Page 105 of Double the Redemption

She ignored him, wading through papers until she found a map on the floor. Dropping to her knees, she looked over it. “Eureka!” she barked. “Yes, yes, I got you now, you asshole. You didn’t think I would remember, but I did!” She waved the map around like a trophy. “Text Glitch and tell her the New Mexico Ranch. He’s at the fucking New Mexico Ranch. Search up Rancho. He was trying to be fucking clever by calling it by only one name. It was a joke or something stupid. He bought it using a shell company and then had it put in one of his lieutenant’s names. That’s it!”

He wanted to tell her she was probably hallucinating, but if it calmed her down, he’d do it.

Ink: Naomi said look for a spot called Rancho in New Mexico. It might be where Diego is hiding. She also might be hallucinating. She’s lost her mind.

Glitch: She’s a genius, Ink, of course she’s a little crazy too. How many geniuses do you know who were completely sane?

Ink: Whatever. Look it up while I try to get her cleaned up and fed.

Glitch: Need reinforcements?

Wouldn’t she just love that?

Ink: No.

Glitch: Fine. But if this is where they find him, you’re going to eat crow.

He’d deal with that later. Right now, he had a woman to bring back from the brink.

“I told her for you, baby. She’ll let them know and then we’ll see if they can grab it.”

She nodded, but her gaze was already back to the sheets. “But if he’s not there, I have to find a backup. I can’t let him get away. Him or that son of a bitch who thinks he can call me his daughter even when he sold me to the devil for his own personal gain.” She whipped her head around and glared at him. “He did, you know. He sold me. I figured it out only a few months after I was locked in that room at eighteen.

“All these business trips, all the money we had, it was from Diego. He’d been his right-hand man for so long, but I was the prize. I was the one thing that would secure his place, and he was going to give me away without a thought for me or what it would do to me. What he would do to me. I hope they find him and they make him pay. Or let me do it. I can shoot a gun.”

He was fucking glad he left his in his saddle bag, but like hell did he want her having any weapons within reach right now.

“Yes, you can, but we don’t need to do that right now. Right now, you’re going to take a break and go shower and change. You’ll feel more like yourself, and we’ll go and get something to eat.”

“I do feel like myself. This is me, Ink. I’m fucking smart, and I can figure things out. I have a brain, so I’m going to use it and take them down. I’m going to take them all down.”

“Your brain is severely deprived of sustenance, clean oxygen, and water at this point,” he muttered, but not low enough, and the look she gave him could peel paint. He flinched. Damn it.

“Fuck you, Ink. I’m perfectly fine, you’re the one not seeing and understanding. You think because you’re hot and do good ink—ha! Ink inks. That’s funny.” She snorted, and he just let his head drop forward. “Right, I was mad before you distracted me with being funny. What was I saying?”

Before he could consider the ramifications, he moved. He wasn’t going round and round for hours. It was time for drastic measures.

He scooped her up, ignoring her struggles, and hauled her to their en suite. “Ink, what are you doing?” she demanded. He narrowly missed a knee to the balls, a grunt slipping out when it hit his upper thigh. “Ink!” she screeched when the cold water blasted them both. “What the fuck?”

He gritted his teeth against the cold battering his face and then shut it off. They stood there, dripping wet, and Naomi gaped at him.

“Are you back with me now?” he asked.

“What the fuck was that for?” she demanded, shoving him until he set her on her feet, but he didn’t release her. He didn’t want her to fall in the slippery tub. “What the hell, Ink?”

“Desperate times, baby. Are you back with me now and not stuck in whatever madness you were in?”

The paint-peeling glare was back. “I’m not insane, asshole.”

“You could have fooled me. Now, you and I, we’re going to talk this shit out because I’m not dealing with this forever. I can’t stand to see you so worked up that way.”

“I’m not⁠—”

“You are. You definitely are, baby. The entire apartment is littered with papers except in Asher’s room. You’ve been clearly working hard to find Diego, but this isn’t the way to do it. You’re throwing darts at the wall, hoping something sticks, but you’re working yourself into exhaustion, and I’m not letting that happen. You can be as angry as you want with me, but as your man, every part of you matters to me, and that includes that big brain of yours.”

The glare lessened but not her scowl. “My brain is fine. Look, Ink, just because you don’t understand my process doesn’t mean I’m wrong for it.”

“You’re not wrong for it, but Vulture told me you’ve been working on this for three days. This is just the day that you’ve been so wrapped up in it that you’ve lost track. Baby, why are you so determined to find him? What has triggered this? Talk to me.” He tried to keep his voice soothing, needing her to know he was here for her.