Page 46 of Lion’s Den

“Sedona,” she corrected. “My name is Sedona.”

He glanced at Cam, who gave him a nod of permission, before he said, “Sedona, anything easy will be great. We’ve eaten and survived MREs. We’re happy with whatever you give us.”

“I hope my half-sisters will be as accommodating.”

“Half-sisters?”

She waved them toward the table. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got nothing but time,” Rhys said.

“We’ll get to a place where we don’t have time soon.” Cam measured out the coffee. “Did you catch anything on the Internet?”

“Plenty, and none of it’s good.”

He paused for a few seconds, then grabbed the carafe and filled it with water. “Let’s hear it.”

“There’s a posting on the dark web for The Collector.”

Cam stilled. “You’re sure?”

Rhys gave a curt nod. “Sorry, man. There’s no doubt. They’re asking The Collector to contact them for an HVT. The fee is negotiable.”

So, that’s how it would be, huh? If this man thought he would put his hands on Cam’s woman, he would be disappointed. He had no intention of allowing anyone to take Sedona away from him. The only way they’d be separated from now on was by Sedona’s choice, and he wouldn’t give her that option until she was safe.

“The fee is negotiable?” Sedona frowned. “What does that mean?”

“No limit on the fee.”

She swallowed hard. “Is that bad news?”

“It’s the worst thing they could have said.”

“Why? What does it mean?”

“They’ll pay any amount of money for The Collector to take the job.”

“And I’m the job?”

No one answered. They didn’t have to.

“What’s the plan?” Dario asked.

“What we always do. We protect what’s ours. Period.”

Spencer frowned. “Wait. What about Sedona’s sisters? The Collector isn’t above using them to get what he wants.”

“At the moment, none of them are in Maple Valley.” Sedona wrinkled her nose.

“Where are they?” Cam asked.

“Wherever they have been living. After what I’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours, I’m grateful they’re not here. I just met them a few days ago, but I don’t want them caught up in anything like this.”

“I understand.”

His teammates, however, exchanged puzzled glances. “We don’t.” Dario folded his arms across his massive chest. “How about letting us in on the secret?”

“This is a weird situation,” Sedona said. “The short version is my mother was a serial dater and had children by five or six men. DNA results haven’t come back on the sixth girl. Anyway, instead of bringing the girls home and raising them with a family member’s help, my mother, Laura, dumped the kids with child welfare wherever she had them, except for me. None of us knew about the other sisters. Good old Mom didn’t tell anyone, including her father, William Hart.”