Page 356 of Romeo

“Good morning,” I finally said.

His laugh rumbled through his chest. “Best fuckin’ mornin’ of my life.”

I smiled against his skin, feeling satisfied and loved and completely content.

“Mine too.”

That was what intimacy with Jasper had become.

A conversation without needing words for every question.

When he did ask, his voice was low against my ear. “You good, Cher?”

I turned my face toward his and kissed him instead of answering immediately. “Very.”

His eyes searched mine for another second anyway.

That should have annoyed me.

Instead, it made warmth spread somewhere deeper than desire.

“I love you,” I whispered.

Something shifted in his expression.

Jasper had heard me say it before, but somehow those three words still affected him every time. His forehead rested against mine, and for a moment, he stopped moving entirely.

“Love you too, Ma Belle.”

Then he kissed me again, and there was nothing careful about the emotion behind it as the morning disappeared around us.

CHAPTER SIXTY

Angel

I’d stopped keeping track of motel rooms somewhere around the third state. They all looked the same after enough time on the road. Cheap curtains that never closed right, mattresses I wouldn’t have slept on if exhaustion hadn’t made the decision for me, and a table covered with scraps of information that had led absolutely fucking nowhere.

My daughter disappeared before I barely knew she existed. Eighteen years later, I was searching for a woman whose face I had never seen, who might not even know the name I was using to find her. Every lead ended the same way.

Nowhere.

Steele had spent years lying about Kay and the girls, and whatever happened to my daughter after she was taken had buried her deeper than I knew how to dig.

My phone started vibrating across the table, rattling against a stack of papers. I reached for it without much interest until I saw King’s name on the screen. He knew why I was out here. Unless he had something worth hearing, he usually left me the fuck alone.

“What?” I answered, dropping back into the chair.

King didn’t bother returning the greeting. “We found Kaitlyn.”

The room disappeared.

I stood so fast the chair crashed backward onto the floor, but I barely heard it hit. My fingers tightened around the phone while my heart hammered hard enough to hurt. “Where is she?”

“It’s not that simple, Angel.”

“The fuck it isn’t.” I started pacing the narrow space between the bed and the window because standing still suddenly felt impossible. “You just told me you found my daughter. Where the fuck is she?”

“She’s alive,” King said, his voice steady despite mine rising. “She’s safe.”