Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(40)

The woman’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed and I huffed a sigh, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Who didn’t try to call me Showgirl?

“Look, I am going to pass this on to the detectives for the case. I just can’t do anything for you right now. It would take a lot more than something as innocuous as what was sent for us to pull the strings needed to find out where that number came from and what towers the text pinged.” The woman leaned forward on her elbows. “The asshole is tryin’ to rile you up, but he’s not giving any sign of intent, okay? You just keep ignoring him.”

“Because he’s going to keep texting,” I supplied, staring her directly in the eye. “And I just have to…cope?”

“Yes,” the officer said with a sharp nod, some of the sympathy vanishing out of her expression. “Cope. Report it. Hope that the investigation continues to develop without you ever hearing anything from any of us again except ‘ma’am, he’s in custody.’”

She’s got bigger problems than reassuring a beta who landed herself into hot water with an alpha, all because she wanted a rough fuck and someone to tell her she was important.

I swallowed and nodded at the officer, grabbing my bag and hugging it against my stomach as I pushed my chair back.

“I wish you the best, Miss Barnes, honestly,” the officer said, her gaze wincing.

I continued to nod as I left her desk. The station was busy and loud, and I was heading for the stairs when my phone buzzed in my bag. I wanted to be sick all over again, and I reached my hand into my purse as if I were expecting my phone to jump and bite me.

Leo.

I sagged with relief and swiped the screen without thinking.

“Hey.”

“Hey, gorgeous! I know I said I’d come grab you for breakfast, but my flight was canceled and the others are all filling up. I’ve chartered one for later today and I should be in by—”

“Get yer fuckin’ hands off me, you goddamn motherfuckin’—” I shrank in on myself and pushed for the stairs as someone coming in with officers started to struggle and fight.

Leo’s voice cut off abruptly at the sound of the fight in the background, and he was quiet as I made it to the staircase, the door banging shut behind me and cutting off the man’s cursing. “Lola? Where are you, gorgeous?”

Lie, I thought. Lie, and say it was a TV show.

“The police station,” I whispered, weariness suddenly crashing down on me. I hadn’t slept a wink. All the adrenaline of my panic was used up, and I was getting teary-eyed all over again now that I was leaving the police station with nothing to show for it. What had I expected, really? For them to magically track and jail Indy with just one lousy text?

“You’re what?! Lola? What’s happened? Are you all right? Lola?”

“I’m okay,” I said, but the words were completely undermined by the sudden crack in my voice as a sob worked its way up my throat. I forced it down again and stumbled down the steps.

“Lola,” Leo breathed over the phone. “Tell me what happened, gorgeous.”

“Um, no, I really am okay. I just…I got a text message and it—they can’t do anything about it. He’s not even in the state. It just flipped me out,” I said, my voice tightening to a squeak. “Tonight is fine.”

Leo sighed audibly, and the animal inside of me that wanted to run, run, run nearly made me hang the call up.

“You aren’t hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.”

“You know he’s not in the state?” I made a soft strangled sound at the back of my throat, and Leo continued. “Okay, Lola, you can say no, of course. Wherever you’ll be comfortable, that’s where you should go. But if you’d be willing to, I’d like for you to go to my house. Rake’s in town. I can even make sure the house is yours by yourself if you want. You’ll be safe there. But if you’d rather go to your apartment, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll try and get an earlier flight.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, to return to my apartment and try to force myself not to just sit and stare at the door all day. But that stupid broken lock on the street door was taunting me. And if Rake was in town, he would be the kind of distracting presence that might get me to think about something else for five seconds. And I missed him. I missed Leo too, and the thought of being in his space, being surrounded by him in some way, was so tempting.

“I’ll…I’ll go to your house, if you’re sure that’s okay,” I said. I’d made it down to the first-floor lobby and I stared out at the street, listening to Leo’s soft sigh.

“Definitely okay, gorgeous. I’m texting you the address.”

“Thank you,” I whispered over the line.

“God, don’t thank me. I wish I was there with you.”

I puffed a watery laugh. No fucking kidding. I would’ve given anything to have had Leo’s hand in mine while I sat across the desk from the officer. It scared me how easy it was to depend on him. Now all I wanted to do was to go somewhere that had traces of him.

“I’ll be home soon, okay?”





Thirteen





Lola





Leo’s house hadn’t seemed like a daunting thing, really. Even though I’d never been there before. Even though our relationship was still fairly new. Maybe I’d pictured something like David’s lovely apartment, something almost familiar. I hadn’t forgotten that Leo lived with five other men, but my brain hadn’t bothered painting a picture of what that might look like until the cab I’d grabbed pulled up to the six-story brownstone, sitting on the corner of a quiet neighborhood that surrounded a community park.