Page 106 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

Nia shook her head. “No. Look, are we sure he took her? Have you checked all the places she would have gone?”

I nodded. “She’s not at the condo. She’s not at Sugar. She didn’t go back to the party at Salazar Nights. She wasn’t here, obviously,” I gestured around the room. “I don’t know where else to look. I sure as hell don’t think he drove her all the way back to her hometown.”

“Did you see if her car was in the parking garage at Salazar Heights? He could’ve dropped her there and then she might’ve driven home.”

“I didn’t think of that,” I said. “Let’s go.”

On the way, Jelly looked at me with sharp eyes. “Why’d she run away from you in the first place?”

“What?” The question startled me, coming out of left field like it had.

Jelly just stared at me, waiting for an answer.

“We, uh, had a fight. She left while I was upstairs getting something. I assumed she was heading to Cinnamon House, but then I saw her get in that van. It flipped me out.”

“Because you knew she had a stalker.” Jelly concluded.

“Right.” She was making me nervous. Was she suspicious?

“Hmm.” Jelly let out a little hum and stared out the window. We were almost at the parking garage.

This was the last place I knew to look for Daisy. If her car wasn’t here, I could at least think she was safe at home in Crosston. But if it wasn’t here? I was going to be convinced the guy from Dinardo’s Deli had her. Ivan.

I grabbed the ‘oh, shit’ handle as Jelly practically caught air she zoomed into the parking garage so fast. I directed her to Daisy’s parking spot, though I thought she probably already knew where it was.

All three of us were quiet as Jelly pulled to a stop behind Daisy’s car. It was here, tucked safely in its spot.

But where the hell was Daisy?

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Daisy

Something warm was on my face. I rubbed at it, eyes still closed, hoping it would go away. It didn’t. I could feel whatever it was warming my skin to the point of being uncomfortable. My eyes fluttered open against my wishes. I wassotired.

I sat up and stretched, realizing I had kind of a crick in my neck from sleeping weird. The sun was streaming through a window and had landed right in my face. That’s what awakened me.

I yawned, then looked around me. And froze.

Where the hell was I?

I was sitting on a green velvet sofa that had seen better days. No wonder I had a crick, I thought. I’d slept there last night. I stood up and walked around a little, stretching and trying to work the kinks out of my body while trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind.

What had happened last night?

Memories flooded my mind, unwelcome and hurtful. “Oh God.” I sat back on the sofa and put my head in my hands. How could I have fallen for Jack so hard when he was a stalker?

But something wasn’t right here. This wasn’t Nia’s house. Hadn’t I asked Ivan to take me to her house? I wondered if when I fell asleep he’d brought me here instead. I looked around. Was this his place?

I tried to remember if he’d ever said anything over the years about where he lived. He hadn’t that I could recall. In fact, I couldn’t remember Ivan ever giving out details about his personal life. Not even to brag to the other cooks about who hewas dating… or banging… at the moment.

I took in the dark wood paneling on the walls, the aging carpet on the floor, and the way the windows were small and well above eye level. I was in someone’s finished basement.

I walked around until I found a staircase leading up to a closed wooden door. I stared at it. The stairwell was dark, and I could see light streaming into the basement from a crack under the door.

Had Ivan brought me home last night? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in the catering van from the deli. If he’d brought me home, why had he left me in the basement? I walked around. There was a short hallway that led to a bathroom and a bedroom that seemed to double as a storage room. Boxes were stacked all over the floor and covered the bed. There was no way anyone was sleeping down here.

So… why was I in the basement? I noticed a door to the outside and breathed a sigh of relief. For a crazy moment, I’d thought Ivan had me locked in down here.