I do not own BATB.

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Julia: Glad u and the sisters are doing well. :D

It was 8 in the morning, as Catherine made her way to her office. Since she heard the awful news about Vincent, she wasn't able to sleep at all. Vincent. Her mind was consumed only by Vincent Keller. Half an hour. That was all it took. 30 minutes. After those minutes crept by slowly, she wasn't able to take it any longer and grabbed her phone.

"Hey, JT. I heard that you all are looking for Vincent? He's missing?" she asked, as her voice trembled.

"Hi Cat. How are you? Yeah, Calinico and I have been searching like crazy! And we were at the end of our rope, so we uhumm.. filed a missing person's report. We are so worried about him. This is not him, Cat." JT said, as he let out a worried sigh.

"Do you think that he is still in New York? Or has he gone back home?" She asked, as she nervously tapped on her desk, her heart beating faster than usual.

"We don't know. And Cat... I don't want to frighten you or anything , but I think you should know this. Uhumm…" he said and cleared his throat. "The last time Calinico and I saw him, he said some things. Cryptic things."

"What kind of things? Please tell me." Cat pleaded.

"He said and I quote: My home is where Catherine is. Now that she's gone, I can't live here anymore. This villa feels empty and cold… this is not my home.. I need to be where she is and I have a feeling that she needs me just as much. And I know that I won't be able to be close to her, I won't be able to touch her or feel her hair on my finger tips. But… I will be there for her, whenever she needs me."

As Catherine heard those words, a lump formed in her throat, her eyes welling up. God! She missed him so much! And she was so worried about him… Where could he be?!

"JT, do you think his disappearance has to do with the threats he talked about? He told me about some letter with threats. JT?" She asked, the fear in her voice evident.

JT shook his head and denied."No, I don't think so."

He thought about that possibility, but he and Calinico promised Vincent not to tell a soul about the threats.

"Please, keep this to yourselves. No matter what happens, no one else must know about the threats. He made it very clear that Catherine will get hurt, if we inform the authorities. So we will obey." Vincent ordered.

"But is it possible? Shouldn't you tell the Police?" She asked.

"OK, we will inform the authorities in Tinos." JT lied.

JT knew she could be very persistent. Especially if it involved Vincent, so he lied about informing the Police.

"OK, thank you. And JT, what about his five star hotel and marble business? Who is in charge, now that Vince is nowhere to be found?" she asked.

Catherine knew how much his empire meant to Vincent. He has worked so hard all his life to get it where it is now. It's too important for him… So why did he leave it like that in the first place?!

"Well, the night he left Tinos for New York, he left his business associate in charge of it all. Calinico and I told him that it wasn't such a good idea, but he didn't listen. He said and I quote again: I trust Adon completely with my empire. I had a dream and in it Catherine was in danger. Nothing is more important to me now than her. I can't live without her… I just can't."

As the tears rolled down Catherine's cheek, she realized something."Wait.. what?! Who's in charge of his empire?! Adon Papadakis?!" she asked, her brows furrowed.

"Yes, he began as a simple employee for Vincent and worked his way up over the years. He comes from a simple and poor family, so Vincent helped him pay for his education and made him partner after 10 years." JT explained.

As realization hit her, Catherine stood up from her chair and grabbed her coat." JT, I have to go now. I have to do something, OK? I will call you as soon as possible." she blurted out and ended the conversation.

As Catherine walked into the elevator, her mind went back to 5 nights ago.

*FLASHBACK*

He looked down at her and smirked."No, I can't. I wasn't able to resist you in Tinos. Who says I am able to resist you now?" He said with a cold tone in his voice.

"Let me go, Adon! Now!" she demanded, so he did.

She straitened herself out and walked with wobbly legs out the party. Adon was following her from a short distance. She turned around, but kept walking.

As she got to her car, she fumbled with her keys."God damn it!" she muttered, as her keys accidentally fell on the ground.

At this point, Cat knew that she wasn't able to drive back home. She had way too much to drink, so she decided to call someone to get her. But just as she tried calling her dad, her phone died.

"Aargh! Stupid phone!" she shouted.

"Catherine? Miss Chandler?" she heard a voice say.

