Her fingers wrapped around the cup, and she gave a feminine snort. “You wanted to hand me over to a cop.”
“True,” he drawled, his heart settling back in his chest at her dry tone. “But I probably would have kissed you first.”
Faint color seeped beneath her pale skin.
“Oh, god—” She shot up from her chair, her eyes wide with distress. “My brother! My little brother is out there all alone.”
Nik set his mug down. “Shadow, it’s mid-morning. We turn up at your grandfather’s place, it would raise suspicions since you’ve been missing for so many years. You’ll put yourself in direct line of fire with this Enzo. We need to do this logically. C’mon. Grab your coffee. We can, in the meantime, find out all the details we need before we form any plan.”
* * *
Shadow knew Nik was right as she followed him. She’d lived underground and learned to be cautious, but this waiting was rubbing her raw.
Back in their quarters, he opened the other door past the massive, stone fireplace, leading into a study-slash-living room. Bookshelves lined one wall, and leather couches faced a TV. Nik crossed to the desk near the window overlooking the gardens and sat behind the desktop.
“What’s your grandfather’s first name?”
“Patton.” She set her mug down and gave him their address, too.
Too edgy to remain still, she walked around Nik’s private space as he worked on the computer, stopping at the shelves crammed with well-read paperbacks and hardbacks of thrillers and suspense. She glanced back to where he worked.
It still tore her up, reliving her anguish at her twin’s death. But deep down, she understood Nik wasn’t to blame. Despite his Guardian oath, he had decided to help Olivia. He had no way to know he was a day too late.
She sighed and stroked a finger along the worn spine of a paperback. If she had to fault anyone, it was her grandfather for insisting on this marriage, and Enzo for being a sadistic dickhead. The thought embedded itself into her soul thathewas behind her sister’s death. Even if he wasn’t, he’d hurt her sister, and she wanted him to pay.
God, her poor brother, losing both his sisters. She prayed he was okay.
“Shadow?” At Nik’s quiet voice, she glanced back. “According to this article, your grandfather passed away two years ago.”
A twinge of sadness flashed through her, but she shut it out. He didn’t protect them when they needed him. “Liam?” He was all that mattered.
“He lives with—”
“Enzo,” she whispered, her heart thundering in her ears. “We have to get him away from that man.”
“We will. But we can’t rush in, we have to be careful.” Nik rested an arm on the desk, watching her. “I don’t want you involved in this.”
“No, I have to be. Liam thinks he’s all alone!”
“Shadow. This Enzo has your brother. If he somehow gets wind you survived your illness, he’ll know you’ll come looking for him. You don’t want to be in his sights. Let me dig up a little more about this bastard before we do anything.” Nik shook his head before she opened her mouth. “Yes, I could dematerialize and get your brother out of there, but then he’d be a missing person and the authorities would get involved, and that would create unnecessary trouble.”
Dammit, Nik was right. Shadow continued her pace-a-thon around the perimeter of the room.
After a few minutes, she trailed back to Nik and watched him as he worked, his brow furrowed, his fingers flying over the keyboard, unearthing more info. A headline caught her attention. She leaned over Nik’s shoulder, and her stomach flipped as she read.
Patton Montgomery, of Montgomery Ent., passed away last night from a sudden heart attack.He leaves behind a grandson, fifteen-year-old William Montgomery. The minor is now under the guardianship of Enzo Argo, of Argo Holdings…
Harsh laughter escaped her. “The jerk.”
Nik cut her a sharp stare.
“With Olivia and me not in the picture, he’s got Liam under his rotten thumb for the damn money. Do a search on my brother.”
Nik nodded, and a moment later, at the image of the brown-haired teen, tears burned her eyes. “He’s no longer the boy I left behind,” she whispered, reaching out to touch the monitor, gently tracing the lean bone structure of the man he was becoming. “Maybe it was selfish that I left, but I wasn’t strong like my sister. Enzo would have probably killed me before my time was up.”
“Don’t.” Nik’s fiery stare snapped to hers. “Despite being sick, what you did took great courage. You left. No one could blame you for that.”
Shadow dropped her hand from the screen. “Perhaps. But it hurt me not to explain anything to Liam. He was so young, just twelve. I didn’t want to burden him or put him in any danger. I thought I was dying, thought I could spare him…”
