Page 31 of Daddy's Desire

“Go home. If I hear anything, I’ll call you right away. Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

“I just hope she’s somewhere safe,” Ronin said.

“Me, too. Get some sleep.”

“Hey, thank you. I appreciate all your help.”

Darian chuckled. “It’s no problem. It’s like I’ve said a hundred times that we daddies have to stick together, or our littles would drive us crazy.”

Ronin laughed. “I can see that.”

“Yeah. We can, too. Talk to you later.”

Ronin sat back and closed his eyes. He knew he should head home and get some much-needed sleep, but the thought of her out in the world on her own terrified him.

He glanced back at the door to the hotel. He needed to see if she was checked in there before he could go home, or he’d never be able to sleep. He walked up to the counter.

“May I help you, sir,” the young man said.

“Could you check and see if Courtney Warner has a room here?”

The man automatically shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. It’s our policy not to give out information. We never know if the person asking is good or bad.”

Ronin sighed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir. Have a good evening.”

Ronin made it home and didn’t remember the drive there. His thoughts were so full of Courtney and her safetythat he couldn’t concentrate. Fortunately, he didn’t cause any accidents.

He showered and fell into bed. He thought he’d have trouble falling asleep, but he was so tired he was out within a few minutes. His sleep was not restful. He couldn’t get Courtney from his dreams, which turned into nightmares.

Ronin vowed to find her, and when he did, he’d make sure she knew where she stood with him. He wasn’t going to take the chance that she’d disappear again.

By the time daylight crept through the curtains in his bedroom, he was up, showered, and ready to go with a plan on how to find his little one.

He’d slowly go insane if he didn’t find her soon.

Chapter Thirteen

Courtney woke the next morning with a headache and stomach cramps and felt like she hadn’t slept at all.

It didn’t help that she’d been so upset the night before she’d forgotten to eat. Although she’d eaten the day before and was used to being hungry when she’d been with her mother, the last few days she’d had whole meals and was full for the first time in years. Now that shehad them, when her stomach was empty, it felt worse than when she lived with her mother.

God, she didn’t want to think of her mother and her deception. When they found out her mother had been taking money from her account, she’d been furious. Her father’s will stated that Courtney would get half the inheritance when she turned eighteen and the other half when she was twenty-one, and her mother had lied to her for years about it.

When she left the bank, her emotions toward her mother were very close to becoming hatred. She’d once again turned her life upside-down.

Fortunately, James, the lawyer, helped her set up an account in her name and put some of her inheritance in it to tide her over for a while. The bank card and credit card they ordered would be sent to James’s office. She would check in every day to see if they had been sent. Until then, she needed to find an apartment and a job—not that she needed one, but she couldn’t just sit around with nothing to do. Otherwise, she’d slowly go mad.

With a sigh, she pulled herself out of bed and walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she almost smiled. Since her hair had still been damp when she had laid down the night before, it was now matted and sticking up, making her look slightly deranged.

For the next hour, she concentrated on making herselfpresentable. She didn’t want to go for interviews or look at condos while not looking her best. She was thankful she’d bought a nice outfit in the hotel lobbyafter her haircut.

Courtney called down to the kitchen for some toast and scrambled eggs. She needed to get something in her stomach. While she waited for her food, she made a list of things she needed to do. In addition to looking for a place to live and work, she needed to get herself a phone so she could contact the girls and her lawyer.

She made herself eat all the food and drink all the juice, and she was pleased that it helped with her headache and the way her hands shook.

Courtney walked off the elevator to the desk. “I’m in Room 601,” she said to the guy behind the desk when she got his attention. She could tell he was stressed about something and then heard a couple beside her talking in Italian. “What’s wrong?”

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