Ares’s phone buzzed in his hand. “Ah, here’s the photo from the contact at the police station, finally.”
“It’s just a kid,” Logan said, looking over his shoulder. “A brother?”
The shape of the eyes bore a resemblance to Harper. “Some family member for sure. Is it possible he’s the one who took Harper? I don’t know. Erik, have you seen him hanging about?”“No. I would have remembered the resemblance.”
Xander’s tablet flashed at him, Meg sending him through a 3D blueprint of the hotel.
“This shows the entire parking lot.”
“What if they dropped Harper off at the hotel? What if people were waiting there for her?” His stomach hit the floor as he pointed to a door beside the elevator block. “Look, this door here has to go somewhere.”
Logan leaned over Xander’s shoulder with a grunt.
“Call Quinn back to get them to check it out,” barked out Xander, confident someone would do as instructed.
“Let’s go meet them, Xander,” Logan urged softly.
“You are staying here,” Ares said.
“Look Ares, we have a plan now. And I am feeling fine. I’ll stand back, but I need to see her with my own eyes, okay? You do too.” Logan slapped his hand on Xander’s shoulder.
A lump formed in Xander’s throat. “No, I can’t.”
“You have your best men at your back. Come on, let’s go.”
His palms were sweaty at the thought of leaving his office. After a few moments, he looked at Logan’s steady glare and Erik’s quiet presence and knew he would be in expert hands.
“Okay. Let’s go do this,” he said.
“I’m going to stay here, to command centre it all,” Ares said.
Xander nodded. His brother always had his back.
Logan clapped him on the back, and Xander tried to breathe. He could do this. For Harper, he could confront his fears and battle through his anxiety. She was more than worth it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - HARPER
Harper’spulseraced,comingout of her skin. She wiggled her shoulders, trying to twist out of the duct tape her hands were bound with behind her back. Her body hurt.
Her mind kept replaying the moment when two men had thrown her in the blue panel van and her smoothie had flown through the air like a strawberry ribbon. A knot of fear had lodged deep in her stomach. She froze. After all those years of being on high alert, when it came time to try out those hard-won self-defence skills, she had failed. She hadn’t had a chance to escape; the men had clasped her arms hard as they sat in the van with her, one on either side.
She tried to focus on the time, tried to count off in her head how many moments it was between her being thrown in the van and the van stopping, but as the man’s fingers dug into her arm, it took all her focus not to cry.
It had taken her years to believe she wasn’t in danger, that her family would not track her down and drag her back into their prostitute ring, into their crime. She had fought so hard to, finish high school, get her degree, to make a life.
And as time went on, the memories of her aunt calling her names and telling her that her mother was ungrateful, bringing shame to the family, the memory of the fire at her mother’s beautiful dance studio, their house, all of it had faded.
It had faded as Xander made her go to counselling. As he gave her a job as his assistant. She had never stopped missing her parents, though, especially her beautiful mother, who believed that dance could heal any broken heart.
Her mother’s oval face, with her bright eyes, swam in Harper’s mind for a moment, abruptly replaced by her aunt’s pinched countenance, tying Harper to the rail in the basement, keeping her that way, night after night, until the night it was Harper’s turn to be sent out.
And then, as if in a scene from a movie, she found herself whisked into the hotel room, huddled over by two big strong men, protected by them. It took her a long time to realize they weren’t mad at her; they were mad at the people who had placed her in this situation.
God,Xander. She owed him so much, no matter what he said. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have this busy, hectic, wonderful life. She wished she had pushed him harder. She knew he liked taking his time with decisions, his read on people was so precise because he didn’t rush into action. It was one of the things she loved about him.
Harper sobbed, her thoughts crowding her head. Xander had one so much for her. But it didn’t matter, they were going to come and take her to… wherever they were operating these days, maybe back in Blakvasitaikn.
Her decision to keep the secret of who she was from Logan haunted her. He had shown her love and care and attention. If she had been honest with him, told him about the dance audition, he might have supported her. Not only honest,brave. If she had been brave enough to tell them both that she loved them, she wouldn’t have felt it necessary to storm out of Xander’s office, needing space, her heart aching and maybe she would have seen a sign of this happening… maybe she would have noticed someone following her. Maybe she shouldn’t have discounted the times shehadfelt like someone was watching her. She should have told them. God! She had ditched her security team. She choked out the sobs, full out, messy crying.
