Page 188 of Filthy Savage

I choke on a gasp.

“Should we call the authorities?” she asks.

“No!” Terror grips me.

No cops. My mother is unstable, especially when she’s high. She could be with someone who wants to get money from me for Fia.

“I’ll take care of it. Thanks.”

Hanging up, I try to slip the phone into my bag, but it jitters and crashes on the ground again.

Emily picks it up, alarm in her gaze. “What’s going on? Does someone have Fia?”

Someone walks into the bathroom, and that has me keeping my tone low as I pull Emily out. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Of course! Anything.”

“Stay here for five minutes so I can sneak out from the back without Roy finding out. Can you do that?”

“Amara, you’re really scaring me. If Fia’s in danger, you should call Fionn.”

“NO!” I grab her wrist, showing her the photo and the words on the back so she understands that she can’t say a damn word.

She gasps, cupping her mouth.

“My mother has her.”

“I swear…” Her voice breaks. “If she hurts that girl, I’m gonna kill her.”

“Me too.” My heart feels like someone’s carving it out.

And it’s right at this moment that I realize maybe I’m not so different from Fionn. Maybe Konstantin was right about it all.

When those you love are hurt, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to stop it.

I pick up my cell from the cup holder for the third time, wanting to call Fionn, wanting to tell him. But I chicken out at the last minute. Countless thoughts go through my head.

What if I call him and she ends up dead? What if not calling him will do the same?

I don’t know what to do!

“Ahhh!” I let out a wild scream, gripping the steering wheel tight in my hands.

A woman in the car beside mine glances at me like I’ve lost my mind as we both wait for the red light to turn green. As soon as it does, I accelerate, gunning down the road, hoping the cops don’t stop me. But I can’t waste time.

All I have is this address. Some house on a residential block. Not a bad area, either. Why would my mother be there? Maybe her boyfriend lives there?

My pulse beats through my temples, my heart ready to give out. This woman has taken so much from me. She won’t take my daughter too.

The phone rings, and I find Fionn’s name staring back at me.

My body breaks with hives, my heartbeats shuddering in my chest. I click ignore, but he calls again. And again.

By the time he finds me, I’ll have Fia back. He can be mad then. At least that’s what I hope happens. In the back of my head, though, I fear we may both end up dead.

Twenty minutes later, and I’m in front of a red brick two-story home, the white picket fence open, obviously waiting for my arrival. With my body trembling, I step out, holding my phone in my hand, my legs weighing a million pounds as I rush up the steps, trying the door.

It opens instantly.

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