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For a brief while, the only sound is the lapping of the small waves and the light breathing from the now-sleeping Belle.
“Is that why you called me?” she finally asks.
Nodding, I glance her way. “I was afraid. I needed you here with me.”
“I’m always here for you, Ava-bug.” She reaches out for my hand and squeezes it. Belle’s tiny thumb is in her mouth, and she sucks it in her sleep. “Still,” my sister is thinking out loud, “if Rowan said he’s taking care of it, why are you afraid?”
Tension twists in my stomach. “He threatened my family.”
She studies my expression. “Me?”
Again, I nod. “He said he would take something of mine. He said islands aren’t safe.”
My sister’s lips twist into a frown, and she hugs her daughter closer. “Does Rowan know about this?”
“I told him first.”
She exhales through her lips. “This really is serious. If Rowan told Cal, Dwayne’s as good as dead.”
Chapter 15
Rowan
The drop location on Vega’s card is Plage du Larvotto, a narrow beach on a bay lined with high rises and filled with crowds of tourists. The water is turquoise and deep blue, and a line of buoys and platforms separates the swimming area from the deeper water where several yachts are parked. Sunbathers line the sand, and swimmers stand in the thigh-high water.
“To Catch a Thief,” my brother mutters as we walk across the sand.
“Similar,” I agree, looking at the white cabanas positioned in a line behind the umbrellas. Between one and a small office, a man is doing chin-ups on a bar.
We walk slowly, scanning the chairs for any signs of the phlegmatic, overweight lowlife threatening our families. I’ve shown the mug shot to Cal, so he knows somewhat what he’s looking for. It’s impossible to know how much he’s changed since that picture was taken.
Cal and I both wear hats and sunglasses in an attempt to hide our identities. So far, this is our only hope of making contact, as Vega is not responding to any of Freddie’s missives. We’re scanning the beach. He has to be out here, and my guess is he’s looking for Ava.
I step into the shade of a cabana. Cal is beside me, and we’re scanning all the faces, our search complicated by all the hats and sunglasses. A tall woman with long brown hair steps backwards, pausing beside me. I don’t know her, and she’s looking at someone else. Still, we stand in the same vicinity several moments.
It’s long enough for me to spot a pasty-skinned male in a white linen shirt and blue shorts moving toward us. He’s paunchy with a receding hairline, and when the woman turns, he pulls up short. It’s too late. I’ve spotted him.
“Vega,” I say under my breath, and our eyes meet.
He starts to back away, and Cal moves around behind him. “Not so fast. We have something you want.”
“I don’t know you,” the man snaps, and my brother catches him by the shoulder. I see Cal’s fingers cutting into his flesh.
“You’re right. You don’t know me.” Cal’s voice is a growl. “Yet you had the cowardice to threaten my baby girl.”
My muscles peak, and I step forward
, putting my hand on top of my brother’s. “Take a breath,” I say quietly.
Hazel clashes with blue, and I know it takes every bit of strength he possesses to release this motherfucker and step away. We have to bide our time. We can’t have a brawl on a public beach.
“Allow me to introduce my brother, Prince MacCallum Lockwood Tate, Captain of the Carabiners, Duke of Dumaldi, and father of Her Royal Highness Princess Isabella Scott Lavinia Wilder Tate of Dumaldi, my niece, who you threatened along with my wife, the queen regent, two days ago.” My voice grows more and more intimidating with every word I utter. “You’re not bullying children anymore, asshole. You’re in way over your head.”
“She stole from me,” he stutters. “She took my livelihood. I went to prison because she stole from me.”
“You went to prison for your own bad choices.” My voice is merciless. I have no tolerance for this lowlife. “You’ve never paid for what you did to Ava. You robbed little girls of their innocence. You raped and abused them.”
“I never abused my girls,” he hisses, standing taller. “I loved them.”
