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“Jax is in on this, too?” I ask with a tinge of desperation.
“Not yet. But he will be, if push comes to shove.” And of course Jax will help. Neither he nor Declan have any friends, but they are like brothers to each other. When it comes to business and war, there’s nothing one can ask that the other won’t do. And now they’re ganging up on the man I fell in love with. The man I watched wreak havoc in a secret basement club, causing mayhem. It’s been only an hour since we left that place and now, as I stare at myself completely naked in the mirror with the phone between my cheek and my shoulder, it seems surreal.
“I thought you and Jax were the most powerful men in this country,” I say in hushed tones, “but if this Order you’re talking about is even more powerful, then there must be more like Zayne out there. If they come together to back Zayne up, then you and Jax–”
“If there are more people like him, they won’t interfere. The Order won’t risk exposing them, especially since Thorngren is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He’s an evil bastard, but he’s a very special evil bastard. Still, he’ll never be free, not with an organization like that on his back.”
“But then why would The Order let him build his business independently of them?”
The Order saw financial opportunity in Thorngren,” Declan explains. “They wanted to make the most of it, and for that they had to let him become part of the mundane world. But they kept close tabs on him. That’s why everyone around, from his chauffeurs to his housekeeper, are The Order’s people. You can’t trust anyone in that place, Sirenna.” Then, lower, but with more emphasis, “Absolutely no one.”
Mariana’s granny’s face swims in front of my mind’s eye. It’s incredible how genuine she seemed the first time we met. And when she told me about Kelly, as if the information had only slipped out, that was her making it clear there couldn’t be anything serious between her employer and me. That that place was already taken.
And now that woman’s luggage is in the guest room.
“There’s a woman here, Kelly,” I say, turning on the water to the max, so it hits the shower tiles like whips. If there are hidden mics in here, or anyone is listening outside the door, they won’t be able to make out my words. “Everyone here seems to be scared of her. Everyone except Zayne, but even he looked grim when they announced she was here today. Do you happen to know who she is?”
Declan pauses, and my heart beats so hard that it chokes me. Declan Santori has many talents, but his ability to read people is beyond uncanny, even if the only things he’s got to judge them by is the tone of their voice or the way they breathe into the phone.
“You’re asking because of The Order or because of yourself?”
I stare down at where the water whips against the tiles.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean did you fall in love with him, Sirenna?”
My eardrums start thudding.
“I–” I remember there’s no point even trying to lie. He would know. Besides, I’ve been growing comfortable around Declan, even if quietly so, and right now I need a male friend that gets it. “I know he should scare the shit out of me, and he does, but I just can’t help it. I see much more in him than just the villain. I see the boy from the orphanage, beaten and cuffed and scarred and–” I close my eyes and bite my lip before I finally let it out. “I remember a teddy bear. One that he fixed for me. Many years ago. At the orphanage.”
Silence. If this were Mia, she would probably shriek, “Whaaaaa?” and ask for details. But not Declan. Not the boy who had to fight his own brothers until one of them ended up knocked out in a pool of blood when they were only children, all for the benefit of a sick, sociopathic father. No one in his social circle of billionaires would ever guess his past. He doesn’t need me to utter the words, “I was adopted, and I’d forgotten all about it until meeting Zayne Thorngren,” in order to understand my connection with this man.
“Apparently, Kelly Loveless is his supervisor,” he says instead. “She monitors him and the other guy he works with. The one The Order paired him with to do...what The Order does.”
“Priest?”
“Yes. Priest Ward.”
“I know him. He’s here. He’s sort of Zayne’s right hand.”
Declan’s tone drops to sub-zero even through the device pressed to my ear. “You keep away from that guy, Sirenna, you hear me?”
I shake my head as if he didn’t understand. “Don’t worry. He answers to Zayne, not the other way around.”
“Neither of them answers to the other. Like I said, The Order paired them up, and they did it because they’re deadly together. A well-oiled destruction machine. But they also keep each other balanced, like two wild animals from the jungle working at a circus, reining each other in when they’re on the verge of losing control. And if Thorngren is well-versed in the outside world, not least of all because he was required to be while he stalked his victims, Brannan is a whole other brand of psycho.”
“What kind?” I whisper.
“The kind that doesn’t even try to charm his victims, but it’s better not to talk about these things over the phone. I’ve secured the connection, but we don’t have long, so listen. We’ll be ready to get you out of there in an hour. Stay in the bathroom until then, fake taking a bath and–”
“No, Declan, listen. I can get out of here on my own, I have a one-time window, and I can use it without complications. But I need another favor.”
“And that is?”
“You found the exact location of the orphanage.” The pictures Mia sent me flash through my head.
“Yes.”
