Page 48 of The Last Promise You Made

“When was the last time you tried dominating and overpowering, darlin’?”

His heated gaze fell to my mouth, and it caused my insides to ignite all over again. How could an argument about milkshakes turn so quickly into a flirtation about sex?

“Don’t call me darlin’. And believe me, dominating is overrated.” I glanced back at Addy, who seemed, thankfully, oblivious to how this conversation had turned on its head.

“Then, you haven’t been having the right…milkshakes,” he said, lowering his voice until it coasted over me, low and sexy, as if he’d run a finger over my most sensitive parts.

I swallowed hard but was saved from responding when the take-out window opened, and the tray with three shakes was shoved at me.

? ? ?

It took another couple of hours to unload, unpack, and put away everything we’d bought in Addy’s new room. She wanted to touch each item, as if she couldn’t believe it was hers. When I showed her the dragon blanket, she beamed all over again before spreading it carefully on the side of the bed she’d slept on the night before.

The doorbell rang, and Ryder said he’d get it.

I was hanging the last of the clothes when I heard him come back into the room, tearing apart what sounded like cardboard. I stuck my head out of the closet and saw him hand a box to Addy. The little girl peeked inside, and a look of pure delight shot over her face. She reached in and pulled out a stuffed animal. It had spots and tan fur and looked decidedly like a cat—leopard or jaguar or something. She squeezed it to her chest, eyes shutting, relief crossing over her face before she buried her nose in the fur.

“Balam,” she said. She opened her eyes and looked up at Ryder. “Thank you.”

He nodded.

“Mama pack,” she said. “In Mama’s bag.”

I leaned against the door jamb, heart pounding at the mention of her mother.

Ryder squatted down in front of her. “Your mother had it in her bag?”

She nodded.

I pulled up the inventory of what had been in the hotel room. A stuffed animal was not listed. But then again, there’d been no computer equipment either. Maybe it had been in Ravyn’s computer bag that we assumed had been taken by the killer.

“Were the two of you moving again?” he asked.

Her eyes turned cloudy, but she nodded. “Someone knock. I hide.”

“Did you always hide?” he asked.

She shrugged but then nodded again.

His gaze darted over her head to mine and then back.

“Did you see who came in?”

“Man. Ugly man. Big nose. Bad shoes.”

“Did you see…” I breathed in. “Did you see what he did?”

She froze, eyes filling with tears, but she didn’t respond. Either she’d blocked it out, hadn’t seen it, or wasn’t ready to talk about it. But she’d at least seen him. “We can draw him using the computer, like building an avatar. If we did that, we might be able to catch him. Would you like to help me?”

She slowly nodded again.

“Can you tell me what you meant by bad shoes?”

“Sharp. Like knives.”

Ryder and I frowned, and then his eyes went wide. “Hold on.” He jogged out of the room.

“You’re really brave, Addy. Do you know that? The bravest little girl I’ve ever met.”

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