Page 2 of Rami

“I’m really sorry, Ms....” He trailed off, waiting for her to fill in her name.

“Hastings. But call me Gigi.”

“Gigi. Look.” He sat forward and clasped his hands together on the desk. “If I thought I could be of help to you, I’d step in.”

Silence grew thick between them, and then her brittle exterior cracked, revealing a hard glint to her eyes. She hiked up her chin. “I call bullshit, Mr. Mitry. I know for a fact that your company has the ability to find my sister.”

He swallowed a wad of words. He didn’t want to ask where she’d gotten her facts. But Gigi needed to get it through her pretty head that the odds of finding her twin sister sixteen days after she’d gone missing was as likely as him sprouting fucking wings.

She’d come busting into his office at 8:00a.m., before he’d even had time to have a second cup of coffee, and demanded to speak to the owner. It was Rami’s lucky day—today, the only owner in the building was him and not Toth, his friend and business partner. The prick had called in sick yesterday and would be late coming in today. Which shouldn’t have bothered Rami since Toth hadn’t taken a sick day once in the whole eighteen months they’d been in business.

But today, that meant Rami had to deal with Ms. Ray of Sunshine and Anxiety.

He rocked his jaw then pointed to the words Backcountry Protection Services etched in bold black letters on the wall behind his head. “We’re a bodyguard service, ma’am. Your sister is not in need of protection. She’s in need of a search and rescue team. I’m sure the police are—”

“No.” She slapped her hand on the desk, and sparks flew from her feral eyes. “No.” This time the word came out on a haggard whisper. “They gave up. I can feel it. They suggested she was either lured away or ran away, for fuck’s sake! I was talking to her on the phone when she was taken. I—”

“Listen. I believe you.” Frustration mounted inside him. If he could help, he would. But what he’d said was true. “To me, this case screams abduction, and I’m going to bet by human traffickers.” Hell, when Gigi had told him she’d overheard a woman ask Ivy for help finding her dog, he’d known for certain this was the case.

Gigi made a choking sound and pressed her knuckles to her lips. Tears built beneath her lashes.

“We don’t have the kind of resources to do a country-wide search,” Rami continued, touching the tattoo that ran over his right eye. “Hell, your sister could be anywhere. Regardless of what you might’ve heard, my business doesn’t have the capabilities to look all over the world.” He tipped his head and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry,” he said, meaning it a little more this time.

She shook her head and her throat bobbed.

His office door opened and August, one of their newest recruits and his good friend, paused in the doorway. August’s green eyes landed on Gigi and his face paled.

Rami looked at the woman now with her posture erect. If he were a betting man, he’d wager Gigi’s sudden change of demeanor was because of the several-carat-diamond ring weighing down her fourth finger and August’s gutted face.

She cut her gaze away from August and zeroed in on Rami. “He’s your resources.”

August stepped into the room and glanced down at the picture on the desk. “What’s going on, Gigi? Why’re you here?”

Her gaze lowered, and for a beat, she seemed to hesitate. The fact that the two of them knew each other raised a shit-ton of questions but not ones Rami would ask right now.

“Ivy, my sister, is gone. She was kidnapped.”

August drew back his head then rubbed his hand over the sandy-blond stubble on his jaw. “You sure? I mean—”

She swiveled in her chair. “She’s been missing for sixteen days. Was taken from the parking lot at a grocery store.”

August let out a curse.

Rami cleared his throat. “I was explaining to Ms. Hastings here that we don’t have the capacity to do that kind of search and rescue, and—”

She raised a hand to stop him. “And you and I both know that August is experienced in black ops missions. If you have him and others like him working for you, then this is absolutely something you can take on.” She leaned down and hefted her purse onto her lap.

Squeak.

That fucking chair.

He bit his tongue, refusing to admit that he and August had been in black ops together. Fact was, he couldn’t put his efforts into a job that would chew through his time and money faster than a termite through infested wood.

Gigi dug into the black leather bag and slapped several bundles of cash on the desk then reached inside for several more.

Easily a hundred Gs.

“Now tell me you don’t have the resources.”

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