“Call us if you need anything,” Nix said, knowing I’d made up my mind. I nodded and walked out of the drawing room.
I made it to Cedar Creek in less than an hour.
Chapter 16
Roberta~
It didn’t matter that I knew the box wasn’t here. I started searching my house top to bottom again.
Gary and Merrick’s visit opened my eyes to just what I was doing when I made that stupid, stupid phone call and talked with Phoenix. I had convinced myself that I wasn’t involving Frankie if I was just asking her husband some questions, but she was involved now, inadvertently, through her brother.
I had promised Ciro that I was going to drive to Morgan City and tell Frankie everything, but I couldn’t do it. I needed to distance myself from them until I found that box or found a way to distance myself from Gary and Merrick. It crossed my mind to run and go back to Missouri, but something told me it wouldn’t be too difficult for Gary and Merrick to hunt me down. I needed a way out of Randy’s mess and my mind was drawing blanks.
I had every piece of clothing I owned scattered on the floor of my bedroom and every drawer pulled out, examining each piece as if there was a hidden latch or note on it somewhere.
I was losing my mind.
I was so engrossed in my madness, I hadn’t heard the front door open. I hadn’t heard the heavy footsteps that echoed across my house. I hadn’t sensed any danger as a lone figure took up the entire width of my bedroom door.
I’d been blind to everything but finding that damn box.
“What in the fuck are you doing?”
I screamed, the drawer in my hand flying through the air, as I turned towards the voice. Ciro was standing just inside my bedroom, taking in the scene before him.
I got to my feet, my heart still slamming in my ribs, but no longer dying of fright. “What are you doing here?”
“Answer me,” he demanded. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” I cried a bit hysterically. “I’m looking for that stupid box!”
He walked farther into the room, trying not to step on my clothes, but it was no use. I had shit everywhere. “I thought you already looked through the house?”
“I did,” I replied frantically. “I did. But…Ciro, I need to find that box.”
He glanced around the room but decided to set the issue of my insanity aside for the moment. “What did Gary and Merrick want, Robbie?”
My eyes widened in shock.
And then they closed in recognition of just how stupid I was.
Of course, he’d have someone watching me. The Holy Trinity has probably been watching me ever since the night of the kidnapping.
God, I’m such a goddamn idiot.
When I didn’t answer fast enough, Ciro repeated his question, “What did they want, Robbie?”
I sighed in resignation. “They wanted to know what you were doing here last night,” I replied honestly, too damn tired to play games.
Ciro straightened to his full height. “What?”
“Look, I don’t know who they are or…who they hang out with, but they said word got back to them that you were here last night,” I told him. “They wanted to know why. They wanted to know if your visit had anything to do with the box they’re looking for.”
He stood towering over me, his arms crossed over his chest. “What did you tell them?”
There was no way he could miss the flush of awkwardness that covered my face. I silently wondered how many times I was going to humiliate myself in front of this man.
Screw it.
I wrung my hands together. “I told them that…that a few months ago you were passing through town and stopped to eat at Brighton.” He lifted a brow but didn’t interrupt. “I…I told them that we ended up having sex in the restaurant bathroom and then came to my place.” I shrugged a shoulder trying to wave some of my embarrassment off. “I told them you…must have been driving through town again and you stopped by for…a quickie.”
The seconds of silence that followed my story were loud as hell. The tick in his jaw was the only indication that he heard me.
When I couldn’t stand his scrutiny any longer, I blurted out, “It’s the only thing I could think of on the fly. I mean, what else could I say besides the truth?”
“So, you thought the best course of action was to turn yourself into a whore as a way of a believable explanation?” he bit out through clenched teeth.
My mouth gaped and my eyes almost bugged out of my head.
Once I got past my shock, my voice was full-blown fishwife status. “Are you kidding me, right now?” I shook my head in absolute disbelief. “I’ve been cast the whore since the night I first saw you,” I reminded him. “I was a whore at Frankie’s when you had voiced your concern that, if you killed me, the trash in Cedar Creek wouldn’t have any easy pussy to fuck.” He growled but didn’t stop my rant. “I was a whore when you hauled me out of my car and felt me up on the side of the street for anyone to see. And let’s not forget last night.” My voice was reaching levels of hysterical anger that I’d never thought possible. “I definitely played the whore when I let you stick your fingers inside me and mark me like it was your right!”
His arms dropped and Ciro stepped forward until we were practically touching. “It was my right,” he snarled, further spinning my thoughts out of control.
“What?”
Ignoring my obvious spiral into irrationality, Ciro’s mouth crashed down on mine and it was over for me.
Absolutely. Over.
I was done trying to figure him out. I was done trying to figure me out. And I was definitely done trying to figure us out.
I threw my arms around Ciro’s neck
