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A few moments of silence hung in the air before she answered, “I’m definitely ok. But...”
“But what?” I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d gone too hard on her.
Twisting around, she looked up at me. “I’m starving. You never fed me.”
I fell back onto the bed, relief flooding me as I chuckled at her request. Sitting up, I cupped the back of her neck, bringing her closer before smashing my lips to hers. “My little vixen is hungry, huh?”
“She is. Any chance you get DoorDash out here? I’m really craving Chinese food.”
“What my queen wants, she gets.” I rolled over and picked up my phone to place the order when I noticed Keiran’s check in flash across the screen with no updates to report.
After we ate, the rest of the day and night was spent doing what I loved doing the most with her.
Being inside of her.
Waking up the next day, I found myself alone in bed, which brought me to sit up quickly. “Clarice?” I called out, not getting a response. “Clarice?” When she didn’t answer, I started to worry that something had happened to her. Sliding my pants on quickly, I checked the en-suite bathroom before charging out of the room to search for her. “Clarice!” The panic I heard in my voice was not a sound I was familiar with. I’d never felt this kind of panic rise up inside of me for anyone before. Running down the stairs, I continued to call out her name several more times as I moved through the house, searching every room. I was really starting to regret just how damn big this place was for the first time since we’d purchased it. It wasn’t until I walked through the French doors, my phone at my ear to call Keiran, that I spotted her sitting on the private beach area we owned with the house. Relief was a small word for what I was feeling right now.
“Hello?” Keiran greeted.
“Never mind. False alarm. I just couldn’t find Clarice, but I’ve got eyes on her now. Any more updates while I have you?”
“He’s still at the hotel that he checked into last night. We’re surveying everyone who comes and goes, to see if we’re able to match their pictures to anyone we might recognize as someone who’s been in close contact with you. I myself haven’t recognized anyone in the photos that I’ve gotten as anyone I’ve seen before, but I’ll email them to you, so you can start to go through them. Maybe you’ll see something I don’t.”
“Sounds good. One more thing. Where are we on Nicky? Think he’s up for a job?” Nicky was a kid, Keiran, had brought in a couple years back and had been mentoring. We’d discussed in the past, giving him a job, but Keiran hadn’t thought he was quite ready for it.
“Nicky is ready. I’ve given him a couple of small jobs and he’s been solid. What are you thinking about?”
“I want to put him on Clarice. Still think he’s ready?”
“I think the kid would die protecting her, but how’s that all going to work with you in the picture?”
“I only want him on her when she’s out of my sight. Once she’s with me, his job is done for the day.”
“Alright, I’ll figure things out on my end. I have him wrapping up another job right now, but he’ll be ready to go when you get back. Speaking of; Scarlett wants a call from Clarice. She wants to hear for herself that she’s safe with you. She’s been a real pain in my ass that one since I knocked her boyfriend on his ass. I’m praying Diego will get his fucking ass out of this town today, so I can drop her back off.”
I heard what he was telling me, but I also heard what he wasn’t. “I’ll have her call Scarlett in the next hour. Anyway, keep me updated, and I’ll let you know if I recognize anyone.”
“Got it.”
Ending the call, I made my way down to the beach area, taking extra care to move silently. Walking up behind her, I crouched down to kiss her cheek.
“Oh my god! Shit! You scared the crap out of me.”
“I’d say we’re even then.”
Understanding what I’d meant, her eyes went soft. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. This morning when I woke up, my stomach was bothering me, so I came out here to get some fresh air. I was so enamored by the ocean that I decided to sit here a little longer since I knew you were still asleep.”
Taking a seat next to her, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in close, kissing her on top of her head. I released her a little, still keeping her near as I took in our surroundings. No one could ever connect us to this place since we’d put it in Torin’s childhood teachers’ name, so I knew it was the safest place to be right now. But I wouldn’t relax until Diego was out of my city, and I had that bloodhound he’d hired in my possession. Once I had that fucker, I could turn the tables and break him for information on Diego, and Santiago. “Are you feeling better now?” I asked, closing those thoughts down.
“Yes. Much better. I think I was just so hungry last night; Chinese food was probably not the best answer. Sometimes if I don’t eat and then pig out on greasy food, I pay heavily for it the next day.”
“As long as you’re ok.”
“I’m fine.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Oh?”
