Outside, the SUV that Ryan had said was mine when we touched down at the airport was already waiting. Pietro was by the back door, ready to open it for me, a driver behind the wheel. “Where is he?” I asked my guard as I approached.

“I am unaware of his location, Miss Nova,” Pietro informed me. “My only priority now is your safety.”

Since Ryan had yet to get the cameras installed that he’d promised he would so I could watch him whenever I wanted, I didn’t know where he was either. “Let’s start with the office first,” I muttered. “If he’s not there, I’ll make him come to me.”

I’d already texted him twice that morning, and both had gone unread. Whatever was going on, that didn’t make it okay for him to ignore me. Nothing was that important.

At least, it hadn’t been in the past.

I still had no reply to my texts by the time the driver pulled up in front of Ryan’s office building. Pietro jumped out of the front passenger seat and opened my door. As I stepped out, the guard unbuttoned his suit jacket, sticking one hand inside, touching his gun as his gaze shifted around us, taking everything in while we entered the building.

With Pietro at my side, we easily bypassed security and went straight to the bank of elevators. My guard swiped a card, unlocking the executive elevator that bypassed the other floors and took us straight to Ryan’s floor. As the doors slid open, I saw a well-dressed man sitting behind a desk in front of Ryan’s office.

“Eduard,” Pietro greeted with a chin lift.

The personal assistant’s eyes barely lifted from the screen of his computer as he typed, sparing Pietro only a minuscule glance before returning his focus to the task at hand. “Mr. Vitucci is currently unavailable.”

I huffed. “Does that mean he’s in a meeting, or that he isn’t in the building?”

I didn’t get a response, and that only pissed me off. As big as Pietro was, and as small as I was in comparison, I was hidden from the other man’s view, but my voice was anything but tiny. Gritting my teeth, I walked past the desk and opened the office door. The lights were off, and I was quick to switch them on. But the place was as meticulously neat as always, which didn’t tell me anything.

Where the hell was he?

Lifting my phone, I was about to send him yet another text, when a message popped up on the screen.

Cali: So bored. I heard you are back in town. Let’s have lunch!!!

Me: When and where?

Cali: Um, now. I’m hungry. There’s a diner near my apartment. Meet me there.

The address to the diner popped up next, and I shot one last glare around the empty office before walking back to the elevators. In front of Eduard’s desk, I paused. “Tell your boss that I was here.”