Page 31 of Naughty Santa Daddy

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle Granny and Drake.”

Just then, the sound of my cell phone ringing fills the room. I drop another kiss on her lips before I plant my fists into the mattress to hoist myself up. I groan when my body slides from hers, and from the hitch of her breath, the torture wasn’t just on my end.

I dig into the pocket of my jeans discarded on the floor and pull out my phone. My eyes go to Alex when I see the name on the screen. She watches me, pulling on the sheet to tuck around her as she gets to her knees on the mattress. I don’t answer the question in her eyes as I swipe my finger across the screen.

I put the phone to my ear and bark, “Talk to me.”

“Her parents are safe and out of the house,” Miller’s hard voice says. “Minor smoke inhalation was the extent of the injuries, but half the house is toast.”

I let out a breath of relief. Thank fuck for that. At least I can give my woman some good news.

“Where are they now?” I ask Miller.

“Safe house by the coast. They said Alex will know where. I was informed by her father to tell you to bring her there immediately.”

I grunt into the phone. “Not happening. She’s not leaving my side until this shit is over.”

“I figured. I told him as much, but he was insistent.” He pauses for a moment. “You claimin’ her?”

I don’t even need to think about my answer. “Yes.”

As I make my claim, I keep my eyes on Alex. She sits with her hands balled into fists on her lap, her expression anxious. I want to go to her and wrap her in my protective arms, reassure her that everything will be okay. And then, once she’s safely asleep, I want to find the bastards who orchestrated her kidnapping and rip the flesh from their bones.

“I’ll leave it up to you on how you want to handle that,” Miller says, pulling my attention back to the conversation.

“Wash and that situation?” I intentionally keep my question vague.

“Ran like a fucking coward.” I can hear the rage radiating through the phone line. “Dawg and Rabbit are missing too.”

My jaw clenches, and my blood turns to a slow boil.

“And the other one?”

“Dante and Enzo are on his trail. They’ll inform us once they have him in custody.”

“Keep me posted.”

I hang up and toss my phone on the end of the bed. I’m not too worried about Carlo Allegrini. Dante and Enzo seemed like they’re capable men, and Alex’s father is the head of the Allegrini mafia. You don’t get to be in that position because you’re weak. Carlo is a dead man walking; it’s only a matter of time before his fate catches up to him.

“My parents?” Alessandra asks. I can hear the worry in her voice and the emotion tightens my gut.

“Safe,” I respond, and her shoulders appear to lose a hundred-pound weight. “At a house by the coast.”

She nods, blowing out a long breath of air. “A cottage my father had built for my mother years ago. No one knows about it but him, my mother, and me.”

I walk to the end of the bed and hold my hand out. She drops the sheet and knees her way to me, placing her palm trustingly in mine. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I hoist her up and take a seat, settling her on my lap so she’s straddling me.

“Do they know who ordered my kidnapping?”

My eyes drop to the bruises and scrapes on her thighs. She has more scrapes on her palms and a small nick on her chin. I know there are more wounds on her body. I haven’t had time to do a full assessment.

I don’t want to have to tell her it was a trusted member of her family. Or that someone betrayed the club and was in cahoots with her uncle. But she has a right to know. She needs to be prepared.

I keep my arm around her waist and brush away a clump of her gorgeous hair from her face, keeping my palm on her cheek.

“It was your Uncle Carlo.”

Her mouth falls open, and a look of betrayal contorts her expression. “You have to be wrong.”

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