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“Twenty-nine,” he answered again and I watched her count on her fingers. Antonio and I shared a quick smile until she finally looked up.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “You’ll wait until I’m twenty-nine, right?” She pointed a finger at him then turned at me. “Nirah, can I marry Antonio when I’m twenty-nine?”

“Are you trying to steal my husband?” I playfully gasped.

“Well… if you un-marry him…” she innocently shrugged and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“How. Dare. You?” I leaned over to tickle her, gaining the most adorable laugh from her.

“Okay, okay.” She caught her breath and I pulled back as the waitress returned.

She wiped a tear from her cheek, and something inside of me ached at the fact that her parents could discard her this easily. Neglect her.

She wasn’t short of words as we enjoyed our meal and was ecstatic about dessert. She chose waffles with vanilla ice cream, extra hot fudge and sprinkles.

Antonio, as usual, was quiet as I tried getting as much information out of her as possible.

Thereafter we walked around for what felt like hours in an attempt to either find her parents, or maybe even bump into them but we were out of luck.

I strapped her into the back and we headed back to the house. The drive was quiet as she stared out of the window, completely unfazed by the fact that she was in a car with two strangers, going God knows where.

I stole a glance back at her, then texted Rosalia to prepare a room just in case. Something about this whole situation didn’t feel right.

Antonio spared me a glance as he turned the wheel. “I’m a lot of things, but at least I don’t kidnap children,” he muttered, too low for her to hear, and my head snapped to him.

“I did not… kidnap her,” I whispered in defense.

“The next time I—“ he hesitated, looking at her in the rear view mirror. “Remove someone from this planet, I don’t want to hear a thing from you,” he said as we pulled up to the house and my jaw dropped in disbelief.

“We’re just making sure she doesn’t end up in the hands of a criminal,” I whisper-yelled and he looked down at himself then at me. I dropped my shoulders. “A kidnapping criminal.” I clarified, rolling my eyes before hopping out.

I slammed the door shut and helped her out of the car.

As soon as we entered the foyer, she looked around with huge, unbelieving eyes. “You live here?” she whispered, followed by a giggle of excitement.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?”

“Really cool.” She mindlessly replied while taking it all in.

I walked her into the living room and we found our place on the couch. “What’s your favourite movie?” I asked, turning on the TV and she paused in thought.

“Bolt,” she replied, overly excited, and I searched for it. “I’ve always wanted a puppy.” She shifted, resting her back against the back of the couch as her feet wiggled in excitement.

My expression saddened at her words. Kingsley…

She leaned forward, trying to look at my face. “Are you okay?”

I cleared my throat, forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah.”

After turning on the movie I excused myself, assuring her that I’d be right back.

I headed straight for the kitchen where Antonio was seated behind the island, typing away on his laptop. “Did you find anything?” I opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water.

He shook his head, not tearing his eyes from the screen.

“Seriously?” My shoulders slumped. “How difficult can it be to find a little girl’s parents?”

Slowly, he turned his head in my direction and pushed his laptop toward me.