Page 58 of Hide Little Traitor

KINGSTON

NOW

When I can’t get in touch with the guardhouse, I assume all my security is dead and move on to getting us the hell out of here.

Ryker reviews the security tapes of the perimeter right up to the moment they cut off, a feat that most could not pull off.

Hawk Security mainly works in private contracts, but we have dabbled in security systems over the years, and this house is fitted with the very best money can buy.

Which means either this was an inside job, or we’re looking at someone highly trained.

Both options bring their own set of problems, but until Chloe is somewhere safe, I refuse to entertain either of them.

The brothers are with her now, packing a bag of her belongings before the chopper arrives in fifteen minutes.

It would have been quicker, but I had Joey scheduled for this evening to take Chloe and me to the private airfield twenty minutes from here for our honeymoon.

Our trip to the Maldives will have to wait, but I remind myself we have the rest of our lives to travel to all the countries on her bucket list.

The memory of those late nights where she struggled to find a reason to keep breathing and I made her tell me all the things she wanted to do before she died.

I don’t know if it helped, but I made a point of remembering every single thing she listed, promising myself I’d make them happen one day.

I’ll admit, domesticating a raccoon isn’t as easy as it sounds if my research is anything to go by, but it’s still not off the table, even if I have to buy an entire zoo just to house it.

Taking a few minutes to pack my own bag, I gather what I’ll need for a few days before moving to my office.

Even before bringing Chloe here, this has been my base for the last few months, making sure the renovations were complete before she got here.

Seeing the bullet holes in the walls and the chipped banister I had custom-made to match her vision board I stalked online hurts more than I expect, but then Chloe has always been able to make me feel more than anyone else.

I don’t even think she noticed those little touches, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t for her.

Ryker appears in the doorway, his own bag over his shoulder and another that I assume is one of the brothers’ in his hand. “You ready?”

Shoving my laptop, hard drive, and any important documents into my bag, I nod and follow him to the back of the house where the others are waiting.

Chloe patched up Damon’s arm, but they’re both still covered in his blood, and I swallow the growl that tries to escape.

After everything he’s put her through, I’d love nothing more than to slit his throat right here.

But then I see the way she looks at him when she doesn’t think anyone is watching, and I know I’ll never be able to follow through on it.

Not to mention the fact that when it mattered, he threw himself between her and danger, winning him an annoying amount of brownie points.

“How sure are you that neither of them could have called our location in to the Lombardis?”

“Damon definitely didn’t. I took his phone from him as soon as we got your text and destroyed it. And Ronan wouldn’t put Chloe in danger like this, regardless of his feelings toward you.”

I’ve always trusted Ryker’s instincts when it comes to people, they’re what make him such a good tracker. But if the brothers weren’t involved and there’s no way they could have been followed, that leaves every enemy I’ve ever made as an option.

Chloe turns to us, her eyes lighting up when she sees Ryker, and my chest tightens.

She cares for him more than I anticipated. I assumed her attachment was more of a trauma response than anything else, but after observing them in the kitchen before the chaos started, I can see there’s more to it than that.

For both of them.

But I refuse to give her up. I’ve spent a decade longing for her, keeping her safe from a distance and building a life that she can be the center of. I’m not willing to give that up just because she and Ryker have formed a connection.