Miami Hot: #1 (Miami Heat Series) (27 page)

“I don’t even know where to start,”
Conrad said with defeat.

“Look. You want her back, you have to think hard. We already know she didn’t take anything. So maybe she withdraw a large amount of cash. The bank won’t give us those details, but I know someone who can. I’ll call them later,” he said. “But for now, let’s start with what happened yesterday morning.”

Conrad sat and dropped his head into his hands. “You know she had been adamant about the wedding? I never thought about it, but before we left for work, she suddenly relented. I guess I was just too excited that I wouldn’t have to resort to extreme measures.” He stood and paced, thinking about what happened next. “That afternoon she went shopping with Janet, but I’m beginning to think that was just a ruse. She told Janet she didn’t find anything she wanted and insisted she would do the shopping alone the next day.”

“Okay, that’s good. Maybe Janet can shed more light,” Lucas said.

“I doubt that. Knowing Moira she carefully planned this to the T.” He laughed harshly. “Oh God, she played me real well. You know I offered to take her shopping and she told me how it was bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding day.”

Sam laughed. “That’s
Moira,” he agreed.

“Then she also tried to fight me about Shawn, but I finally won that round. I guess she didn’t want to appear too suspicious. It doesn’t matter who would have gone with her, she would have found a way. And I bet you that the clothes she bought, she didn’t really need. She was just trying to find a way to be separated from Shawn.
And I chewed Shawn’s ass yet he didn’t stand a chance against her.”

“So it’s safe to say we probably won’t find her unless she made an error that she isn’t aware of, or run’s out of money,” Lucas asked
Conrad.

“You are right, so I think our best bet is to find an
y errors she made. And since she is not a professional we should be able to find a few that will lead us to her hideaway. And when I find her, I’ll keep her under lock and key,” he told them.

Lucas shook his head. “No, you won’t, because she will just run away again and the next time you may never find her again.”

“You are right. And I shouldn’t have forced her. She would have come around if I had just been patient. I love her and I can’t see my life without her in it. I tried to ignore the symptons, and fought against them. Everybody kept telling me I had already fallen for her, but I thought it was just the incredible sex. She …”

Sam cleared his throat loudly. “You do realise I can hear you right?” he asked.

He gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry. But it’s just like you said, she runs me in circles. I hate it, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

When Sere came they quizzed her but
realized she was as in the dark as everybody else. She made some calls to some of their common friends but they were all a dead end. Conrad booked her into The Miami until Sunday. He told her he wanted to sleep in her bed in case she came back before the weekend was over.

Later that night they got disappointing results from all fronts. Lucas’ guy had found no more than two thousand dollars withdrawn. Her checking account was sitting with about five thousand and another fifty thousand in her savings. She had a couple of investments that had no
more than two hundred thousand. So wherever she had gone to would have to be somewhere cheap to survive on a couple of grand, or if she intended on using her credit card, then they would catch her.

The bus, train, airport and car rentals brought zilch. “How can she disappear into thin air?”
Conrad asked. “There must be something we can find. Can that fellow try and hack into the street camera’s?” Conrad asked.

Lu
cas said he would ask.

The next day, everyday was back and their search for
Moira was continuing. Mitch had set up a machine to trace calls if one of their phones rang. Any calls that didn’t have anything to do with Moira, they quickly ended them because they needed to keep the lines free. Each time a call came through everyone was silent. Finally later that afternoon, the call they had all been waiting for came through. Sere answered the call. The caller ID said it was a private number.

“Sere, it’s
Moira. Where are you?”

“I’m in Miami, where are you?”

“I’m safe. I can’t tell you where I am. But I just needed you to know so you wouldn’t get worried. I didn’t want to put you in the position where you either had to lie to Conrad or be forced to give up my location.”

“So when are you coming home,” Sere asked.

“I don’t know. I just need to think about what’s good for Little Bo Peep. Tell Conrad I’m sorry. I just…” They heard her cry and everyone looked at Conrad. “Anyway, bye Sere.”

When the call ended Mitch shook his head saying, “That call was bouncing so fast there is no way we can ever trace it. It would take months.”

“Who the fuck does she know who has that capability?” he asked.

“There is only one guy I know, but I asked him and he told me he didn’t have her,” Sam said.

“Are you sure he was telling the truth?” Conrad asked.

