I shift in my seat and scout around for a cushion to hide my instantreaction to her.
“Hey, can I come in?” she asks softly.
I nod silently, not trusting myself to speak.
“You, er, left the party early, and I wanted to say thank you for the picnic. It was exactly what I needed.” She shoots me an uncertain smile and it makes something twist inside me. The way she’s standing is like she’s not all that sure I’ll want her in here, when that’s patently false.
I want her wherever I am. Always.
“You’re welcome.” I’m standing before I know it, hard dick and all. Stepping closer until I’m right in front of her, I brush my thumb over the soft skin of her neck.
So delicate.
So perfect.
I want to lick a stripe right there and taste the tang of salt on her skin.
Her breath stutters and it’s enough to bring me back to myself. I step back.
“There’s something I need you to know,” I tell her. Might as well get this over with right here and now.
“You said something earlier about not wanting there to be any secrets between us and I... I’ve been keeping something from you. I thought I was doing a good thing, but I understand now that you might not feel that way.”
She frowns, her expression growing wary.
Fuck. I feel like I’m babbling, and that’s not me at all. I’m normally cool and collected, organized. Right now I feel like my mind is a messy suitcase with all my thoughts piled on top of each other and I have no clue what I’m going to pull out first.
“Cedar Orlog,” I say, wincing internally as she pales at the name. “I’ve had eyes on him for a few weeks now. He seems to be on the move. I’m not sure what he’s planning or where he’s headed, but I have people following him. I, er, have Elara following him.”
“How long exactly have you been keeping tabs on him?” Her eyes narrow and I know she won’t like this next part.
“Ever since you agreed to join us in the cabin.”
“So, every message Elara sent me over the past six weeks, she’s been working for you?” Her voice is quiet, but it tangles up my insides just the same as if she was screaming at me.
“That makes her sound like she was spying on you. She wasn’t, Sin. She’s just been trying to track Orlog down.” I shake my head, holding up my hands in supplication and feeling like a giant asshole. “I thought she could do with the work.”
“So where is he?”
I pause, unease swirling in my gut as I clear my throat. “He’s, er, actually not too far from here. And he’s on the move.”
She pauses, blinking as my words sink in. “You think that it’s a coincidence that my face is splashed all over the internet and suddenly he’s in the same country, halfway across the world?”
It’s something that’s already crossed my mind. “I should have kept you out of the limelight. We never should have exposed you like this.”
But I was too focused on trying to fix things for my brothers. Too slow on the uptake to realize how important Sin is to us all.
“Iri,” she says my name so softly, I force myself to make eye contact with her, rather than staring at the floor like a coward. “You don’t need to beat yourself up. In the future, I’d like you to keep me in the loop about stuff that involves me, but I appreciate you taking care of me, just like you look after everyone else.”
My brain stalls. That is not what I was expecting her to say. I was expecting anger and for her to chew me out, sure. Not this softness.
“I have an idea,” she continues. “What if we could use the media being assholes and the stories online to our advantage?”
I frown, cocking my head to one side. “What are you suggesting?”
“We lure him out, like you suggested when you were failing to catfish him. But instead of your weird alternative persona—Grock Masterdon—seriously?” She snorts. “We use something else to lure him out.”
My gut twists as I take in her expression. Her jaw is set and her eyes gleam with determination.
