Prologue
Thomas
“Dead! What do you mean dead!?” I’m still trying to catch up on what my friend from the agency is telling me, and I can’t help but feel like there’s some punchline I’m just not understanding.
“You asked me to look into the PI Declan was using, so when our scanners picked up some police chatter about being called out to the address you gave me, I decided to check it out. Uniforms found him dead, sitting in his chair with his throat slashed. Someone must have snuck up on him from behind without him noticing or putting up a fight since there were no signs of struggle.” Jake sounds weary, and I feel a little guilty about adding to his plate, but that quickly disappears because this is Harlow and my family's welfare that’s on the line.
My cell starts to ring, and when I look at the screen it’s Jaxon. A groan unconsciously escapes my mouth, but I seriously can’t help it. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to my brother… right now, there’s obviously just a lot on my mind. For now, I send him to voicemail, so I can keep talking to Jake. Scrubbing a hand across my face, I lean back in my office chair and spin, looking out over the LA skyline.
“Were there any signs of who may have done it?” I ask him, and he grunts.
“No, but it just so happened to be your family’s file on his desk when it happened. It looks like it’s been rifled through, with bloody prints all over it. The perp must have been wearing gloves because there are no distinctive patterns to the prints, and the blood has been identified as the victim’s. I couldn't tell you if anything was missing or not, but it does look like he was looking into your sister’s mother and her family. A business card was dropped on the floor, though there’s nothing to say whether the PI had gotten the card or if the perp dropped it. It was for a biker bar out east in the town that your sister is from.”
“Notmy sister,” I growl a little defensively. Though I probably should be trying to think of her like that, I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m making a big mistake by not joining my brothers in the quest to woo her. I roll my eyes at that.Woo her?Bloody Jacinta in my head.
My phone rings again, but I reject Jaxon’s call once more. He can wait. He’s probably just ringing to gloat about what a good time he and Kai are having in Hawaii with Harlow. I know they’d planned on going snorkeling and to the zoo before coming home this afternoon even though they’d had that accident. I wanted to demand they bring her home immediately, but Dad told me to let it go. To let them have one more day before they get back here and Harlow gets a security detail. Not to mention, there’s the little fact of them being inHawaii. It’s not like I can force my brothers to do anything, regardless of how much more sensible my plan is than theirs.
“Yeah, okay, sorry. Your dad’s daughter, then?” he questions, and I grunt my approval. “Look, there is some kind of connection between there and here, but we’re missing something. I’m just not sure what it is or how we can put it all together. But once we find that missing link, I have a gut feeling it will all fall into place. It’ll just take a little more time since I’m doing this as under the radar as possible.” We’re not supposed to use government resources for our own gain, and I really don’t want to involve the agency with something like this. It’s small potatoes compared to the things that they deal with daily, so as frustrated as I am by the situation, I need to let Jake do this in the time he can sneak in.
“Okay, well, keep me in the loop. We’re heading to Europe at the end of the week, but I’ll be available by phone if needed. Dad and I have some business we need to attend to, and the rest of the family is accompanying us. I’m going to tuck them away somewhere safe that no one knows about while we do it. When we come back, I’ll fly to the East Coast and sniff around myself. I’m sure either Jaxon or Oliver can come with me for cover. Both need to check out their businesses over there.”
“Will do. Let me know if you need anything, and don't forget to reach out to our operatives in Europe if you need back up. Better to have them step in before someone else gets hurt.”
We hang up, and I’m left looking out my window, not really focusing on anything, as I try to process the information. Why would the PI be killed? Unless he was getting too close to whoever is responsible for all this... I need to call Jake back and ask him if he got a copy of whatever was left in the file.
Before I can pick up the phone on my desk, my cell starts to ring once more. Grabbing it, I slam my finger onto the screen.
“What is it, Jaxon? I don't need to hear all the details about your holiday in paradise,” I growl at him.
“Tom, it’s Harlow. She’s been attacked again.” Jaxon’s words have me stopping mid-rant.
