Page 13 of His To Protect

“Agreed and yes, she mentioned her grandparents were dead. Lilianna knew her parents were loaded.” Jack stood and began pacing. “Something’s bugging me, but I can’t quite formulate it yet. I’ve gotta think on it. I’ll call you later.”

“You got it, partner,” Pete said, this time in a cowboy drawl.

Jack ignored his playfulness and signed off with a quick goodbye, running a hand through his hair. He was tired. He should have slept while Alexis had. He looked at the time. It was getting late. After eight and they hadn’t eaten. He’d have a quick shower and get some food.

Jack tapped lightly on the door. “Lexi?” He didn’t know where the nickname had come from but it was better than honey or baby for now. At least until he made her his.

The thought hit him in the gut. Is that really what he wanted? Shoving the thought away, he tapped again. No answer. She must have fallen asleep. He considered opening the door but then had an image of her asleep, skirt up and tangled at her waist, surrounded by rose petals and lit candles, and he shook his head, his cock already rising to attention.

He’d let her sleep.

The receptionist,a different one than earlier, but still friendly and eager to please, recommended a restaurant called Malu Restaurante which was just down the road—an easy walk and had take-out. As Jack walked to restaurant, he passed little food stands serving empanadas and tamales that smelled amazing but he kept walking. It felt good to move and helped his mind work.

He thought of Alexis and how he was going to tell her that her parents—or mother at least, was likely the one duping her. Jack decided right then, that he would be gentler than he’d been with her before. She was a strange combination of tough and sensitive, smart and naive. He shook his head thinking it, but smiled. That damn girl intrigued him to no end.

He grabbed them a few things not knowing what Alexis might like, gnocchi goulash, soup, chicken and chips and walked back twice as fast, eager to fill his stomach. The fruit that was in the room had kept the hangry away, but he needed real sustenance, and she hadn’t even eaten the fruit as far as he knew. He should have gone sooner, he thought guiltily. He needed to take better care of her.

She still wasn’t out of the bedroom when Jack got back. He looked at his watch, worried and was about to chalk it up to jet lag when his gut urged him to check. He eyed the gnocchi and grumbled at his stomach to be patient as he went to the door.

This time after a quick knock, Jack walked in. His gut dropped instantly. Alexis had clearly left an impression in the bedspread but that was the only thing left of her in the room. Jack spun, jogging to check the bathroom. When he found that empty, he looked for a note.

Nothing.

Jack’s eyes landed on the coffee table. On his pencil specifically. It was alone, out of place by itself. The note with the address written in big pink loopy handwriting was gone. As gone as Alexis Riker.

Shit!

The receptionist hadn’t seen her, but when Jack went outside to look up and down the street, a bellboy on his motorcycle freshly off-duty spoke to him.

“You looking for the girl? The one with the hair?” The bellboy, wearing a nametag engraved with the name Carlos, waved his hand chaotically around his dark mop of hair. His accent was strong but he spoke clearly. Jack nodded and the young man pointed up the road.

“She left just after you,” Carlos yelled, but Jack was already running. “In a taxi,” he added. Thankfully Jack had studied Samuel’s address so long earlier it was stuck in his mind.

He flagged down the first taxi he saw.

Alexis had a good half an hour on him and that was more than enough time to get herself in serious trouble with two criminals.

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