toward the door.

“Mykel, what’s going on?”

I squeezed my eyes shut before I answered, “I don’t like it when you’re poking your nose in my personal business, Elise.”

“Since when?” Since when? Yeah, she was right.

I turned around. My jaw clenched hard. Before I could say what I was about to say, Elise raised her hands.

“You’re right, boss. Have a good day.”

I walked toward the elevator and dialed Sax.

“Prepare the car. I’m going to see my wife.”

“Of course, boss.”

The car was already waiting for me in the parking lot. Sax and Kye could sense danger a mile away. When I got in the car, they knew something was off. I could feel they were dying to know.

I knew my wife and trusted her that she and Knox had never met again. Based on his text, that was the first time he contacted her after that night. Still, it bothered me. She liked him first before I met her. What if she went to meet him to confirm my relationship with my brother.

“Fuck.” I growled out.

“Is everything okay, boss?” Sax asked from the driver’s seat.

“I wish people would stop asking the obvious,” I grunted a reply.

“Apology. I just received a call from Langston.”

“Kye, I want you to check where Knox is right now.”

“Anything in specific you wanna know, sir?” He turned to look at me.

I shook my head. “Just keep me updated on his whereabouts. Stay with him all the time, discreetly.”

“Got it, boss.” He turned to Sax. “Stop right here. Call me.” I knew what he meant when he told Sax-in case there was an emergency.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll call the cavalry, man.” Sax parked the car, and Kye climbed out of the vehicle. Then we drove off to my wife’s office.

I didn’t wait for Sax to open the door. I jumped out right away. When I got to the office, I met her assistant. I should have called the office first, but I was consumed with rage and guilt and wasn’t thinking straight.

“She left for a coffee with Miss Lyra Marquez.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“How long ago?”

“An hour or so. Is she okay, Mr. Creed?”

“She managed to flee from her bodyguard.”

Speaking of the devil, Romare just walked in. “I couldn’t find her within the blocks. She was just gone, sir.”

My nose flared, listening to him. “Talk to Blaze in his office. Ask him if Adley has called within an hour. We’ll discuss this later.”

“Yes, sir.” He went to the hallway.

“Thanks, Miss Zi,” Sax thanked Adley’s assistant and followed me.

I let go a shaky sigh as I climbed back into the car.

“Boss, may I say something.” He looked at me through the rearview.

“Can I stop you?”

“I think we can work well if we are aware of the situation. We’re highly skilled people trained to withstand a high level of stress. We’re experts not only on weapons but also on comm, op, intel, and medical, so if I know what’s happening, I might be able to help.”

“The night I met Adley for the first time, she met my half-brother-”

“Knox Hartford?”

I wanted to roll my eyes. “Who else? Is there anyone else that I don’t know about? Yes. It’s Knox.”

“Oh, okay.”

I glared at him. “They did not have a one-night stand.”

He relaxed in his seat with his hands in black leather gloves like Agent 47 on the steering wheel while I could barely breathe. “I’m not judging, boss. It’s just the circumstance, like fate brought you together. What happened?”

“I met this woman-”

“The woman you blocked after posting a comment-”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “How the fuck-”

“It’s part of my job, boss, to dig for possible risk. Go ahead.”

“I found out that woman was in the same building and floor with Knox.”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Do you think there’s a possibility that that woman intentionally picked you. She must have known your brother. Anyway, you slept with that woman while Knox was with Mrs. C.”

I cringed out. “Something like that.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I hit on Adley in the elevator.”

“The same night? When you asked me about Mrs. C’s address?” he asked, surprised. Now I saw the judgment. “That’s messed up even for you. And let me guess, she didn’t know you’re Mr. Hartford’s half-brother.”

“Yeah, and boom.” I made that explosion sign.

“Oh, boy. If you did not tell her, how did she find out?”

“That’s what I wanna know.”

“Why did you not tell her? I mean, you’ve been with her for months-”

“Are you trying to help me or make me feel guiltier? Because right now it’s working, Ryder, and while Adley is mad at me, I can’t also find her, and that fucking Langston just lost her on his watch!”

“I’m sorry, boss. Your fault is you kept the truth from her-”

“Don’t you fucking think I don’t know that?” My heart began crashing as the reality settled in my mind.