“Yes. He would never lie to me.”

Ten minutes later another call came through. Sam picked up his phone with his hands shaking.

“Sam, it’s
Moira. I’m sorry I had to get away, but I am safe. I just wanted you to know so you don’t get worried.

“It’s a little late for that
Moira. Where are you? I’ll come and get you.”

“I’m not having an arranged marriage, Sam.”

He swore as he rubbed his shaved head. “Look, I’m sorry about that. Conrad is too. There won’t be any wedding until you decide you want to. Please talk to him. The fucker won’t even go to his own penthouse.”

Moira
laughed. And then she heard people snickering in the background. “I hear people in the background. Is he there?” she asked.

“Yes. Please just talk to him.”

“Okay, she said.”

Sam passed the phone to
Conrad. He almost dropped it in his excitement.

“Baby, I’m sorry.”

“Conrad. I can’t come back. Not now anyway.”

“Okay. Tomorrow?” he asked.

“I don’t know when. But I’ll try and take care of Little Bo Peep.”

“
Moira wait. Please tell me what you need and I’ll do it. I promise I won’t force you into the marriage. I’ll be the best damned baby daddy to Little Bo Peep, but I just need you in my life.”

“I just need time. I have to go.”

Conrad looked at Mitch as Moira hung up and he shook his head again. “It was bouncing like a tennis ball. Whoever she is with, is a pro.”

“Find her. If she is not back after a few days, I’ll go to her. If I have to plead, that’s what I’ll do. But I am not having her live far away from me.” He threw Sam’s phone and it shattered against the wall.

“Get a grip man,” Lucas said to Conrad. “We all want her back, but breaking one of our means of communcation with her won’t help us one bit. If she calls back, that call will just roll into voice mail. So why don’t you cool off while making yourself useful by getting a replacement phone.”

“I’m sorry,” he said then he was out of the door. He wasn’t even sure where to get an Apple store and replace Sam’s phone. At least he knew the service provider because it was the same with
Moira’s so he went looking for an open store.

Chapter T
wenty Eight

“
Moira, it’s been two weeks and you have kept yourself secluded, but now I insist you accompany me to all the boring dinners I have to attend. I think you have grieved the father of your child enough,” he said.

“He is not dead, Antonio.”
Moira looked up from the book she had ben reading, in the library.

“Well, he may as well be,” he said with a grimace.
“Sadly you love the fool, but that should not stop you in enjoying Rome.”

“Okay, when is the next dinner?” she asked laughing.

“Tonight. It’s an intimate dinner of just about eight people. Most of them are boring, so I’ll be counting on you to liven things up,” he told her.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she
told him.

“That’s my girl. In the meantime, I’m taking you out for the morning. No, no excuses,” he said.
“Be ready in thirty.”

Moira
went to her room and changed into something presentable. She wasn’t even sure where he was taking her, so had no clue what to wear. He came to fetch her, thirty minutes to the second and they left. He had his driver drive them around and he pointed points of interest to her, explaining the history of some of the places they saw, different from what they had seen on her first trip. They stepped out of the car briefly when they got to Piazza Navona and watched some people performing on the street. It was entertaining and Moira realized she had been missing out. She was glad Antonio had forced her to leave the castle. Their next stop was the Campo de' Fiori, but this time they didn’t get out of the car. Moira thought that it would have been fun to mingle and maybe buy some exotic fruit to taste.

“You set me up,”
Moira said laughing when they were being driven back to the castle after dinner. “Those two women almost killed me with their eyes.”

Antonio laughed and
apologized. “Sorry about that, but I was afraid if I told you I needed you as a human shield you wouldn’t have agreed to come with me.”

“Who are they anyway,” she asked him.

“Those two are Piranhas,” he said and shivered. “Their mothers have been throwing them at me, and their challenge is to marry a rich man. They have been after every available rich bachelor and sadly to say, I am one of the few left.”

“So you wanted them to think you and me were an item, huh?”

“Anything to throw off the scent.”

“It’s the least I can do. Although, I’m not so sure you
couldn’t have evaded their teeth on your own.”

“Maybe, but there is nothing better than showing off a naturally beautiful girl.
Keeps the piranha’s away,” he said with a laugh. “You, Moira are naturally beautiful. No man wants to have a wife who uses a cake of make up,” he told her.

