Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
S AINT
The single word slips past my lips without hesitation.
Christian’s eyes narrow, and he shakes his head. “Not happening.”
“Then find someone else.” I start to shove up from my chair.
“Sit. Down.”
I pause, hovering just off the chair, meeting his gaze. The emotion that flickers in his eyes has me lowering back down. The silence stretches between us, pregnant and heavy.
“You want to marry her?” he asks in an incredulous tone.
“Yeah.” As an Imperiosi member, I have to ask the Capo’s permission before I marry someone.
“For fuck’s sake, Saint. I thought there was nothing going on between the pair of you.”
I just stare at him. I don’t owe him any explanations when it comes to my personal life.
“Do you really think you can have a real relationship, Saint?”
“Yeah.”
“But with someone like her? She’s a lot to handle, you know.”
“I can handle her just fine,” I grit out.
He gives me a hard look and shakes his head. “Fine,” he clips. “You can have her. But only if she agrees to marry you.”
“She’ll agree because it’ll keep her safe,” I reply. I shove up from the chair once more, hands stuffed into my pockets as I turn to the door.
“Saint.”
I’m mid-step when I stop, turning my head toward him.
“Just promise me you’ll find her before Carmine does.”
I give a silent nod and then walk to the door silently.
And once I’m away from him, the corner of my lip tugs up. That fucking worked. But he didn’t need to make me promise to find her. Because it’s not a promise. It’s a fucking guarantee.
* * *
I’m pissed.
I roll my shoulders to try and lessen some of the tension, but it’s futile. My hand smacks into the wall outside the apartment building where one of her friends lives. Emerald’s nowhere to be found, no matter where I look.
I’m agitated. I’m livid. No one is around to see the lapse, but that doesn’t make it better.
I want Emerald Fiorelli. I knew the moment I kissed her that there was no going back. There was no pretending. She’s fucking mine.
But tracking her down is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
I’ve always known that she’s a smart girl, and this just goes to prove it. Staying hidden is pretty hard when you’re up against someone like me who has limitless resources. But whatever approach I take, I’m no nearer to finding her.
She’s disappeared off the face of the earth according to airline passenger manifestos, phone records, bank records, and every other database I’ve hacked into.
Where the hell is she?
I press my head to my forearm, leaning against the wall. It’s been weeks since I started looking for her, but she’s like a ghost. Gone…