Page 51 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

When he said that, I remembered my friend Joel Castellanos told us he’d received help from a man named Salazar back in Las Vegas when Faith’s daughter was kidnapped by her ex, Aiden Bradford.

“Technically, I don’t think that’s exactly true,” I said, stupidly risking losing his help.

“¿Disculpe?”Excuse mehe said in Spanish. Thank God for high school foreign language requirements.

“You helped my friends, Joel & Faith Castellanos during their situation earlier this year.”

“¡No me jodas!”he spat, which I knew was slang for something liken toFuck me!“These are friends of yours?”

“Yes, very good friends.” A slight exaggeration. We did know one another well, but it wasn’t as though we spent holidays or birthdays together. “I’m an architect. My company built The Alexandra in Las Vegas and many of his other locations around the world.”

“That was you? He’s mentioned your work is top notch.”

“Yes.”

“Beautiful building. Would you consider building one for me, at half the cost? I have found that my legitimate businesses are doing quite well, and I need a new headquarters. Nothing as grand as The Alexandra—”

I cut him off. “Mr. Salazar, I will build you a fucking castle in the middle of the ocean at my expense. I just want my daughter and Alana back. Please…anything you can do.”

“I need to make a few calls. I’ll be in touch soon. Don’t do anything stupid like call the police,” he warned.

My heart stopped. “I…I…”

“You already did.¡Mierda!Why is it I’m suddenly connected to all of these law abiding, morally sound, richhijos de puta?”I think he just called me a motherfucker, but I couldn’t be sure. “This is bad for my image,” he grumbled and then abruptly hung up.

I immediately pulled up the location app on my phone and logged in. Emily’s tracker was moving at sixty miles per hour and headed down a highway toward Paris.

She’s close.

“He has Alana and Emily,” Maia whispered, her gaze also on the small dot that represented my daughter’s phone.

I nodded because there really wasn’t anything more to say.

“When they call us, offer me up in exchange. He went for me first for some reason. That could mean he wants me more than her. I’ll absolutely take her place,” Maia offered.

This woman… I pressed my lips to her forehead in a hard and fast kiss.

I shook my head and cupped her cheeks. “No Maia, he’s not getting you too. We’ll get her and Alana back, no matter what it costs. My guess is he’ll ask for a ransom.”

“You think this is about money?” She cocked her head to the side, seemingly uncertain of the direction of my thoughts.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is I’m a billionaire, and that often comes with people wanting a piece of you. To be honest, I hope money will get us out of this. I’d sign over every dollar I had for them.”

“You’re such a good man, Rhodes, but I don’t know if that’s what this individual wants. If you think about it, really think about it, he left me a note just like Alana’s. Remember?”

“’She ruined my life, I ruin yours,’” I stated flatly.

“Exactly. The person used the wordshe, which means they weren’t directing it at me per se, but to me because ofher. Then Alana’s said, ‘You ruined my life.’”

“What are you trying to say?”

She licked her lips as tears filled her eyes. “I think this person wants revenge against Alana. I don’t think it has anything to do with you or Emily or even me, for that matter.”

“Then why do you think they chose to harass you and take my daughter? They could have left her behind.”

“Collateral damage,” she whispered.

I closed my eyes as the truth behind those two words wove through my mind in endless circles, spinning down and around until all the pieces made sense. Maia was right.

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