Page 15 of Escaping the King (The Sovrano Crime Family #13)

Asher

“Y eah, I got it. I'm not fuckin' happy I've got it, but I do,” I told Nick as I drove down the long stretch of highway.

The news he'd just shared with me about Giselle made me want to hunt down Dani’s biological father and shoot him right between the eyes. After I kicked his ass, of course.

Knowing what he did to her—“Fuck!” I shouted in my car for no one to hear but me. The fact that Giselle had been sold—fucking sold—to some old bastard. And he'd forced his baby on her.

It made me fucking sick.

After I shot him, I was going to strangle her father.

Fucking asshole.

What I should do was pull over and take a minute to collect myself. I swear to God my entire body was vibrating with the anger building up inside of me.

Not Giselle.

Fucking sweet, Giselle.

I remembered her when she'd moved in next door. She was big and ready to pop at any moment.

My sister, the saver of all people, had immediately clicked with her and brought her into our fold.

Not that our fold was great or anything. It wasn't.

But it was something.

Which was a lot more than what Giselle had. Which was nothing.

I'd always loved Giselle. I knew she was completely out of my league. I wasn't stupid. A woman like that, who looked like she did, would never fall for a guy like me.

Not to mention the fact that I was younger than her.

None of that stopped me from wanting her, though.

And when Dani came along, my feelings didn't change. There was just more about Giselle to love. Watching the way she took care of her baby had sparked something inside of me. I knew the kind of woman I wanted.

Someone like her.

Someone who knitted and crocheted ridiculous blankets that nobody needed. Someone who sewed clothes for their baby because she couldn't make ends meet. And because she was damn good at it.

Someone exactly like Giselle.

I knew she'd never be mine. I wasn't under any delusions. That didn't mean the protectiveness I felt for her would ever go away. I knew it wouldn't.

She was my friend.

No.

She was my family.

More my family than some members of my own family.

I sighed and looked out onto the highway. It was early afternoon, and I was going—who the fuck knew.

When I'd heard that Giselle and Dani had taken off, I couldn't just sit still. I had to go find them.

The fact that I had no fucking idea where they were was beside the point.

I needed to find them.

Bring them home.

I couldn't stand to think of them out in the world all alone. Without any of us.

So, I'd looked at a map and chosen the most logical route.

And then I'd left.

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes after my last phone call when the next one came in. I sent up a silent prayer that Giselle and Dani had been found.

Safe.

I swiped my screen. “Yeah,” was all I said and waited for Nick to speak.

“There's a pre-authorized charge on one of Carlo's credit cards. I have an address for you.”

A smile spread across my face.

And when Nick read out the address—that smile grew.

“I'm maybe a half hour away from there. I'll let you know when I arrive.” I tapped the screen and felt a jolt of exhilaration shoot through me.

I was going to find them.

I was going to find them and bring them home.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, I was in the parking lot of a lower-middle range motel.

It wasn't great. But it wasn't crappy.

No frills, plain Jane lodging.

I jumped out of my car and headed for the front desk.

An older man stood behind it as he wrote in some kind of book on the counter.

He raised his head and squinted at me. “You need to be twenty-one to rent a room, boy.”

I nodded and cleared my throat. “Thanks for the warning,” I said, even though I had an I.D. that showed I was twenty-two.

I wasn't.

But my I.D. said I was.

“I'm actually here looking for my sister and my niece.” I pulled out my phone and scrolled through it.

“Here they are.” I showed the man a picture of Giselle holding Dani on her lap.

I'd been over for supper one night and snapped it.

Dani was saying Unkie Asher to me and it sounded hilarious in her baby voice.

The man squinted and then grabbed his glasses. They hung around his neck on a chain. He slipped them on and took a closer look. “Ah, yeah. They left a short time ago.” He bent closer to my phone. “She was really nice. And the kid was cute, too.”

Bingo.

I quizzed him on a few more things, but from the sound of it, Giselle didn't mention where she was going next.

I thanked him and felt a little deflated. After I walked back outside, I stood on the sidewalk and looked around.

There wasn't much here.

Except for a truck stop diner directly west of this place.

Hmm.

It was worth a trip over there to ask a few questions.

So, that was what I did. I slid back into my car and headed on over to the diner.

I parked in the busy parking lot. It looked like the lunch rush was still in full force when I walked in.

“Take a seat anywhere you like,” an older woman with gray hair piled on top of her head called out to me.

Before I could say a word, she was gone. Off serving the many customers.

I waited at the counter and leaned on it. I looked around. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I'd know it when I saw it.

“Hey there, son. You can—” she started to say, but I cut her off.

“It smells great in here, but I'm just passing through. I was told my sister and my niece stayed at that hotel last night.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the hotel.

“She's not answering her phone and my parents are worried sick about her.” I made sure to look her in the eye and seem concerned.

Which wasn't difficult because I was fucking worried as shit about them.

She gave me a sad smile. “Look, son. I see hundreds of people a day here. There's not much chance I'd remember them, I'm afraid.”

I nodded and pulled out my phone. Then I clicked on the same picture that I showed the old man at the hotel.

Her eyebrows rose on her forehead. “Oh, Giselle's your sister?”

I felt the tension in my shoulders release. “You bet she is.”

The woman nodded and kept her eyes on my phone. “That Daniella is quite the little character.” She let out a small laugh. “Haven't been that entertained in a while.”

I turned my phone off and stuck it back in my pocket. “Did she say where they were going next?”

Her eyes met mine and she shook her head. “Uh, gee. Let me think.” She frowned and looked down at the floor. “I'm on my second shift and dead on my feet. Two servers called in sick. I'm a little tired.”

I gave her a minute to think and hoped I'd had enough patience to wait.

“Oh, you know what?” she said as her hand dove into her apron. “Little Dani did some coloring. It was so sweet. I folded it up and kept it. Those two were so nice.” She pulled a folded piece of paper out and started opening it up.

Familiar squiggly marks on the paper hit me first. Then seeing Giselle's drawings on there smacked me right in the face.

Yeah.

This was definitely theirs.

“Do you mind if I take a quick look at that, please?” I turned on the charm and grinned. My eyes darted down to her nametag. She handed the paper over, and I said, “Thank you, Sheila.”

She nodded and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “How did they seem?” I asked while my eyes scanned first one side and then the other. “Were they okay?”

I looked up just in time to see her expression change.

A change that I didn't like.

“Uh, well, to be honest, Giselle seemed a little—” she hesitated and then said, “sad. She cried a bit. We talked for a short time, but she looked really emotional.”

Fuck.

Me.

Even though I didn't know what the fuck was going on here, I pretended to understand.

“That's too bad. I know she's been going through a hard time with some family problems. But we'd really like her and Daniella home again.” I lifted up the paper.

“Do you mind if I take this?” I asked and hoped she'd agree.

Instead, she sucked in her lips and frowned. “I wanted to keep it.”

As a compromise, I took pictures of the front and back of the page. Then I handed it back to her. “Thank you, Sheila. I appreciate your help.”

She folded the paper carefully. “I hope you find them. Good luck.” Then she spun on her heel and hurried off to finish her double shift.