* * *
I couldn’t live without her now. Finally, I understood what my brothers had with their wives, and why they were so determined to keep it at all costs.
I wasn’t giving her up.
That goddamned fire alarm was still blaring. Still no scent of smoke anywhere.
I didn’t have my laptop with me, but my phone was a minicomputer. I began typing, trying to figure out what to do next, whom to call.
My brothers of course. I started punching in Joe’s number when a pounding on my door startled me.
I opened the door to find a burly security guard standing there. “You have to leave, sir. Fire marshal’s orders.”
“I don’t smell any smoke,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter. It was probably a prank, but we have to check everything out.”
“Sorry, I’m not leaving. I’ve got important things to do here.”
“Don’t make me take you by force.”
You and what army? The words were on the tip of my tongue. But the guy was armed.
“Crap.” I pushed my hair off my forehead. “All right then.”
Still holding my phone, I followed the guard down the hall to the stairwell. A few stragglers were walking down the stairs. No one seemed the least bit worried about a fire.
Guests in pajamas and robes had congregated outside the hotel in the atrium by the swimming pool, which was closed for the season. I scanned faces in the darkness, not looking for anyone in particular, when the most beautiful pair of blue eyes pierced back at me.
Ruby!
I ran toward her, nearly knocking down an elderly man. I apologized quickly, steadying him, and then walked swiftly through the throng of people to my love.
“Ryan!” She nearly jumped into my arms.
I kissed her cheeks, the top of her head. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
“You won’t believe where I was and who’s responsible for this stupid fire alarm.” She sighed. “My father was here.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Ruby
Once the fire marshal was convinced there were no smoldering embers hiding in the hotel, we were ushered back to our rooms for the night. I’d told Ryan about the conversation with my father while we were outside, and when we got back to the hotel room, he handed me a book.
“Is this yours?”
Mary Wollstonecraft. Interesting. “No, but actually, I’ve always wanted to read it. Where did you get it?”
“At your apartment.”
I pulled at my hair. “What?”
“I went there tonight looking for you. I turned the place inside out looking for clues to where you might be. I was scared shitless, Ruby. You left your gun and your phone. I thought someone had taken you.”
“Someone sort of had. I’m really sorry you were worried.”
“That doesn’t matter now that you’re okay. But someone planted this in your apartment under the sofa. Maybe that text you got warning you not to go home wasn’t a warning as much as a way to keep you away so this could be planted.”