“My ex-fiance? Are you serious?” Britt asked, then listened as Lachlan laid out the evidence supporting Stingray’s theory. Her mind pieced together each key point, laying them out in a carefully constructed case that led her to the same conclusion—Alejandro Cerundolo was the most likely person behind her faked death, captivity, and attempted murder. The Visitor was just a hired hand used in his diabolical plans.
And Hunter was wrong.
Alejandro had more than enough reasons to want her dead.
“All of that makes sense, but you still haven’t told me the plan.”
“The safest place for us is on King Family land with access to the King Family security team as well as all the intelligence networks, surveillance capabilities, tactical equipment, and trained operatives of Stingray at our disposal.” Lachlan held her gaze with unwavering conviction, determined to make her see his reasoning. “Hunter basically confirmed that everything we did to protect Paloma from Titus worked. He may have found enough information to figure out that you and I had a child, but he couldn’t find me. Quattro couldn’t either until?—”
“You enrolled Paloma in Goat Scout camp,” Britt said, her mind assembling the facts like evidence. “And you only did that because you thought she was finally free of danger with Titus dead.”
Lachlan looked away, self-loathing etched in his rigid muscles.
“Lachlan,” Britt rested a hand on his heart. “You can’t blame yourself for wanting to give your daughter a normal life. You had no idea that she or you were on Quattro’s radar.”
“I still should’ve waited more than twenty-four fucking hours before I sent my little girl out into the world to be targeted by gangsters. I knew better.”
“She’s fine. No one hurt her. Now that we know what’s going on, we’ll make sure that no one will,” Britt said, her mind already calculating the lengths she’d go through to keep Paloma safe—the sacrifices she was willing to make. “But she’s going to be upset she can’t return to camp.”
“Maybe.”
“You don’t think so?”
“If the alternative is spending all day with you, I don’t think she’ll mind.”
Britt smiled, then leaned her face into Lachlan’s neck as he wrapped his arms around her.
Lachlan continued, “We reassigned extra security to watch over the two of you while I’m gone?—”
“Gone?” Britt raised, placing her glass on the coffee table. “Where are you going?”
“To meet with Alejandro Cerundolo and give him something more valuable than your life. Something worthy of a secret investigation by Titus Freeman,” Lachlan said.
“And what the hell would that be?”
“Intel on Quattro from the PISCO secured military networks. Between Sebastian, Ike, and me, we made a list of all the ops we remembered being on that targeted the gang. Bobby will hack into the systems and see what he can find. Once he finds something, I’ll set up the meeting.”
“Hacking into special ops military networks isn’t child’s play. They have multi-layered encryption protocols that change every six hours and biometric authentication that would recognize even the slightest irregularity in access patterns. Not to mention the quantum-secured firewalls and AI-driven intrusion detection systems that have kept out nation-state hackers fordecades. And even if Bobby gets in, there’s no guarantee that the files on those ops contain anything useful now. You could make an enemy of the PISCOs and come out empty-handed.” Britt paused as Lachlan stared at her with growing wonder as if seeing yet another facet of the woman she’d been.
“Did you know you were proficient in cross-border conspiracy and classified intelligence litigation?” Lachlan asked, stroking a hand through her hair.
“Not to mention transnational syndicate prosecutions, covert operations law, and organized crime statutes,” Britt rattled off. “All those details are cataloged in my brain,” Britt said, then reached for the glass. She downed the whisky in one gulp. “Too bad the rest of my damn memories aren’t there with them.”
“Hey, take it easy on yourself. You’re already starting to remember more. The rest will come to you. I promise. Just be patient,” Lachlan said, pulling her back into his arms. “And as for Bobby, he has a connection inside that’ll help facilitate this search. He’ll be able to get what we need.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if Alejandro still wants me dead?”
“Then I’ll enact my original plan?—”
A loud knock pounded on the door. It was nearly eleven—too late for a friendly visit. Lachlan transformed before her eyes, his tender expression hardening into the cold calculation of a man preparing for confrontation. His hand instinctively moved toward his back, where he kept his weapon.
“Who do you think that could be?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but go into the guest room and lock the door. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out,” he said.
“I’m not leaving you.”
Lachlan stood from the couch, carrying her up with him. “You can go on your own, or I can throw you over my shoulder, caveman style, and take you in there. Your choice.”
