Page 14 of Blissful Devotion

She leans back, seemingly without thought, into his touch, and a smile pulls at his lips.

“The Lawson name is well known, with a lot of money and competition,” Elio says, and I feel the weight of his words.

Competition has never been an issue before, never made our family unsafe.

“How long has it been?”

“Today is day three,” I tell them, nearly choking on the words.

Three days, but it’s felt like an eternity.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but so much could have happened in that time. She could be…

No! I can’t bring myself to even think like that.

We’re going to get her back. I won’t rest until I have her back in my arms where she belongs.

We ruled out “wrong place, wrong time” pretty easily. Vince said it felt targeted, and with our reputation, well, that just seems too much like a coincidence for me, and I don’t believe in coincidences.

No, this was planned and executed as a kidnapping, though we all seem to be able to agree that Kat probably wasn’t the intended target.

Addison.

The thought of her with my parents is chilling.

Are we leaving her open?

Will they try again?

No, we left all of Vince’s men, and we know we were under attack now; they won’t catch us off guard again.

“Today is still early. They may reach out. Often, they need to find a way to make contact that won’t trail back to them. Something that is becoming increasingly hard to do for the average Joe in the age of technology.” Trent looks to Spencer, and I know he’s the one Vince originally reached out to.

“Trent’s a cop,” Kratos says, clearly seeing the question written on our faces.

“The chief of police, actually,” Jade says, and I see the way she swells with pride. Strange, given what she is, but if it works for them, who am I to judge?

“Yeah, the good news is if they are dumb enough to leave a trail, we got a guy for that,” Jade says, jerking her thumb toward Spencer and confirming my suspicions.

“And if they don’t?” I ask, unable to stop myself.

“That doesn’t mean there’s no hope, just that it’s harder,” the usually quiet one, Roderick, says for the first time, looking over at Elio.

“Never impossible.” Elio nods, ‌his gaze‌ full of pride and admiration.

Jade shifts almost uncomfortably as her cheeks turn pink before she looks away, then back at me.

“We’re going to do everything we can to get Kat back, I promise.”

I believe her. I’m not sure what it is about her and her group; they're clearly dangerous, with more power than I can imagine, yet hearing Jade tell me they will do everything they can helps settle me, even if just the tiniest bit.

“Thank you.”

Jade nods and looks at her guys, who look just as serious.

“Give us a day to look into some stuff, and we can meet you back in the States at your estate if that’s okay?”

“Whatever you need,” I assure them.