Page 27 of Chained to You (Dark Billionaires 6)

James nodded, and a moment later, he left the hospital.

In the parking lot, he got into his Lamborghini and rested his head against the seat.

Fuck, he was tired. Of course, there was no time for him to rest. At least not yet anyway. There was a shitload to be done, and then there was the meeting with Matt and William late this afternoon, too. He knew both men were getting more than a little impatient since their respective lovers were eager to see Mia before any of them flew back to Vegas. Besides, neither Matt nor William wanted to waste any more time idling when they had multibillion-dollar businesses to run—and of course a few unsavory underground businesses that had violated their terms and conditions, which they had to destroy.

When he arrived home an hour later, he was greeted by his bright, cheerful daughter, which made him smile despite his tiredness.

Aria ran up to him in excitement, her little arms opened wide. “Daddy! Daddy!”

Behind the little girl was Ms. Lane, who had prepped her for the day, and of course, both canines, Sammy and Alfie, who barked animatedly at the sight of him.

James chuckled in delight as he came down to his knees at the entrance of the house. Once Aria was within reach, he pulled her little body into his strong arms and then lifted her up. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he greeted. “You didn’t cause any trouble for Savannah or Ms. Lane, did you?”

Aria wrapped her arms around her dad’s shoulders as she shook her dark head. “No, I didn’t,” she said and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. When she was done, she continued. “Daddy, you promised I’d get to see Mia today.”

James made a show of nodding his head. “That I did.”

“Yay! So can we go now? Can we, Daddy? Please, Daddy?” Aria asked excitedly.

James shook his head. “We can’t go now. It’s a weekday. You must go to school. You can see Mia this evening. Now go and get some breakfast, and I’ll drop you off at school after.” He gently put her back down on the floor.

Aria nodded with a big grin on her face. “Okay.” She giggled. “I can’t wait to tell Savannah when she comes down ‘cause she can’t wait to see Mia, too.” With that, she dashed from the foyer toward the kitchen at the back of the house, Ms. Lane following close behind her.

When his daughter was out of sight, James went up to his room, made a few phone calls, and then quickly showered. Once he was done and immaculately dressed in a powerful suit, he came down for breakfast. In the dining room, he noted Aria was chatting enthusiastically with Savannah, who was staying with them because Aria had asked her to and, of course, to the agreement of William.

Once Savannah saw him, she asked meekly, “Good morning, Mr. Maxwell. Aria told me we can visit Mia this evening?”

James nodded as he took a seat. “Hmm.”

Savannah leaned forward and asked, “How is she doing? Oh, and maybe I should bring her some stuff? Like bathroom essentials and clothing. She probably needs those, right?”

James thought about this for a moment and nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea. Mia would be pleased. Ask Ms. Lane to help you with that.”

“Sure,” Savanah said.

As he was reaching out for a piece of toast, James wondered why he hadn’t thought about bringing Mia essential things like toiletries and clothing. Then again, his mind had been so consumed with fear and worry about her since the night of her kidnapping that nothing else seemed that important.

After finishing a hearty breakfast of toast and strong black coffee, James dropped Aria off at school before heading to the office.

It was well after two in the afternoon when James managed to get himself some lunch. He had been busy meeting potential future business partners from overseas. He and Matt had recently planned on expanding their hotel, casino, and resort business to Singapore and Hong Kong, the next hot sites within the travelling and tourism industry.

He was still enjoying his club sandwich when Matt and William walked in. After greeting each other, William took a seat on the leather couch while Matt helped himself to James’s sandwiches sitting on the coffee table.

“How goes the meeting?” Matt asked as he, too, took a seat in an armchair across from William.

“Good,” James said. “Singapore looks promising.”

“Wonderful,” Matt said.

“And what about your side?” James asked.

“Hong Kong looks promising, too,” Matt said, chuckling. “Might take Andy there when I’m on a business trip next time.”

James nodded. “Hmm… Mia would love that as well. She’s never been overseas.”

William rolled his eyes. “Can we quit talking about your endless business expansion and future holiday destinations now and get straight to why we’re here? When the fuck are we going to get the ball rolling and shut those bastards down?”

Both James and Matt instantly knew William was referring to the prostitution auction operating in Vegas, within their territory. It was the same place where William had won the bidding for Savannah for just over five million. Of course, apart from the fact that the illegal human trafficking business was hurting a lot of innocent people, especially young girls, William had a personal agenda with the CEO and wanted the bastard and the business gone as soon as possible. Hence, his impatience.

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