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My chest tightens, and Finn is suddenly still. So damn still, I’m afraid he’ll shatter if I touch him. I have no idea what’s going through his head. I don’t even know what’s going through mine. Varying emotions that amount to one that dominates them all—confusion.
I’m fucking confused. Am I scared this man will go after her? Am I scared she’ll get hurt or killed? Am I reserved because I just met the woman mere weeks ago and caring about her fate is fucking ridiculous?
Bewilderment… this is exactly what clouds my mind.
If she was any other woman, she would be long gone from my radar. I wouldn’t care. I would barely remember her name.
“Fuck,” I sigh, shaking my head at myself—she’s not any other woman. This one I like. Really fucking like. Like I’m goddamn hypnotized. “Who is he, and does he know who he’s looking for? I wonder if the girls know.”
“There’re feelers out there, placed by people who work for him. However, he seems to have deep pockets. I have my men working on identity. For now, it might be okay. They seem to be based far away in the northeast.”
“We can handle deep pockets. Hanna mentioned that she keeps an eye on the people they sold to, so they might know,” Finn says as he rises.
“We can,” Carter agrees, nodding calmly, “but just because I haven’t found his name, it doesn’t mean he’s a nobody. It means the exact opposite; he’s a somebody big enough that his identity is effortlessly hidden, and anyone but him does the work.”
“See what else you can find,” Finn adds.
“Carter…” My voice seems to simmer angrily. “Did you find them? They didn’t disappear into thin air. It’s been three days. Where are they?”
He raises one eyebrow at me, and I swear I can see my maddened expression reflecting in his own. I want to rein it in, but I can’t seem to manage. It’s all too much. Stealing my oxygen and weighing me down. I need to get the fuck out of here.
I need air.
I need to think.
Shit.
I step around the coffee table, ready to jump over the damn thing, and head toward the door.
“I did find them.”
His words stop me dead in my tracks. I don’t turn to face him.
“Bovely Island.”
CHAPTER 7
RONAN
We’re sneaking through the ferns,making our way up on the slight slope of the small laurel forest, the last of the sunshine lighting our way. We strayed from the path when we heard something that sounded a lot like a voice out in the distance, as we headed up to the villa that sits at the top of this hill.
There’s little chance that Annika and Hanna didn’t see the speedboat Finn and I came in. Despite the dark clouds that followed us here and whatever violence was brewing at sea, the position of the house gives you quite an advantage. Which means that we definitely didn’t imagine the voices we heard—it’s them.
Out of all the islands in this archipelago, they chose Bovely, the smallest one. Fifteen minutes is all it takes to walk from one end to the other. It’s privately owned, with just one house, and a clear neon sign pointed at our targets, just for us.
I’ve never been here, but our parents were invited a few times. Back when old man Bovely still had his stamina and health, he used to throw some fancy, weekend-long parties. He can’t come here anymore, even if it’s only thirty-forty minutes away by speedboat, but he lends it over to his closest friends whenever they want an escape. I doubt there’re many of them left, though. Once you become old and frail, people seem to abandon you. You become too easy to forget. It begs the question—how did Annika and her friend manage to get their slender fingers on it? I’ll add it to the list of things I want to find out about the witch.
It gets my blood boiling, knowing this foolish woman not only challenged me, but she fucking lured me, a damn stranger to her, to a private, isolated island, where she’s utterly defenseless. Fortunately, it’s also what gets me both intrigued and painfully hard.
Not far ahead, rustling of leaves catches my attention, my adrenaline spiking almost instantly, and I signal the direction to Finn, who’s about six feet away.
The wind picks up, and the whole forest becomes alive in seconds. It’s the strangest thing, like the trees begin to sing, covering our steps as we hurry cautiously.
The sun must have hidden behind some clouds because it’s much darker here now. Even more of an advantage for us. It’s exhilarating. Stalking through the shadows, hoping I’ll catch her at a vulnerable moment, then… pounce.
And just like that, I catch a glimpse of them, scurrying around the trees, peeking around themselves… looking for us, and it puts a great big grin on my face. Finn’s too. He’s not even paying attention to me anymore. He’s found his target, and he’s going for it. The whole ride here, he wouldn’t shut up about Hanna, how amazing she was, how smart, all the things he wanted to do to her. I shut my ears at that part—no brother should hear about the places the other’s tongue wants to reach.
I share the sentiment, but I don’t need to share the mental image.