Over the next several days, Antonio took
Moira to different places almost every day by day. By night they were either at a dinner party or he would show her the night life in Rome. Sometimes they would have dinner at an exclusive restaurant, take a short walk around and go home. Other days, he would take her to a club and she would meet with some of his friends. The following weekend he took her to Venice and she utterly fell in love with the city. She pictured Conrad and herself back in the city, sightseeing in the water taxis. It was a bittersweet trip and Antonio was a really good travel guide. He seemed to know every little corner. After a while she had gotten used to having security follow them wherever they went to. Since that fateful night she and Sam had met Antonio he had taken security measures to a whole new level. Never going anywhere without them.

When they got back to Rome, it took a lot of effort to convince Antonio that he had taken enough time out of his busy schedule to baby sit her, so he needed to get back to work. Finally he agreed with the promise that he would still have the opportunity to take her out at night. reluctantly she agreed knowing that at least he would be able to run his empire during the day.

Moira spent the days reading in the family library. She had never been that much of a history fan, but she found some interesting books on Europe and hoped that one day she would get the opportunity to travel. Greece certainly seemed like it could be one of her first stops, given the chance.

A few days later, she told Antonio she was thinking of going back.
It had now been a full four weeks away from home, with no communication since that day she had arrived in Italy. She was missing her life, not that Rome wasn’t a nice city. But her family was back in Miami, her work too. He told her the plane would be ready whatever day she chose. Knowing she had a lot of explanations to go through when she got home, she planned her arrival for the weekend. She was planning on getting back to work the following Monday. She had called Stu that Monday when she failed to get to work, and he had assured her it would be okay and she could take as much time as she needed. But now she needed to ge back to reality.

A few days before her departure date Antonio convinced her to attend the
premieres of two short films that were being shown back to back. She agreed, but it was on the condition that she didn’t get to be photographed. Antonio agreed and they agreed that she would be whisked inside while he did the obligatory pictures, then he would join her inside. Moira was excited. She pictured the way Hollywood people dressed when it was time for Oscars, Golden Globes and all those other events. She had seen a few red carpet events on TV and knew she needed to dress fashionably. Sadly her dress wouldn’t get to be showcased, but she still wanted to look great. Besides she could have Flora take a few pictures for memories sake.

Antonio offered to send someone with dresses to choose from and she declined
as she still had a closet full of gorgeous dresses she would never wear. She had originally asked him if they could return some of the dresses, but he had refused and told her he had bought them for her, so they were hers to keep. So they had agreed that she could keep them in Rome and wear them whenever she came for a visit. He hoped she would come more frequently so he could see his godchild.

That afternoon
Moira started to get ready soon after lunch. She got the whole pampering works, the facial, the waxing, the full body massage, the hair and had her make up done professionally too. By the end of it all, Moira couldn’t even recognize herself. She looked beautiful, something she had never called herself before. She knew people thought she was beautiful, and told her so from time to time, but she always thought she was okay. Like everybody else, there were certain things she hated about her body. But now wasn’t the time to think negative thoughts. She was ready an hour before Antonio came to pick her up. So she took the time to have Flora take a few pictures in the garden. She would have the disposable cameras she had purchased during her trip be developed when she arrived back home.

The next morning,
Moira woke up late. Last night had been an event worth remembering. She had had so much fun with Antonio at the premiere event. One of the director’s had been a friend of his, so after the event they had gone to his party. Today they were going to the second event. She was having her hair and make up done again later. She already knew which dress she was wearing today. It would knock some people’s socks off.

π

“Boss,” Mitch said coming into Conrad’ office. “We found her.”

“
Moira?” he asked with disbelief. “Is she okay?”

“Yes and yes. She is in Italy,” he told him.

“Italy? Never mind where she is, but how did you find her. And while you are talking, let’s go. I need to be up in the air as soon as possible,” he said getting out of his chair. “Janet. Tell John Stewart to take over my meetings. I’m not sure when I will be back. Get the pilot ready to leave in two hours. Mitch found Moira,” he told his assistant as Mitch followed him. “Mitch, I need to let Sam know then we need to leave. Get whoever is coming ready, but we leave in a couple of hours.”

“They are ready boss,” he replied. Once they were in the car, Mitch switched on the
iPad he had been holding and showed Conrad. “At first I didn’t recognize her, but after several minutes of staring at her, I knew that was Moira.”

