“Good luck,” Ramiro said.
Giving the other man a nod, Darwin turned and walked out of the building.Now, all he had to do was figure out how to fix this situation before anyone got hurt.
Chapter seventeen
Darwinbreathedasighof relief when he knocked on the door of Khloe’s suite and Katrina opened it.After leaving the gun range, he’d stopped by his room to change into his suit for the wedding, and then rushed up here.
In the bedroom, he could hear Khloe and her mother talking about her veil, but their voices faded into the background as he gazed at Katrina.He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but the lavender dress she wore managed to be sexy and demure at the same time.Her make-up and half-up, half down hairstyle were fancier than she usually did them, too.It was all he could do not to sweep her up in his arms and carry her up to his room.
If they didn’t have a wedding to attend and a dangerous arms dealer incoming, he would have done just that.
“You look...”
Beautiful.
Enchanting.
Stunning.
“Gorgeous.”
She smiled.“You, too.”
Then she launched herself into his arms, wrapping hers around him and hugging the stuffing out of him.He was hugging her just as tightly in return when her hand brushed the gun holstered under his jacket.
Katrina pulled away to search his face, her eyes worried.“Is everything okay?Kyla called and told me about Chapman.”
“I need to find your father and brother before it’s too late,” he said.
“I already talked to Dad and tried to get him to see how dangerous Chapman is, but he wouldn’t listen.He thinks he can talk his way out of everything, even when dealing with a cold-blooded killer.”
Darwin opened his mouth to tell Katrina about the Genesis drone being stolen, but her sister and mother chose that particular moment to walk out of the bedroom and into the living area, both of them already dressed for the wedding.
“Katrina?”Grace asked, fear in her voice.“Who is Chapman and how is your father involved with him?”
Darwin had assumed Katrina would have at least told her sister what was going on, but obviously not.Khloe looked as stunned as their mother.
Katrina looked at Darwin, asking with her eyes how much she could share.
“Tell them everything you think they need to know,” he said.“But make it quick.We don’t have a lot of time to mess around.”
She nodded, turning back to her mother and sister.“Dad’s investment consortium provided funding to a Navy weapon project, but someone in the group got greedy and decided to offer the weapon to an international arms dealer.The two men who were murdered in the vineyard?That was him, sending a message to Dad.”
Grace shook her head even as her legs started giving out.Katrina raced over to help Khloe guide their mother over to the couch, each of them taking a seat on either side of her.Darwin stood off to the side while Katrina filled in all the blanks about what had been going on that week, making sure her mother knew how bad this whole mess was.
“As bad as all that sounds, the situation is actually worse now,” Darwin added.“The reason that I was able to come back from the island so quickly is because the weapon was stolen last night.We have no idea where the hell it is, but with Chapman hanging around, it’s likely there’s something else he needs that Jameson has.Which is why we need to find him before Chapman does.”
“He had a meeting planned with Rhett in the conference room above the pressing shed,” Grace said, looking at Darwin in alarm.“I don’t know what they were going to talk about, but I’ve been texting him for the past half hour, reminding him to come back to the resort to get changed for the wedding.Unfortunately, he’s been ignoring me.Knowing my husband, he might have even turned off his phone.”
Hopefully that was all it was.
“Okay, looks like I’m heading out to the pressing shed then,” Darwin said, already turning for the door of the suite, only to stop when both Katrina and Khloe moved to follow.
“Whoa.Hold on,” he said, holding up a hand in protest.“You two can’t possibly think you’re going with me.There’s no way to tell what kind of danger I could be walking into.”
“Which is why I’m not letting you go by yourself,” Katrina said firmly before turning to her sister.“You, on the other hand, are getting married in less than an hour, so you’re staying here with Mom and the rest of the bridal party.Darwin and I will get Dad to listen to reason and make sure he’s back in time to walk you down the aisle.”
Khloe looked like she wanted to argue, but all it took was one glance at the ornate clock on the wall to tell her Katrina was right.Not to mention the fact that Khloe was wearing a gown with an immense train that dragged the floor even after being pinned up.There was no way she was running around in that.
