"Angelica is missing? What happened?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Max says. "And what I don't understand is why you and Gino's niece would have been planning to have lunch today."

I remember her text message. There's something VERY important I need to talk to you about. And I have no idea what it might be.

"I don't know. I didn't even realize she was in town. She texted me yesterday, asked if I could meet her for lunch today. She said she wanted to talk to me about something important."

"What, specifically?"

"I have no idea. Max, I don't even know her. I just met her and chatted briefly at the art gallery. And then . . . "

My mind goes back to the scene I made outside Max's apartment.

"Right."

"So I have no idea why she wanted to meet with me today. But it doesn't make any sense for her to suggest it, then not even text me that she changed her mind, or something came up."

"Unless she couldn't," Max said, and I feel a cold trickle of fear on the back of my neck. I remember what it felt like when an unknown person tried to grab me in the bathroom at Gino's club, pressing something sharp into my side and threatening to cut me if I didn't go with them. Did something like that happen to Angelica?

Or did someone lure her away? Max told me before that he believes she's on the autism spectrum, and that her unusually trusting nature and lack of impulse control can get her into trouble.

"Where are you?" Max asks. "At home?"

"No, I'm at the gym."

"I'll swing by and pick you up. I'd rather discuss this in person."

"I have my car."

"We'll deal with that later. I'm on my way."

I start to tell him the address, but he interrupts me.

"I know where your gym is, Hadley."

Of course he does.

"I'll be there in five minutes," Max says, and disconnects before I can tell him to make it fifteen. So much for my chance to take a shower and change clothes.

I just grab my gym bag and head outside to wait for Max.

I don't have to wait long. It's not even five minutes until he pulls up in that sleek sports car, reaches across the front seat, and pops open my door.

I get in. He's wearing a bespoke Italian suit, much like the one he wore the day I met him on the plane from Philadelphia. And he smells like expensive cologne and man.

I probably smell like gym sweat.

"Aren't you a little formal for a Saturday?" I ask him, and he almost smiles.

"I had an early morning meeting."

Now I'm imagining him meeting with some other Miami crime boss, carving out territory.

He glances over at me. "But I like what you're wearing a lot better."

And just like that I'm imagining him peeling me out of my tight yoga pants, stroking my breasts through my sports bra until my nipples stand out, pressing against the stretchy fabric.

I really have to stop thinking about sex every time I'm near him.

"Has Angelica disappeared like this before?" I ask him.

"Not since she was 16 and had a whole blow-up about Gino tracking her whereabouts." He glances over at me as we pull into traffic. "It's certainly not unusual for a 21-year-old woman to stay out all night, especially when she's been clubbing. But without her phone?"

"How do you have her phone?" It occurs to me that while she might go with someone who told her a convincing story, it's really unlikely that a 21-year-old would willingly go anywhere without her cell phone.

"The cleaning staff found it in the restroom at the club this morning."

And I feel that cold chill all over again.

"You know what that makes me think of," I tell him.

"That was my first thought. But it's just as likely - more likely - that she set it down in the restroom and forgot it."

"I hope that's the case. Did you see her when she was at the club?"

"I wasn't there last night, remember? Gabe and Martina and I were checking out a competitor."

Right. While I was on my date with Brad.

"Do you think she just went home with some guy? I remember how you stopped her from doing that at the art gallery. Maybe she's just hung over and sleeping it off with someone she met up with at the club."

"That's possible. But it's not like her to stay away once she realized she didn't have her phone. She knows she's required to keep it with her at all times."

"Required? That's a strange word choice."

"It's true. Gino gives her a lot of freedom. He always has. Too much freedom, in my opinion. But part of the deal is that she always has her phone with her. And that she keeps one of those apps on it, so if she gets into trouble, Vincenzo can find her."

"Vincenzo?"

"Yes. She rebelled when she was about 16. Before that, it was Gino who had the app and could always track where she was. She wanted her freedom."

"I imagine so." I'm thinking back to what it was like to be 16, and how much I would have hated it if my father tracked my every move through my phone.

"So they made a compromise. Vincenzo would be able to track her on her phone, but would not report her every move back to Gino. It would only be for her safety. With the type of business Gino's in, there's always a risk to the people close to him."

I remember that Angelica's parents were killed in a mafia hit from a rival group. In that context, what Max is saying makes perfect sense.

"Do you think she left her phone in the restroom on purpose because she didn't want anyone to know where she was going?"

"I'd rather think that than someone grabbed her," Max says. "But I just don't know."

Max pulls into the parking area for a park overlooking Biscayne Bay, stops the car, and turns to me.

"But if she did, where was she going that she didn't want anyone - even Vincenzo - to know about?"

I shake my head. "Max, I don't even know her. So your guess would be better than anything I could come up with." I pause, thinking. "What about that guy you stopped her from going home with at the art showing? Do you think he contacted her?"

Max shakes his head. "I had a little conversation with him after I had Gabe take her back to my place. So, unless he's an absolute idiot, no. He won't be reaching out to her again.

"Plus, once I told Angelica he's married, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. She has a definite moral code about thinks like that."

I think to myself, a definite moral code about not sleeping with a married man, but apparently is not phased by the fact that her uncle is a notorious mobster, and the man who does keep track on her phone, a paid assassin. Of course, that's what she grew up with, after all. Being part of a mob family is as common to her as joining a law firm is to me. And why wouldn't she trust Vincenzo, the man who avenged the death of her parents?

But she didn't trust him this time.

Or someone grabbed her, which is starting to seem more likely to me.

"Maybe it's good news that nobody has contacted you or Gino."

"You mean, for ransom?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, if someone took her, they had to have hoped to gain something from it."

"Unless all they want to do is send a message. I'm not sure how anyone even knew she was in Miami. She flew down on a private jet with Vincenzo."

Max taps his fingers on the steering wheel.

"I'll take you back to pick up your car, Hadley. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know what's going on here. But if someone took the risk of grabbing Gino's niece, it's not a stretch to think you might also be a target."

He reaches over, touches my face briefly.

"Angelica would be the way for someone to get to Gino. And you, Hadley, would be the best way anyone could get to me. If someone doesn't want Gino and me to move forward with our plans for the art gallery, then this might be an attempt to stop us."

"I don't . . . okay."

"So from now on, keep in touch with me. Let me know where you are. Don't take any unnecessary risks, like walking out to the parking garage alone when you work late." His eyes narrow. "In fact . . . give me your phone."

"My phone?"

"Yes, Hadley, your phone."

I had it over and Max opens it - I'm beyond questioning how he knows the passcode, but he does - and downloads a locator app, then sends himself a friend request.

"There. Now if anything happens, I can find you. As long as you have your phone. Don't go anywhere without your phone, Hadley."

I stare back at him.

"I don't know how I feel about you being able to trace my whereabouts 24/7." Especially since he's already demonstrated how jealous he can be, when he found out I went on a single date with Brad.

"Too bad," Max says. "Deal with it."

When he sees the look in my eyes, he adds, "I'd rather have you pissed off at me than dead."

Max drives me back to my car. I'm annoyed at his cavalier attitude, taking my phone and downloading the app without even asking me. But I'm more upset wondering what happened to Angelica. Especially since I know she's more vulnerable than a typical 21-year-old.

He takes me not just back to the gym but all the way to where my car is parked.

"I hope you find her," I tell him, as I get out of the car.

"Vincenzo and I will find her," Max says. "And if someone took her, this will be the last time they cause trouble."

When he says it, I can see him so clearly killing someone, and for just a moment the look in his eyes reminds me of Vincenzo.

And I can't help wondering, has he killed before?