Conrad
stared at the online picture of a local Rome newspaper. She was gorgeous. Breathtaking. He had eyes only for her until Mitch pointed him to the man beside her.

“She seems to be with that gentleman beside her. His name is Antonio De Marco.”

“Fuck, I know who he is. How and where did she meet him? That’s what I want to know,” he said angrily.

“We are trying to look into that, but maybe her brother can shed some light if he is aware of their relationship. But at this point, we can’t really tell what kind of a relationship the two have,” Mitch finished lamely.

“If he has put one hand on her body, he is a dead man,” Conrad threatened. “Are there any more pictures?” he asked.

“No we searched. It looks like this is the first one since she left. It doesn’t look like she was aware the picture was being taken though. So this is our only link to her whereabouts. I had Jim run a search and we have De Marco’s address, some castle a little out of town. Heavily guarded,” he told
Conrad.

“If
Moira told him about me, we won’t have any problems in getting through. He has probably been gloating all these weeks knowing he has something of mine. That Italian pompous ass,” he said with a snarl.

By the time they arrived at The Miami, Lucas and Sam were waiting in Lucas’ office. Sam swore when he saw
Moira with Antonio.

“You know him?”
Conrad asked with a deadly voice.

“Yes. And he is the only one I thought would have
Moira, but when I asked him, he told me she wasn’t with him. And I would have sworn that he would never have lied to me before,” he said with hurt in his eyes. “I need to look him in the eye before I beat the shit out of him.”

“Get in line. The plane leaves in an hour and a half,”
Conrad told him.

“You two go and get her, and if you need anything from here while you are there, you only have to call,” Lucas told them and shook their hands. “Bring her back. But don’t force her. I don’t think I can leave another month with the two of you if she runs away again,” he said with a chuckle.

Conrad went home to pick up his passport and packed a small bag. If he ended up staying longer, he would just have to buy clothes while he was there. His driver drove them to pick up Sam who had also gone to his place to get his passport and pack a small bag too. By the time they got to the airport, his security team was already there. Not long after, they got the clearance to take off.

By the time they landed
at London Heathrow, two more pictures of Moira and Antonio had popped up. She was clearly having the time of her life. Not a care in the world. Her smile to Antonio was so full of affection, it tore at Conrad’s heart.

“Mitch, I never did ask. How did you find her? Her name isn’t mentioned in any of the articles,”
Conrad turned in his seat and faced Mitch.

“Actually it was Shawn who found her. He is a movie buff, leaning towards mostly European small independent type of films and documentaries. He apparently has an alert set that allows him to get notified when new films come up and this one seemed to hit his inbox.”

“He clearly needs a bonus. Please tell him good work,” he said and went back to looking at the pictures. He checked to see if there were any sightings of De Marco during the time Moira was in Rome, but he couldn’t find any. If De Marco liked Moira that much, he wondered why he had waited so long, unless they were previous lovers who had reconnected? Whatever, he wasn’t going to allow the fool to have her, and neither was he allowing him to raise his Little Bo Peep. This was so fucked up.

The plane took off from London, and they now had slightly over two hours before they reached Rome. As soon as they landed they found two cars waiting for them and they made their way directly to their destination. There would be enough time to check into their hotel later. It was getting towards the noon hour. He hoped to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with
Moira and then fly back the next day.

They go
t to the castle gates only to find them barred. There was no way in, not without an engraved invitation. Besides the asshole was at work. They quickly did a u-turn and went to the De Marco head offices in central Rome. This time they passed by their hotel, checked in and changed. There was no way he was going to have De Marco have an advantage over him. Showing up less then impeccably dressed in a business environment? Big or small, Conrad meant to have all the advantages on his side. And once Moira was in his arms, he would squash the bug under his shoe like he was meant to be.

This time they didn’t get any problems in getting inside the building. If
Conrad didn’t know better, he would have thought it was a red carpet event. They were royally escorted to the top floor where De Marco’s office was. They were shown inside by his assistant. She seemed to have been unruffled by the large group of Americans, who seemed to want to hurt her employer. She smiled at them and when they all declined refreshments she left them to enter.

Not knowing what lay inside, the whole group of six men entered the room. They looked around only to find Antonio alone in his office, smiling like a cat who ate all the cream.