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“Fuck,” I growled through clenched teeth. It all made sense.
Carter rushed over and dropped his fishing rod on the ground. “What’s wrong?”
Holding up a hand, I continued with Seth. “What do I do now?”
“I don’t know,” Seth replied, his tone uncertain. “You can’t run forever, but I know how persistent the Sellingers are. Finn won’t stop looking for you until he gets what he wants.”
“Which is Reagan.”
“Sadly, so,” he agreed. “But it’s not the first time the Sellingers have done something like this. My mother told me this story when I was young. Guess you could say she warned me not to do the same shit.” He huffed out an angry breath. “Finn’s father, Paul Sellinger, was obsessed with Finn’s mother, Elizabeth. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was engaged to another man, but in the end, she wound up with Paul. There was some kind of contract deal, and I don’t know the exact terms, but Elizabeth lost. She married Paul, and basically, I believe she was brainwashed. My mother said that Elizabeth was such a beautiful, outgoing woman. Now it’s like she’s on autopilot, barely even there. She’s just a trophy for Paul to parade around.”
I’d never heard of something so fucked up in my life. “What a sick bastard,” I growled.
“I just wanted you to know what you’re dealing with,” Seth explained. “I’m here to help in any way I can, but to end this feud, it might have to come down to striking a deal with the Sellingers. You can’t keep running.”
“Never,” I snapped. “I refuse to back down.”
The line went silent for a few seconds, and then Seth sighed. “Finn left California yesterday, Braden. I figured he was headed to New York, but none of my people have seen him.”
And the news just kept getting worse.
“You don’t think he found us, do you?” I asked.
“Not sure. You paid cash for everything, right?”
“Everything except the plane ticket showing we flew to Vermont,” I said. We landed in Burlington but stayed in a town an hour away from there. Finn would have a lot of ground to search if he was trying to find us.
“Just keep a low profile and be vigilant,” Seth advised. “I don’t like that Finn is incognito.”
Neither did I. If Finn found us and something happened to me, Reagan would be left for the taking. I didn’t want to put her in danger, but I also wanted to protect her.
Running a hand over my head, I tried to stop my mind from racing. “Keep me informed if you hear anything else.”
“I will,” Seth promised. “Be safe.”
The call ended, and I turned to Carter. “Is it bad?” he asked.
I nodded. “It’s worse than I thought.” I gave him a quick rundown of everything Seth told me, from Finn going missing to the fact it was him who tried to kill me, and not Nikolai. “Things would be so much easier if we could tell our parents. They know people who could help us.” Brooks wasn’t the only FBI agent in the family. His mother, Brooklyn, used to be an undercover agent and had plenty of connections. She knew people who could hide our paper trail easily. That was why I wished Brooks was in town; he’d be able to do it himself.
Carter sighed. “I know, but it’s safer not to involve them.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “What are you going to do?”
Glancing up the hill, I watched Reagan walk into the house with Emma. “We’re leaving tomorrow. I have to keep Reagan away from Finn at all costs.”
CHAPTER29
REAGAN
“I’m sorry this weekend wasn’t what I imagined it would be,” I said. “One day, we’ll do a girls’ trip without the guys.”
Emma packed the last of her things into her suitcase and zipped it up. We’d sat in the sun the past three days, and her skin had a golden glow.
She pierced me with her sea-green gaze. “Please, I had a great time. Besides, given the circumstances, I don’t think Braden would’ve let you go anywhere without him. He’s uber protective of you.”
“Just like Carter is with you,” I countered.
Giving me a sad smile, Emma hugged her stomach. “I hate that you’re going through this, Reagan. I’m scared for you. I don’t want to imagine what life would be like right now if you drank that drink.”
I sat on the bed. “Me either.”
