“I didn’t know how hungry you’d be,” he murmured. “So I made all of the things I know you like.”
She laughed in spite of the anguish that had ridden her all day. “It’s perfect. I think I know who to call the next time I need to feed an army of starving kids.”
She sat down and ate, amazed to find she did have an appetite after all.
Once she’d had her fill, she and Asher headed out from the ranch and made the drive in to Las Vegas to begin searching for the kids.
They started with the parks and shelters in and around the Strip. They’d found plenty of kids and young teens hanging around, but none of the group they were hoping to locate.
They had even driven past some of the seedy areas of the city, through industrial lots and freight depots, some of the places desperate kids tended to look for shelter when they had no better options.
As the night wore on, Naomi couldn’t hide her frustration. Or her fear.
“I hate knowing they’re out here somewhere and don’t know I’m looking for them. What if they run, Asher? What if we never find them?”
“We will,” he assured her, his deep voice determined. “We’ll search the whole damned state and more if we have to.”
She nodded and sat back, looking out the truck’s window at the flashing casino lights and soaring high-rise hotels. Casino Moda stood out like a tower made of diamonds, all the way up to the winking beacon lights on its rooftop helipad. Sleek, inviting. No hint at all of the monster who dwelled inside.
Asher cleared his throat. “Maybe we should drive past Michael’s house.”
She had deliberately avoided asking him to go there, not at all ready to revisit the place that would always be the source of her worst nightmares now. But Asher was right. They had to try everything.
At her nod, he turned on to the street that would take them into the residential area off the Strip. She reached over and grasped his hand as they turned on to Michael’s street. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until the truck approached the darkened house and Michael’s van still parked in the driveway. The air in her lungs leaked out of her on a ragged sob.
“It hurts so bad, Asher.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He brought her fingers up to his lips and kissed them.
“I can’t ever come back here again. Neither can any of the kids who lived here.”
He nodded, turning a solemn look on her. “You don’t have to. None of you do. There’s plenty of room for everyone out at the ranch.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. We’ll find a way to make it work.”
Her heart leapt inside her rib cage. She tried to reach him for a hug, but her seatbelt restrained her. “Shit.” Laughing in spite of her tears, she popped the buckle and threw her arms around him, peppering his face with grateful kisses.
He bent his head to hers, a smile playing at the edges of his sensual mouth. “Maybe I should pull over if you’re going to do that.”
She was so swept up in the moment that the sudden ringing of her phone in her back pocket took a second to register.
Michael’s ringtone again, only this time it hit her senses like a hammer on glass.
“Oh, my God.”
Asher’s face darkened even as his eyes lit up with fire. He veered over to the curb and put the truck in park. “If it’s Slater, let me handle it.”
But she already had the phone at her ear. “Hello.”
“You disappoint me, Narumi.” Slater’s voice sliced through her. “I would’ve thought my message today was clear enough. And yet you still haven’t brought my money.”
“I told you, I don’t have it. I have some, but—”
“All of it,” he cut in sharply. “That was my demand.”
Asher’s eyes blazed as he listened next to Naomi. If Slater were in arm’s reach, Naomi had no doubt that Asher would already have torn the man’s throat out with his bare hands.
