Page 167 of Innocent Intentions

“If you don’t find her soon, call Bash. He’ll pull camera footage.” Dom hesitates. Then, quieter. “I hope you find her. Call me when you do.”

“I will.”

I hang up and leave the ballroom.

I comb through the hotel lobby, checking the bar, even asking the concierge. Nothing. No one’s seen her.

Twenty minutes pass.

She promised she’d stay put. Where is she?

I dial Bash. No answer.

I call again. Still nothing.

The third call he picks up on the first ring.

“What the fuck, Matthias? You’re cockblocking me right now. Literally. My dick is in my hand and… Caroline, right?”

A feminine voice corrects him.

Classy.

“You’re at the gala, right?”

That snaps me out of it.

“Pick up your fucking phone when one of us calls. Especially at this hour.”

I pause. I don’t want to say it. I don’t want it to be true.

“Margot’s missing.”

It comes out a whisper.

He goes silent. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Tell me everything.”

I hear rustling, then the woman arguing. He tells her to leave in a cold, sharp tone I’ve never heard from him before.

He’s moving. His office door opens. His keyboard clicking sounds through the phone.

“We’re still at the gala. I stepped out to take a call from Dom. Maybe five minutes, max. When I got back, she was gone. I checked everywhere. Dom said no one left or came in.”

“How long ago?”

I check my watch. “Thirty-two minutes.”

He inhales sharply.

It’s been too long. She could be anywhere.

“Okay, I’m in their system. Where did you leave her and what was she wearing?”

“Northwest corner of the ballroom. Jade green dress, some sparkly shit on it.”

“I see her. She’s debating something. Looks like she needs to pee. She does this little wiggle.”

God, I love that wiggle.

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