AllFreeNovel
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“What’s it to you? You her boyfriend? Some fuckboy who wants to take her in the back room?”
Spreading my fingers out across the bar, I pressed the tips into the top as I took a steadying breath. “I own a personal security company, and her parents have asked me to find her.”
“Again.” He shook his head. “Look, she obviously doesn’t want to be found. Maybe you should leave her alone. She looks like a big girl, she can take care of herself.”
“She’s a danger to herself.”
“Then why aren’t the police here?” The guy put his glass down and leaned forward on the bar top. “If she’s truly missing, and not just out for a joyride, trying to get out from under Mommy and Daddy’s thumb, why aren’t the police here instead of”—he dragged a harsh gaze down my chest and back—“a security guard?”
Had half a mind to reach across the bar and slam this motherfucker’s head into the shiny top. Instead, I slammed my fist against the wood. “Listen, asshole—”
“Whoa, hey! What’s going on here?” The hand that gripped my arm felt like a bucket of ice water splashing over me, but the firmness of the grasp was nothing more than child-like. I recognized the voice. Sweet. Seductive. The kind that would whisper naughty things in your ear or scream into the pillow as you fucked her into oblivion.
Turning, I found Carina Williams, my once-upon-a-something, standing at my side.
“Lee? What’s going on?” Though her gaze was hard, her voice was nothing more than a seductive purr.
Snagging my phone from the bar, I shoved it toward her. “I’m looking for my friend, and this asshole—”
“To be fair,” the asshole said, cutting me off, “you never said she was a friend.”
“Dan.” Carina frowned at the bartender, then turned her gaze to my phone. To Kelly and her wide, wide smile. “She’s very pretty.”
“You seen her?” I asked, wanting to shove my cell in my pocket and hide the girl away. I didn’t, but I wanted to.
She raised her gaze to mine, and for a split second, I saw Kelly’s aqua-colored eyes instead of the deep blue of Carina’s. Saw Kelly’s red curls instead of the blunt bob of black hair. Saw a natural, perfect pucker instead of the deep red that slicked Carina’s lips. “Why don’t we sit. Have a drink?”
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I shook my head. “Don’t have time for a drink.”
“Dan, I need two glasses of ice water.”
Fuck. “Carina—”
“If you want me to help you, Lee, you’ll go over there and have a seat.”
With a scowl, I followed her finger to the booth she pointed at along the wall. The empty booth next to dozens of other empty booths and tables. Wasn’t a single patron in the entire building, and the tiny clock in the corner of my phone told me it was after closing time.
Not saying a word, I went to the table she’d pointed to. Sat down, only to find her sliding onto the bench on the other side. She pushed a glass of water toward me and took a sip of her own.
“So, your friend?”
Using tired and clumsy fingers, I spun my glass in my hands. “Kelly O’Connor.” Her name squeezed out through a throat tightened with fatigue and worry and too much damn frustration to voice. “She’s gone missing and I’m trying to find her.”
“She do this often?” Carina’s face held all the questions she hadn’t asked, and nine out of ten of them, I wasn’t ready to answer.
“Unfortunately, yes. There was an… incident. Last year.”
Her face scrunched up. “This is Vinny’s wife’s friend?”
Vinny. Fuck.
Yeah, he was the asshole who’d introduced me to Carina. He was the reason I’d first taken her to my bed. Guess you could say, he was also the reason I hadn’t seen her in nearly a year. What, with the influx of jobs that needed done.
Then there was Kelly.
“Yeah. She’s Jen’s best friend.” Or she was. I’d hired Jen as my accountant, so I got to hear firsthand how their friendship had crumpled after they’d been abducted and put on that boat. How Jen refused to give up, even though Kelly refused to reach out.
Told myself that was the reason I was still trying so hard to keep her safe.
