Page 48 of Love or Tequila in Unexpected Places

The guy knew everyone, and if there was anyone he hadn’t met, he surely knew their acquaintances. Once he started ‘hunting,’ as he liked to call it, he could dig up every single detail—from shoe size to family members and even the dirtier sideof someone’s business. Angelo couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. If only finding love were as easy as tracking down a rogue shoe size.

If anyone could find Allison, it would be him; Talon Blackwood.

Scary name for a scary man.

Someone apparently took mercy on Angelo’s heart, because his phone pinged with a message from Allison.

Allison

You seriously need to calm down.

Angelo bristled. He had been worried sick—literally pulling his hair out—and now she was telling him to calm down?

Bad move, sweet girl.

In a flash, he located her contact and pressed the dial button. Allison picked up on the first ring.

“Calm down?Calm down?It’s been hours, Allison!” he shouted into the phone, his booming voice shattering the quiet of the night. “A simple ‘I’m fine’ would have sufficed. Instead, you left me with a text saying you were on a date and didn’t answer any of my calls!”

“I know, I was there,” she replied, her sarcastic tone only infuriating him further.

“This is not the time for jokes, Allison!” he shot back, pacing the room as adrenaline coursed through him. “I’ve been beside myself with worry, wondering whether you were being raped, hurt, or murdered by some psychopath! You can’t just disappear like that and expect me to sit here calmly!”

Allison sighed, and he could almost picture her rolling her eyes. “Angelo, I appreciate your concern, really, but I’m fine. I was just out with my friend, and my phone died. I thought you understood that I can have a life outside of work and our—whatever this is.”

“A life outside of work? Sure. But you can’t just leave me hanging! I was imagining worst-case scenarios while you were doing God knows what,” he retorted, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.

“God knows—Oh, please! If you must know, I was having coffee with my best friend,” she shot back. “We finally reconnected after a year of no communication. We weren’t plotting world domination or anything.”

At the mention of her friend, Allison’s voice grew softer, almost warmer, and some of Angelo’s ire melted away.

“Was it—did you have fun?” he asked, his tone shifting to something more tentative.

A pause followed his question, and anxiety coiled in his stomach as he waited for her reply.

Did I go too far? I probably did; it’s none of my business anyway. I already acted crazy and blew up on her.

“I had the best time,” she whispered, the words traveling straight to his heart—and, admittedly, a little further south.

Angelo rubbed his temples, reining in his frustration. “Okay, then. Coffee with your best friend. Just send me a text next time.”

“Next time, I’ll send a full report and a pie chart detailing my whereabouts,” she replied, the teasing lilt in her voice easing the tension that had built between them.

“Deal,” he said, unable to suppress a grin. “But if you leave me hanging again, I might just order my private investigator to track you down.”

“Okay, about that. You didn’t answer my question earlier. Why do you have a private investigator?” Allison’s voice was full of curiosity, and Angelo could picture her eyes shining with curiosity.

He laughed, an embarrassing snort coming out.

Both Angelo and Katerina inherited their mother’s laugh. Their features were split between their parents but the way they laughed had always been the same as their mother’s. It had sounded the same ever since he was a baby, just like Katia’s and exactly like their mother’s. Loud, deep and with cute little snorts.

It’s only cute when they do it, though. No man should snort like a pig.

“Come on, spill! I’m waiting over here,” Allison’s joking interrupted Angelo’s thoughts and launched a different turmoil in his mind.

How was Angelo supposed to explain to Allison that he had hired Talon Blackwood to dig up any dirt on her father’s—and, by extension, her—business? How could he justify his search for the immoral tactics Oliver Lockwood might have used to force this merger?

Sure, he had managed to put a stop to this idiotic move, but he still needed hard evidence on why it was happening. Something more substantial than just saying, “I don’t like him.”

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