She turned around and rolled her eyes."What do you want, Mr. Papadakis?" she asked.

"Hey, I am just here to ask if you need a ride home, OK? I am not gonna try anything, I promise." He replied.

"Ha! I don't trust you, Adon. Leave me alone!" she said.

"Miss Chandler, please. Let me take you home. You cant stay here all night, you know. Come on, please?" he asked.

Catherine was so tired and so drunk and just wanted to go home. So even though she hated Adon's guts for treating her at the party like he owned her, she desperately craved for her warm bed. So she nodded and stepped into the white limo.

"No funny business, OK?!" she said, as she leaned on the back seat.

Adon nodded."No funny business." He promised.

She wasn't able to walk to her place by herself, so Adon helped her into her apartment. He opened her door and led her to the couch.

"This is me, Mr. Papadakis. Thank you and please lock my door on your way out." she ordered and laid down on the couch.

"Catherine, I am so sorry about what I did and what I said. I really wanna make it up to you. Please, will you have lunch with me tomorrow?" he asked, his eyes pleading.

She was way too tired and just wanted to get rid of him, so she nodded."OK, tomorrow… lunch; you and me. Now go!" Cat said and closed her eyes.

Mere seconds before drifting off to sleep, she heard Adon shut and lock her door."Bye, dumb ass…" she muttered.

()

The next day, Catherine wanted to act like she didn't agree to go to lunch with Adon. But her boss practically forced her and Mr. Papadakis himself was SO persistent. So she did have lunch with him, after she ignored him the whole morning. They were having lunch at her favorite coffee shop. They sat next to each other and were busy enjoying the food, when Adon received an urgent call. After the phone conversation, he told her that he had some bad news. Adon's assistant called to tell him that Vincent Keller was kind of missing. His butler and best friend had reported it.

"What?! What do you mean, he is MISSING?!" Catherine said, as her throat closed up, cutting off the air to her lounges.

"He uhmmm.. he fell off the grid, Catherine. They can't trace him; no calls on his cell phone, no activity on any of his credit cards, no sign of him whatsoever." He said softly, while grabbing her hand.

Catherine was so shocked and scared for Vincent's well being that she didn't pull her hand back.

"He can't be missing, I just saw him 2 weeks ago! No, that can't be true…" she whispered, as she shook her head furiously.

"You saw him? When? Where? Was he in New York?" Adon asked curiously.

"We… we have to search for him. I have to look for him. Now!" she shouted and got up from her seat.

Adon grabbed her lightly on her upper arms and looked her in the eyes."Hey, the Police is doing their job, OK? They will find Vincent." he replied.

Catherine couldn't take it anymore and broke down."I am so scared. What if I don't ever see him again? I wo… won't be able to survive that…" she sobbed, as Adon wrapped his arms around her.

"They will find him, Catherine. They will. I'll make sure of it." He whispered.

"I… I love him so much… I can't believe I said those horrible things about him at the party… I didn't mean one single word, but he… he was the one who kept pushing me away. And still I don't know why he did that…" she sobbed, while he held her tightly.

"He must've had his reasons." Adon said, the look on his face expressionless.

*End of FLASHBACK*

Catherine was determined to find Vincent; nothing and no one will stand in her way. She drove as fast as she could to the hotel.

As she walked out of the elevator and into the hall, she promised, as her tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Vincent Keller, I will search for you till I find you. Even if I have to turn every stone and brick. Even if I have to search all of New York and Tinos. I will find you, Vincent Keller. I love you so much… And this time, I promise you that you will not get rid of me. This time, when I have found you, I will hold on to you and never let you go. I promise you that you and I, we will be together. I don't give a **** about the threats Heather told me about, I really don't give a rats ass. This time, when I have found you I am not backing down… I promise you, Vince that once I found you again, nothing and no one will keep us apart.

And if someone will even try that, I promise that they will feel my wrath…"

As she reached the hotel room, Catherine took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for mere seconds, opened her eyes and balled her hands into fists. She then opened the door, as her heart pounded against her rib cage…

Oh boy! Where is she? And what will she do?

Well, you know what to do if you want chap 34. :)

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