Page 22 of Fire

“You going to do long distance?”

“Until I can convince her otherwise, yeah. I’m not letting her go.”

He lets out a whistle. “Better turn up the charm. Jasmine likes surprises. Maybe try that route.”

“I was thinking about stopping and getting her some roses on the way home,” I admit.

“I was thinking more along the lines of pulling over to the side of the road and surprise her by letting her ride your face. That’s my woman’s favorite.”

“Asshole,” I grumble.

“Hey, just stating the truth. My woman is perfect.”

I shake my head, fighting my laughter. Dumbass doesn’t need encouragement. “Check in as soon as you get the information. I want to deal with Grace’s grandmother sooner rather than later.”

“You got it. Is it safe to call Jasmine and tell her that her man is coming home tonight?”

“See what you can find out for me. We’ll talk when I get there, but yeah, you can leave after that.”

“Sounds good,” he says, hanging up.

I put my cell back in my pocket and walk inside. I go to the coffee place and then take a chance on her being back in the room. After checking the shopping area and still not finding Grace, I’m starting to panic.

I spot Vector and his old lady along with his second ahead of me, sitting at a table. “Hey, have any of you seen Grace?” I call out, doing a poor job of keeping my voice even. Vector looks confused for a second, but I notice him and Roman both look at Sloane.

“Yeah, a bit ago. She was going to the bathroom, calling her son, then upstairs to meet you,” she responds, standing up. “I’ll go check the bathroom.”

Vector pushes his chair back to rise, holding a hand up to stop Roman. “Settle the bill for us.”

I follow Sloane, Vector beside me as she walks to where I assume she last talked to my woman. She turns down what appears to be a service hall between the mall and the hotel lobby.

Tension is ratcheting up inside of me. When Vector tells his woman to go wait for Roman, I figure he feels it, too. I mostlytune the asshole out. I don’t know what he did to my woman, but I can gather that whatever it was, it hurt Grace. That means he’s not my favorite person right now. The only reason I haven’t demanded to know and decked him is because I’m halfway thankful to the man for screwing up and giving me a chance to claim Grace for my own. That’s only going to give him so much leeway though—especially if he is the reason she seems so broken at times. I take a deep breath and casually open the bathroom door—not wanting to alert anyone that hell is about to rain down on them if they are hurting my woman.

Anger curls up inside of me, clashing with fear when the room appears empty. I kick open the stall doors, calling her name. “Grace! Grace, baby, are you in here?” When the stalls are empty, my guts churn. “Motherfucker,” I growl.

I stomp out of the room, Vector right there. We walk towards Sloane, who has Roman with her now. I ignore them. I spotted an exit door ahead. I want to make sure there’s no sign of her there. I don’t think Grace left—at least not willingly. Nothing I’ve discovered tells me that the Korslovas would come after her, but I can’t discount it either.

The door has a red sign that shows an alarm will sound if you try to exit through it. Good, let everyone come to me. If I can’t find her, I want to see all the security footage available. My anger threatens to boil over when the alarm doesn’t sound as I thrust the door open. The only thing worse is the bone chilling fear that blooms inside of me. I’m trying not to overreact, but the problem is, I don’t think I am.I feel like something is wrong.

I look around outside but see nothing out of place. I turn back inside, scanning the area more closely. Vector is annoying me, staring at everything I’m doing. I wave them over. Until I get my men here to help, I need to play nice. I can’t help it. I just feel he hurt my woman, so I want him away from her.

Just as Vector turns to join us, something catches my eye. “That’s hers,” I mutter, pointing to a heart-shaped locket on the end of a broken chain. It’s caught in a crack in the tile on the floor. I nod toward the security cameras—unsure if I can find my voice. Luckily, Vector’s VP picks up on what I mean.

“There are two other cameras along this hallway,” Roman responds immediately.

“Should we call the …” Sloane begins, but I shoot her a look filled with fury. I’m going to find the sons of bitches who did this.

“Doesn’t King know the head of security here?” Vector asks. “Let’s track her on the feed.”

I nod, grabbing the necklace. I open the locket and a feeling that I’m completely unfamiliar with hits me when I see Asher’s face staring back at me. Fuck. Fuck.Fuck!I take off walking, fishing my phone out of my pocket to call King. I stop quickly and look back at Vector as I get my keycard out. “Vec, can she sit in my room? In case Grace is just …”

“Yeah, man, of course. Roman, you stay with Sloane,” Vector immediately replies, looking between the three of us as he puts together a plan. “Like fucking glue, until we have this figured out. Babe, call me if you think of anything or if she shows up. I’ll be with Ford.”

I hand Sloane the key, ignoring the bitterness I feel as he makes sure Sloane is taken care of. Maybe if the asshole had taken that care with Grace earlier on, the Korslova family wouldn’t have targeted her. I can’t say shit, though. I should have watched over her better. I should have made sure she stayed safe. It doesn’t matter if they have left her alone all this time. They were still a threat, and I just left her unguarded.Jesus.Where the fuck was my brain?

I grab my phone and dial King’s number. It takes two rings before I hear his voice, and every ring feels like a knife slicinginto me with a white-hot scorching pain. “Hey, Ford. I was just?—”

“King, I need the head of security here at the casino.”

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