Page 105 of Venomous Vows

I inhale and blow out some of my growing anxiety and guilt for starting this in the first place. “I think I may be if he finds me tonight.”

“Think he will?”

“Not sure how long it takes to track a phone,” I reply with curiosity. “He’d have to find or call someone.”

“They’d have to start up their laptop and software.”

“Then grab my number from Adrian.”

“Then hear him ranting and raving about him or her hurrying up because he lacks all patience.”

We chuckle together like two assholes.

“Thirty minutes?” I guess. “Maybe forty-five?”

“That person would have to be up, though. It’s two in the morning.”

I hum my agreeance. “Think they’d have to be on call all the time?”

“Mhm, you’d wonder if they work for a bunch of criminals, you know? Maybe they have balance and leave their phone on Do Not Disturb.”

“One could hope. Maybe you shouldn’t be in here if Adrian comes SWAT teaming through the door.”

“I think I should,” my sister counters. “Might calm him down.”

“He’d just order you out.”

“Yeah, but the wait is going to kill me.” She taps the screen of my phone. “Start a timer and move over. I want to see how long this idiot takes to find you.”

35

ADRIAN

She’s not answeringmy text messages anymore nor my phone calls, so I know she’s put her phone on silent or she’s sleeping.

Sleeping.

That woman is, more than likely, havingnoproblems sleeping like a baby while I’m in the middle of losing my entire fucking mind over where she is and why she thought I was going to let this go.

This can’t happen.

She can’t stride off in the middle of the night with zero protection and without my knowing where she is.

I won’t stand for it.

And I won’t sit around here and fucking wait for another second while my men swear up and down that she didn’t slip past them.

ELENA: Go to bed, Adrian.

My jaw locks as I sit in the passenger seat of one of my SUVs while Horace drives. We’re on our way to another hotel to see if she’s there and I’ll more than likely have to threaten anotheremployee to tell me the truth while they stutter and mutter the answers in fear that’ll take them a whole two minutes to get out.

ADRIAN: Why would I do that when I’m having so much fun looking for you,piccola diavola? The ideas running through my head of all the things I’m going to do to you have kept me up.

ELENA: It’s not that serious, I promise you.

She must be out of her damn mind right now.

Elena knows damn well this would drive me insane. It’s punishment for leaving her behind. For not doing what she wanted me to do because my little spitfire wishes for things done her way.

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