Page 6 of Craving Francesca

“I don’t—” I turned as a hand landed gently between my shoulder blades.

“What’s going on?” Mick’s wife Emilia asked tiredly.

“Myla’s not where she’s supposed to be,” Heather answered.

“What?”

“She wasn’t there when I got back to our tent,” I explained.

“Well, they’ll find her soon,” Emilia said with a frown. “Titus just woke everyone up.”

“Shit,” I muttered. Myla was going to be so pissed at me.

“They still haven’t found her?” Heather asked, freezing. “I figured Tommy was just outside giving her hell.”

“It didn’t sound like it,” Emilia hedged. “Did anyone double-check to make sure her car’s still here?”

“She wouldn’t have driven anywhere,” I argued as Heather came out from behind the bar.

“I’ll check anyway,” she said, striding toward the door.

Emilia and I sat in silence as women started drifting out from the bedrooms in the back. Heather came back inside and nodded at us from across the room. Myla’s car was still parked outside.

I hadn’t really thought anything had happened to Myla but hadn’t been willing to just go to bed without knowing where she was. As time passed, though, I got more and more worried. Where the hell was she? The men who’d been in the corner of the room had disappeared. The building was quiet as Heather talked to a couple of the other old ladies further down the bar.

“She’s fine,” Emilia told me. Her tone wasn’t very reassuring.

Finally, Myla’s cousin, Jamison, poked his head around the archway between the main room and the hallway. “Auntie Hawk, they found her.”

“Thank Christ,” Heather said, hurrying toward him. She disappeared into the hallway. A few seconds later, the back door slammed shut behind her.

“I’m going back to bed,” Emilia said with a groan. “You can come sleep in our room if you want. I doubt Michael will be back any time soon.”

I smiled but waved her off. If I went to sleep now, I wouldn’t wake up until dinner. Whatever buzz I’d had a few hours before was long gone.

“I’m going to make sure Myla isn’t planning to kill me in my sleep first,” I joked, following her toward the back hallway.

“If you change your mind, I’ll protect you,” she said with a grin as she headed for Mick’s room.

I turned in the other direction and headed for the back door. Outside, the sun was rising and the tents that had been so quiet before were a flurry of movement. It looked like the search had woken everyone up. Cian was standing with Tommy in the center of the madness, and Myla was bawling against her mom’s shoulder.

I met Heather’s eyes over her shoulder. She winked at me and rolled her eyes.

I let out a long breath. Everything was okay. Not great, obviously, but Myla was fine. I glanced back at Cian, who was standing stiffly, his arms crossed over his chest. He was practically vibrating with anger.

Uh oh.

I snorted as I headed toward our tent. They’d finally hooked up, and I’d sent her brothers after them. Whoopsie daisy.

“Hey cockblocker,” Rumi said, intercepting me as I made my way through the maze of tents. He threw an arm around my shoulders. “She was with Cian.”

“I figured that,” I replied, waving my arm in Cian’s direction.

“Fully dressed, thank God,” Rumi muttered.

“It’s cold out here,” I reminded him. “Maybe they got redressed.”

“You’re my sister’s worst friend,” he snapped, pulling me into a headlock. “You know that?”

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