Chapter 165: Search
Ryan’s POV
Thanks to his money and status, there were many things that Ryan had access to. Things that would be considered illegal by many standards.
As a personal rule, Ryan did not often make use of the less than legal connections that he had. He was already powerful enough. If he let himself get addicted to the darker side of things then there was no telling just how awful he would become.
But for his Vivian’s sake Ryan was willing to step into the darkness. The day before he had been so angry that he was certain he would have killed Bryce if he had gotten within arm’s reach of the other man. But thanks to Vivian standing in his way, Ryan had had some time to calm down.
Now that he was no longer being ruled by rage, he was thinking more clearly. He had promised Vivian that he would not let Bryce pollute him, and that he would not kill her ex, and he was going to keep his word.
But during the night while he had held his Vivian as she’d slept, Ryan had been thinking on ways to handle Bryce and the perfect one had come to him. He would not kill the man, but he would make sure that Bryce wished that he was dead.
Defamation of character was bad on its own, add to that all of the pornographic images that Bryce had made using Vivian’s pictures, and the man was in for a painful ride on the justice train. Ryan was going to hire the best lawyers to tear him apart in court. Then he would launch a smear campaign that would ensure that even if the man somehow got out of the charges, he would never be able to work anywhere.
Nobody would want to touch him and his little fitness business would go up in flames. But before he did all of that, Ryan wanted to ’have a little talk’ with Vivian’s ex. He had promised Vivian that he would not kill the man, and he wouldn’t.
But the moment that Ryan’s people( whether it would be the ones who worked within the law, or outside of it, he had no idea) brought Bryce to him, Ryan was going to introduce him to his left hook, and right hook.
***
Now knowing that all of the awful things that had been written about Vivian online were things that Bryce had often called her. Ryan was reading through the hateful articles with a different perspective.
It was clear for him to see that Bryce had never been taught the importance of respecting women. A man who was truly confident in himself, built up his partner instead of constantly trying to tear her down.
Clearly Bryce needed to learn that lesson, and Ryan was just the man to teach him. For a few days now he had not boxed. By staying out of his gym, he had given his knuckles time to heal up.
But it seemed that pretty soon he would be undoing all of the healing that had gone on. The moment he got his hands on Bryce, he would definitely be getting split knuckles, but it would be worth it. Every derogatory nickname that Ryan had picked up from the articles that Bryce had published would be a punch that Ryan would willingly give the other man. By the end of it he was certain there would be missing teeth, bruises, and if he had his way a few broken ribs.
It would be skirting the lines of the promise that he had made to Vivian. But so long as that idiot lived to regret mistreating Vivian, Ryan would take whatever punishment his lady would give him. She did not wish for Ryan to be tainted by Bryce. But Ryan also did not like that that man’s shadow had been cast over his Vivian for so long.
He would beat the darkness out of that man and then spend however long it took, making sure that his Vivian never for a moment doubted how awesome she was.
The call from Ryan’s PI, the very guy who had found Vivian for him after their first time together had Ryan perking up. His blood singing at the thought of the violence to come.
"Give me a location," He said instead of greeting the PI.
Rather than the man on the other end instantly rattling off the information that Ryan wanted. There was a silence that instantly made him uneasy.
"Unfortunately, I will not be able to do that. It seems that the man you are looking for has vanished,"
What?
Staring at the globe on his desk, Ryan began to spin it.
"What do you mean vanished?" He asked, his tone, calm and polite despite the sudden surge of anger that he was feeling.
"I mean vanished as in completely gone. I have people waiting around his apartment and he has not been seen there. We have checked with his clients. His alarming long list of conquests and even his family. He is nowhere to be found," Ryan grabbed a pencil off his desk and within seconds it was broken in two. Still listening to his PI speak he tossed it aside, his teeth grinding in frustration.
"Wherever he went he was also smart enough not to use his credit cards and he is also not showing up on any CCTV footage around the city,"
"Did you try tracking his phone?"
"We found it in some nearby bushes," So Bryce had somehow spotted Ryan’s people...that was not good. Grabbing yet another pencil and breaking it, Ryan got to his feet, one hand gripping the pencil pieces tight while the other held his phone to his ear.
"Keep looking for him and inform me as soon as there is a change in the situation, are we clear?"
"Of course, sir," With that Ryan hung up and went to stand by the window. The gleeful emotions that he had been feeling at the thought of what he would do to Bryce were now replaced by unease.
How could the man just disappear? How had he evaded not only Ryan’s PI, but also all of the other less savory characters that Ryan had searching for him? Grabbing his keys he walked out of the study, perhaps if he were closer to the action, they would be able to find Bryce faster.
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