Page 52 of One Filthy Kiss

Amber throws her arms around my neck, and I pick her up, tears spilling from my eyes when she wraps her legs around my waist the way she has always done. “What’s the matter, Meggie?” she asks. “Why are you crying?”

“It-it’s nothing, sweetie. I got something in my eye.”

Ric tells the team to scan the area while he guides me and Amber back to the bench, where I left my purse and Amber’s water bottle. We’re almost there when I spot the same man walking away from the playground, a dark-haired boy by his side.

His gait, his profile when he speaks to his son… It wasn’t him.

I only imagined it was Amber’s father. I’ve spent the last five years looking for him everywhere I go, and Nikki’s text message only reaffirmed the very real possibility that he might’ve followed us here.

Ric must see the confusion in my eyes. “Was that the guy you saw?”

I swallow the tears that are still threatening to explode. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare everyone.”

He shakes his head. “That’s what we’re here for.”

As my pulse regulates, it occurs to me that Ric wasn’t right behind me when I started running. “Where did you go?”

It takes him a beat too long to answer. “Towards the exit. I thought I’d be able to cut him off if he bolted.”

My eyes drift to the exit Ric is talking about, the one closest to us. There’s another exit, I notice now, on the other side of the wooden climbing area. If the man had tried to get away, he wouldn’t have run back towards Ric, he’d have run in the opposite direction or hurdled the fence.

So, why didn’t Ric stay with me? Why did he let me run straight towards the man, unprotected? And why did he ask if that was the guy I saw?

“Did you see him, Ric?”

His gaze instinctively follows the other bodyguards patrolling the boundary. “I saw something.”

“Something?” I hug Amber closer to me. His carefully worded response is making me feel even more uneasy than the man with the tiny bald patch. “What did you see, Ric?”

He’s still on his feet; his eyes are still everywhere. “A man was watching you.”

My breath hitches. I scan the area now, staring until my eyes water. How did I miss it? Was I so busy watching Amber that I missed the one thing I should’ve noticed? Or was it my gut telling me to be on red alert that made me latch onto the first man I saw who reminded me of Amber’s father?

I sense it now. I feel someone’s eyes on me, and it’s making my flesh crawl.

“We should go.” I ease away from Amber and stand up, gripping her hand tightly.

The other bodyguards return, shaking their heads. “All clear.”

“I want to go back to the apartment.” I can’t shake the uneasiness puddling in my gut now.

“Can we get McDonald’s?” Amber asks.

“No,” I snap and am instantly flooded with guilt.

She’s just a child. She shouldn’t have to worry about being safe in the playground. She shouldn’t have to be followed around by a team of bodyguards who panic every time she wants to pet a dog.

None of this is fair. None of this is her fault.

“We’ll make burgers when we get back and eat them by the pool. How does that sound?” It sounds like I’m scared, and I hope she doesn’t notice.

“Okay,” she says, like homemade burgers and our own private pool will never compare to a chicken nugget Happy Meal.

I’m still shaking when we get back to the apartment.

Amber sets up a tea party for her dolls in the second guest room which has now become her playroom, complete with a pink princess-style tepee, fairy lights strung around the ceiling, a three-story doll house, and a child-size table and chairs. Pink, of course.

I switch on the coffee machine and eye up the brandy in the liquor cabinet. It would calm my nerves, but it would also blur the edges of my thoughts, and I need clarity to make sense of what happened.