“You can’t reach her phone. Obviously, your wife knew what she was doing. Why don’t you give her some time alone, you know? To get some fresh air.”

“I wanna find her and explain.”

“Call Mr. Lex Kross or anyone at his house.” Did he just order me?

“Thanks, boss,” I said sarcastically.

“My apology. I mean that Mr. Kross would answer your call because he has your number, and you want to find out where your wife might be.”

I dialed Lex.

“Mykel.”

“Is my wife with you?”

“What’s wrong? Is she not in her office?”

“We have a little misunderstanding. Adley turned off her phone.”

“I’m at home, but she’s not here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Son, why would I lie and keep your wife away from you?”

“My apologies. I just wanna talk to Adley.”

“A matter of life and death situation. Let me guess. She found out about your half-brother.”

I clenched my teeth hard before saying, “How do you even know?”

“She’s my granddaughter. Of course, I know who she met and the people in her circle to the T, Mykel.”

“Then you know the last person she talked to.”

“Your father’s woman.” This man sometimes was crazy and creepy. Fuck me.

My hopes rose. “I don’t wanna know, but thanks, Lex. Bye.”

I dialed my father. “Son, what a surprise?”

“I need Lyra’s number.”

“Why? What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“I can’t reach my wife.” I made a better excuse before he informed Lyra. “Her phone must have run out of battery.”

“Sure. I’m sending it to you now.”

“Thanks, Dru.”

“Anytime.”

Sax checked out on me through the rearview every second.

I received Lyra’s number and hit the call immediately. It rang a few times before she picked it up as if she second thought answering my call.

“Hello?”

“Lyra, this is Mykel. I know my wife is with you, and we had a fight. I can’t reach her number. Please, I need to talk to her. It’s is urgent.”

“Mykel? Oh, hi. Come again. What happened?” I knew people when they tried to stall, which Lyra exactly was doing.

“Lyra, please. I wanna make this right, okay. I’m sure your intention is good. You can put this on speaker. I want my wife to hear this-”

“I’m afraid-”

“Lyra, I’m worried sick. She can stay with you if she wants, but I wanna make sure she’s okay. Romare, her driver, is also looking for her. If within a few hours I can’t find my wife, I may have to call the firm for search and rescue and report her missing-”

“Isn’t it supposed to be missing for forty-eight hours before you file a report for a missing person?” I got that she was smart, but I was desperate.

“She’s married to a billionaire and an heiress worth billions. The risk in her life is high, Lyra. She could be kidnapped. That’s why I need to know-”

Sax was hiding his laugh behind the wheel.

“Oh, for God’s sake, Mykel, you can now stop terrifying the pregnant woman!” The call cut off instantly.

“Baby? Adley!” I stared at the screen for awful seconds.

“Fuck. This woman is a royal pain in the ass.” I was afraid my phone would crack in my grip.

“At least we know now your wife’s okay, but you were pretty convincing there, boss. I mean, pulling the billionaire heiress card-”

“Shut the fuck up, Ryder.”

Sax chuckled. “We’re heading to the Hartford residence at thirty miles per hour. The weather is-”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” My eyes narrowed to slits. I knew he was trying to make fun of me, but he was pissing me off instead. “Just drive and inform Kye-”

“He was listening to the conversation the whole time, boss.”

I shook my head while looking outside the window. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“Comm, boss.”

“Whatever.”

After a fucking long stretching hour, we entered my father’s house.

“Where’s Lyra?” I asked the helper.

“Let me help you, Mr. Creed.”

“I can find my way. Just tell me where.”

“In the nursery, Mr. Creed. Can I bring you some refreshments?”

“I’m good. Thanks.” I turned to Sax. “Stay here. She might plan on exiting the back door.”

“On it, boss.”

I climbed upstairs. My father’s house was as big as mine, but the rooms were aligned like in the hotel. I passed the hallway to the end. Once I reached the nursery, I recognized my wife’s voice; the other was Lyra. They were laughing while talking about colors.

She seemed okay while I was worried as fuck.

“Just come in, Mykel!” Fuck. She knew.

I pushed the door open to find them sitting in the middle with sets of color charts on the floor.

Adley finally lifted her gaze at me. My heart bled in pain as I did not see the warmth in her eyes that I got used to.