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This…beating up one of my closest friends because he might be lying…I didn’t like that at all. It didn’t feel good.
But I couldn’t deal with it right then.
“Get out of here,” I finally said, stepping aside to let him pass. “But if I find out you’re lying, there won’t be anywhere safe for you. Understand?”
“Understood,” Killian muttered, not meeting my gaze as he hurried out of the bathroom.
I lingered for a moment, letting the coolness of the tiled wall seep into my skin, trying to calm the storm within me. I didn’t trust Killian, not by a long shot, but I had bigger fish to fry. Pushing off from the wall, I stepped out into the club once more, scanning the crowd with a predator’s gaze.
Kieran was waiting for me outside the bathroom. “Anything?”
I shook my head. “Let’s move,” I said to Kieran, who nodded silently, recognizing the tension in my jaw.
As we exited the club, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t adding up. I looked back at Killian as he disappeared into the throng of people in the strip club. Whatever game he was playing, I’d be ready for it. But first, I needed to find Adriana. Nothing else mattered.
Just getting to the car felt like it took forever. The car door slammed with a finality that echoed my resolve. I felt the leather of the steering wheel beneath my grip, the familiar sensation grounding me as I fired up the engine. Kieran slid into the passenger seat, oddly silent for how much he liked to talk.
“So how did that go?”
“Shut up, Kieran,” I said, punching Adriana’s number into my phone again as the bluetooth display on my dashboard came on. “Come on, Ade.”
The screen reflected back the desperate hope in my eyes. It rang and rang, each tone a hammer against my patience. And then, finally, a click.
“Hello?” A woman’s voice, not Adriana’s. My heart sank and then raced with a different kind of panic.
“Who is this?” I was pulling away from the strip club, already driving to the next Orsini location.
“Reception at the Grand Palazzo. We found this phone after last night’s event.”
“Damn it,” I spat out. The masquerade ball—a sea of masks and secrets. Of course, her phone would end up lost in that chaos. “This is Tristan Callahan. When did you find it?”
“This morning,” she said. “Along with Miss Orsini’s other belongings. Would you like to pick them up?”
“Yes, keep everything at the desk. I’ll pick it up,” I said.
“Of course, Mr. Callahan.”
I ended the call, tossed the phone onto the dash, and hit the gas. I needed to get there as soon as possible. We were moving quickly again, heading toward the next Orsini property. The butcher shop was likely another dead end, but I couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned.
Kieran shifted beside me, his presence a silent comfort. Despite our differences, in moments like these, there was no one else I’d rather have at my back.
The city blurred past us, a landscape of uncertainty that mirrored my thoughts. I needed a lead, some sign of where they might be keeping her. I—The phone rang, cutting through the haze of my thoughts. I snatched it up, recognizing Carmen’s number immediately.
“Tristan,” her voice came through, tense but urgent. “I’ve found something you need to see. An address for a beach house…Dad didn’t have it on any records. I was just like, snooping on his computer. Hoping to find something.”
“You think this is it?” Kieran asked.
“He has other properties here, but this is the only one close to Boston,” Carmen replied. “I think it’s worth a shot.”
Her words punched through the fog of frustration clouding my mind. “Where?”
“Sending you the pin now. Be careful, Tristan. This place—I don’t think it’s just any house.” Her warning hung in the air between us, heavy with implications I didn’t have time to consider.
“Thanks, Carmen,” I said, though I wasn’t sure gratitude was what I felt. Another piece of the puzzle, perhaps, or another step into the lion’s den. The pin dropped onto my map, a beacon pulling us toward an unknown fate.
We didn’t speak as we left the city behind, the road taking us closer to the coast. Each mile put distance between us and the safety of known territory. I could feel the ocean’s pull, its vastness a mirror to the chasm of uncertainty that yawned open with every passing second.
“Are you sure about this?” Kieran finally broke the silence, his voice low.