“Is she okay?” I ask carefully, not sure I want to know the answer. The silence on the other end of the line is deafening as I wait for him to respond, my heart practically seizing in my chest.
I’m not sure if I believe in a higher power, but my birth family certainly did. For the first time in over a decade, I say a quick prayer to the big man in the hope that he might listen to a wicked boy’s pleas.
Chapter One
Kai
The water is a cool, refreshing relief on my sore muscles as I slip into the water for our snorkeling adventure. Harlow hovered around us for a little while until she got the hang of it, and then she was off, chasing turtles and fish like a natural. She barely startles when a little reef shark darts away. A broad grin tries to stretch around my snorkel as I watch her, but it’s a little tricky. When I’m finally reassured she’s good, I put my head down and start enjoying the scenery. I’ve been watching her more than I am the reef, which probably isn't a surprise. I don't really want to stop looking at her at all. She’s become some kind of obsession to me, and this trip has only made that fascination grow stronger.
Jaxon’s not far from me on my left, but he keeps stopping to check on our girl too.Ourgirl… Who would have thought? I get a deep feeling of satisfaction at that, and it will be even better once all of my brothers have significantly groveled and we have Thomas on board. He’ll be a hard nut to crack, but I have faith that Harlow will eventually break through his defensive shell. If anyone can get through to the loving, devoted partner he can be, it’s her.
Even underwater, I hear a motor start up, but I figure it’s not the tour boat, so I don't worry too much. As I keep paddling, the noise becomes louder, so I pop my head up to check, my heart skipping a beat when I look for Harlow but can’t find her. Doing a circle on the spot, I see her, but she’s too far out of the safe area of the tour.
Fuck my life.There’s a jet ski heading right toward her.
“Harlow!” I scream as I start to swim toward her, kicking my flippers as fast as I can to propel myself through the water. Her head comes up, and I can see her eyes pop in panic under her mask. She swings around and pulls the pool noodle out from under her belly, waving it around in the hope that the jet ski rider sees her. Unfortunately, it keeps coming because that’s just the fucking luck this family has had lately. I kick harder, and my heart practically stops when the jet ski clips her, not bothering to slow down in the slightest. With a muffled shout, she goes under, and the first fissures of a break form in my heart. What am I supposed to do if something happens to her?
The jet ski makes a hard turn and takes off in the opposite direction, but all I can do is keep racing toward where I saw Harlow go down. The driver is covered head to toe in a wetsuit, so I can’t even get an idea of what he looks like, and even if I could see his face, my eyes are really all for Harlow right now. As I get to the spot that’s practically branded in my brain, I stop, and thankfully she hasn't gone far. I reach down, grab hold of her hair, and yank her to the surface. I’ll apologize for that later since I think it’s more important that I make sure she’s alive.
She comes up spluttering and holding her head which thankfully has only a bump and a small open wound. There’s a slight trickle of blood sliding down and around the mask on her face, but it looks like the cold water has already made it slow.
“God, Harlow, are you okay?” Jaxon’s already swimming over, and he grabs Harlow's noodle on the way. When he reaches us, he helps me get it under her before the three of us swim back to the tour boat, the two of us supporting her on either side with the noodle helping us keep her afloat. For the first few strokes, her head is lolling a bit, like she can’t quite make sure it stays steady and straight.
“Ouch,” she eventually whispers. After that, she coughs and splutters some more, but at least some of her initial grogginess has faded. “Yeah, he definitely hit me. If Kai hadn’t gotten to me and yanked me up by my hair, I would have been a goner.” After that, she seems to struggle to swallow, her face screwing up in pain at the action. “I felt myself black out, but the sting of him grabbing my hair jolted me. I think I swallowed a bit of water though. My throat and lungs are burning, and I’m a little dizzy.”
“I can’t believe that asshole didn't even stop to check if you were okay. What the fuck did he think he hit? There’s no way he didn’t see you!” While Jaxon is ranting, I’m studying our girl. I can tell by the look on Harlow's face that she doesn't believe it was an accident any more than I do, but we both keep quiet for now. No need to amp up Jaxon’s panic before we get her back to the boat.
