Page 46 of One Filthy Kiss

“She was right next to me.” He points to the other side of the street.

To be fair, he looks like a man facing execution on Death Row, his skin pallid, dark eyes darting all over the place, but I don’t have time for sympathy.

“What the fuck were you doing out here? Where the fuck is the rest of the team?”

I scan the busy street, daring someone to ask me to move. A young lad crosses the road in front of the slow-moving traffic, and a yellow cab’s horn blasts the air in his wake. Too many sounds. Too many fucking people. Amber will be terrified.

“They’re looking for her.” Ric drags his hand across his stubble.

“Ric.” Meggie steps between us. “Show me exactly where you were the last time you saw her.”

Ric grabs her hand and guides her along the sidewalk, away from my hotel building.

I don’t move. I turn three-sixty, searching for a glimpse of strawberry-blond curls, pale cheeks, and Meggie’s smile. If her father has followed her here and snatched her from under the noses of my security team in broad daylight, I will tear this city apart until I find her. Then, once she’s safe, I’ll cut off the fucking Fish’s dick and shove it down his throat until he chokes on it.

How did he do it? How did he get past my men without any of them spotting him? Ric has been with me a long time, and I trust him more than anyone else I know, but perhaps he’s going soft as he ages.

I watch Meggie standing in the last spot where Amber was seen. She turns around to face me, and the despair in her eyes cracks my chest wide open. For a moment, I’m winded, then Isnap back to reality and close the distance between us in a few manic strides.

“Where did she go, Gio?” she whispers.

“We’ll find her. I promise.”

Her eyes grow large with tears, and I hug her close to my chest as Ric looks away. I bury my hand in her hair and breathe in the smell of her.

“We’ll find her.”

Meggie wriggles out of my embrace, staring at the window of the small boutique café outside which we’re standing. “Amber?” Her voice cracks.

I follow her gaze, but Meggie is already pushing her way through the small group of tourists trying to leave the café. Ric is one step behind her.

Meggie navigates the occupied tables inside the premises and stops with her back to me.

I don’t wait around. Inside, the air is cool, and I’m greeted by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sickly-sweet tang of caramel. I keep my eyes on Meggie’s back as I approach and hear a woman’s voice that sounds strangely familiar.

“Please forgive me. I came outside to look for you, but you were gone, and I thought the best thing to do would be to keep her safe with me. I realize now that I should’ve brought her straight back to the hotel, I’m sorry.”

I recognize the speaker. But I can’t recall her name.

Meggie crouches beside Amber, who is sitting at the woman’s table, a small dog in her lap. At least I think it’s a dog. It’swearing a diamante encrusted collar, and snarling at Ric, revealing tiny fangs that wouldn’t harm a spider.

“Amber, you scared us, disappearing like that,” Meggie says.

Amber’s bottom lip rolls out, and she keeps her eyes on the dog when she speaks. “I spotted Orion through the window. You said that he was leaving, and I wanted to say goodbye.”

“My trip got delayed by twenty-four hours,” the woman explains. “I don’t even know how she spotted us, but Orion was pleased to see her, as you can tell.” She goes to fondle the top of the dog’s head, and it snaps at her.

“You can’t just run off like that though, Amber.” Meggie tries to keep her tone firm, but I hear the tremor in her voice. “You’ll get Ric into trouble.”

The child’s lips quiver when she peers up at Ric.

“Hey.” He pulls a seat out from under the table and sits facing her, lowering his gaze to her level. “Where’s my favorite smile?” He tries to smooth Amber’s hair away from her forehead and receives a nip from the tiny teeth in return.

Time to step in; I want to get Amber out of here and back into the secluded safety of my apartment. “No harm done.” Perhaps I’m going soft too. The child is safe. The Fish didn’t take her. But there’s still the small matter of my security team letting me down to deal with.

My conversation with Emiliano has unsettled me more than I allowed myself to believe. Amber’s father is dangerous, but I will not allow him to consume my life this way; if that happens, he has already won, and I didn’t get to where I am today playing by other people’s rules.

“Sorry, Ric,” Amber whispers. “I won’t do it again.”