Her car is parked out front, but that doesn’t mean her room is nearby, and the only other car I see is Ronan’s, which is also empty.
I was due to check in with Dad an hour ago, but telling him that I’m not closer to securing the girl is not an argument I feel like having right now, not when I currently have no plan to get her away from the blond-haired asshole.
Tapping the steering wheel a few times, I try to decide what my best move is here.
I haven’t slept since sometime yesterday, so I should take this opportunity to get a room and get some shut eye. But they could leave while I’m sleeping, and as soon as she’s behind the De Marco walls again, it’s going to be next to impossible to get her out.
This is my only chance to grab her, and I need to make the most of it.
But I could use a shower and something to eat, which is why I climb out of the car and stride toward the front office.
The guy behind the counter glances up and sighs, as if he’d rather be anywhere but here. Which is probably fair, we are in the middle of nowhere, and I’d also like to get the fuck out of here.
“You Damon?” he asks.
My brow dips in confusion, but I give him a slow nod.
He runs a hand through his messy blond hair before dropping a key on the counter. “It’s the third room on the right.”
I open my mouth to ask how the hell he knows my name and why he was expecting me, but I snap it shut and swipe up the key, following his directions before I can second-guess myself.
Unlocking the door, I shove it open and find my brother sitting at a tiny table on a chair that looks seconds away from crumbling beneath his weight.
“Did it really take you that long to fix your car?” He chuckles.
“You’re an asshole, you know that?”
He doesn’t bother responding as he shovels a forkful of rice into his mouth, nodding to the box across from him.
My stomach rumbles at the sight of food, and even though I want to tell him to fuck off, I’ve never been one to refuse a meal.
“She and the bodyguard are in the room next door.”
“Why are you telling me when you know I’m going to try to take her back to Miami?”
He shrugs. “They’re not exactly hiding, and I thought I’d save the guy in the office from a threat of bodily harm.”
I glare across the table at him before taking a bite of my own rice. It’s bland and dry, but at least it’s better than the bag of Jolly Ranchers I ate on the way up here.
My stomach is still mad about all that sugar.
“So what’s the plan here, Ro? You planning to run away with her? Start a new life with a picket fence and two point three kids? The bodyguard seems pretty attached, so you’re going to have to get rid of him.”
He sighs, placing his food down on the table and leaning back in the chair that creaks beneath his weight. Yeah, these things were not built for anyone our size. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you better figure it out, because if Dad finds out you’re protecting her, he’s going to kill you himself.”
“You going to tell him?” he challenges.
I don’t reply straight away, because the truth is, I don’t know what I’m going to do if he keeps following her around like a lost puppy. He’s not going to let me take her, which means if I’m going to do this, I’m going to have to get them both on the jet against their will, which frankly seems like more than a one person job.
Or I let them go. I tell Dad they slipped away in the dead of night and take whatever punishment he sees fit. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve taken a beating for the two of them, but at least it would be the last.
The idea has merit, but even as I consider it, I know I’m not going to do it. There’s too much at stake. My whole life has been building to when I would become the leader of the Lombardi family, and I don’t intend to let Chloe fucking Weaver delay it…again.
She’s cost me too much. I won’t let her cost me this as well, even if it’s going to break my brother’s heart.
He’ll get over it, and he’ll be stronger for it.
