Page 79 of Seductive Sadist
Her disappearance explains her bitch-mode mood. She must’ve been planning it since we left Luka’s. That’s when things shifted between us. All the fucking only made her pull away more. She knew what she was gonna do and probably fucked me as a distraction, a realization that makes my blood boil.
I grab my shorts and pull them on, my brain racing through possible locations where Skyla might have gone with all of my cash.
She wouldn’t stay here in Miami. She’s a smart girl who knows if she stuck around here, somebody would find her.
An icy hand tightens around my neck.
She’d get the hell out of the country.
Stuart St. James’s pleading words loop through my mind.
“Keep her safe. They’ll come for her. I can’t lose her, too.”
Skyla was pissed as hell at him, but would she reach out to her parents one last time before disappearing forever?
I slide my feet into a pair of sneakers, grab the car keys from a table, and run out the door. The St. James place isn’t too far from here, but of course, South Florida traffic doubles the amount of time it takes me to get to the large estate gate outside their compound.
I stab the intercom button once I pull up to the wrought iron entrance. “It’s Zak Malikov. Skyla’s gone. Is she in there?”
Not even a second passes before a panicked woman’s voice comes over the speaker. “Zak, this is Amelia. I’m opening the gate.”
The black fence creaks open slowly, my pulse pounding into the side of my neck faster and harder with each second that ticks past. I stab the gas pedal with my foot once I can get through. Stuart and Amelia are already outside when I drive up to the house.
I push open the door and run up the steps. “Skyla’s gone. She disappeared this morning. Did she get in touch with you at all?”
Amelia covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God. My poor baby. I can’t lose her, too.”
My lips twist. I glare at her. “Not for nothing, but you didn’t seem to have a problem with your ‘poor baby’ getting married off to some scumbag to protect all this.” I wave my hand around the outside of the huge house that looks more like a resort than a home. If memory serves, it’s about as cold and unfeeling as a resort, too.
“Don’t talk to my wife like that.” Stuart glowers at me.
I twist myself around so that I’m facing him head-on. He seems shorter than he did the last time I saw him. The skin around his eyes and mouth are worn and etched with deep lines. He moves toward me, his body slightly hunched. Broken down.
But his eyes are alive and fierce with anger.
I glance back at Amelia. Her blue eyes are wide with alarm, tears skimming the edges. Her full lips quiver, hands shaking as she wrings them.
“Hey, don’t come over here with your ignorant accusations, you selfish prick.”
My fingers clench at the sound of Kylian’s voice. Fucking A. I managed to get the trifecta of assholes.
Before I can turn to look at him, Kylian knocks his shoulder into me. I stumble a few steps and steady myself before I fall into the bushes along the sides of the staircase.
“You’re lucky I didn’t whale you with the fucking crutch, jackass.” He hobbles over to his parents. “What the fuck do you want? Haven’t you done enough to this family?” Kylian balances himself on his one good leg and threateningly swings a crutch in my direction.
I stare at my former best friend. “Coincidental that you’ve done just as much damage to me and mine.”
Stuart shakes his head. “It was never supposed to happen.”
My eyes narrow. “Yeah, well, maybe next time you get into bed with a business partner, you find out what he’s all about first.”
“I thought I could manage things with the Van Dynes.” Stuart’s shoulders slump. “Once I found out what they were into and how Denis Stepanov was involved. All of those girls… all of those lives lost.”
“Including your own daughter’s.”
Amelia’s eyes spill over, a quiet sob quaking her shoulders. Kylian puts an arm around her, his murderous eyes still on me.
I don’t even know for sure exactly what those guys are into, but I have an idea since they’re both tied to Branko. And that makes me want to shred their flesh with a fucking cheese grater.