Page 52 of Filthy Desire

The penthouse was quiet. Too much so. What used to be comforting to him was now unsettling.

Funny how he’d gotten used to her presence already. Now all he wanted to do was make it official.

Heading back to the kitchen, he grabbed one of the sandwiches that his housekeeper had prepared. Then he finished his business calls and got dressed.

* * *

4:30 rolled aroundbut Kara hadn’t returned. Odd. She was punctual.

He texted her but got no reply. A strange knot formed in his stomach. He texted Tiko but also, no response.

The silence was shattered by a knock at the door.

“Gio, it’s Tiko. Open up, hurry!”

Gio ran to the door and opened it. Tiko’s face was covered in blood, a large gash on his lip and one near his eye.

“What happened? Were’s Kara?”

“He took her. He…” Tiko gasped, bending over. “Some guy named Colton took her.”

Then Tiko collapsed.

Gio’s heart did the same.

Kara

“You’re going to regret this,” Kara spat out.

She was tied up to a rusty chair in a damp basement, somewhere not Manhattan.

Queens? Jersey? Probably Queens. That was her best guess because she paid attention while she was tied up in the back of the sedan. She recognized the sound the car made as they drove over a bridge. And it hadn’t taken that long.

She’d been tasered, her and Tiko, as they were leaving El Sol.

Tiko…she hoped he was okay. She was shaky, her memories foggy, and her head ached.

“I don’t think so. I’ve got Gio Ferraro’s woman. I’ve already won,” Colton Verano sneered at her.

“How did you get out of Mexico so fast?”

“It’s called bribing customs and chartering a private jet, bitch. And what’s with the questions? I told you already to shut up.”

“Then why didn’t you gag me?”

Colton ignored her and focused on his phone. He thought she was a stupid bitch. Gio’s kept woman. But he was so fucking wrong.

Yes, Colton had taken her phone. But Kara hadn’t lived in NYC for ten years and not learned a thing or two. Especially given her line of work. There was competition in the high-end escort business, and she’d been threatened before. She’d had a microchip with GPS installed in one of her earrings. A panic button of sorts. One push and it triggered an alarm system. She hadn’t been able to trigger it when she was tasered but as soon as she’d woken up in the trunk of that car, she grabbed hold of her earring.

A notification would be sent out. Up until last week, it would have gone to Tiko. But she’d added Gio to that list and he should’ve received the text.

All she had to do now was play her part and wait. Get Colton to talk and ensure she bought herself time for Gio to find her.

She knew he would. She had absolute faith in Gio.

Faith that she meant something to him. Faith in his feelings for her. And hers for him.

She loved him.

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