Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Despite the surveillance, despite the danger, they’d grown closer this past week. Now, her sleepy smile warmed places inside him he’d thought had frozen over when she’d left him.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then stood and stretched. “You’re thinking too loud.”
“Just lots on my mind.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, drinking in her familiar vanilla-musk scent while he could, before she made her way to the bathroom.
They’d been here too long. This place kept trying to chip away at her soul, but she remained so damn brave. Fierce. Ready to fight. He’d never been prouder—or more terrified for her.
Nearly a week had passed since she’d confessed the devastating truth about their son. Her admission had changed everything between them. Now when their eyes met across a room, he saw not just love but absolute trust. Each casual touch carried the weight of shared grief and renewed hope. But that made the horror of this place harder to stomach. This trafficking operation was bigger than any of them had first imagined, and the intel they’d gathered made his blood boil.
Unfortunately, their sources were drying up. Martinez in maintenance had gone silent. Lia, Gray’s secretary, had vanished—and Nash tried not to think about what that might mean. Even Karliah hadn’t picked up anything useful at the spa lately. This fucking investigation felt like three steps forward and two steps back.
But quitting wasn’t an option.
Haisley emerged with clean teeth and curled onto her usual spot on the window seat, propping a book on her knees.
He passed her a cup of coffee, and she thanked him with a smile. Sunlight caught her fiery hair, and his chest tightened.
To his knowledge, she hadn’t had her period since arriving on the island. The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. After what happened last time… Images flashed through his mind—her alone in that hospital room, holding their dying son. Grief wrenched his chest. His hands curled into fists. If she was pregnant again, he’d burn this whole fucking island down before he’d let anyone hurt her or their child.
He forced the thought away. More immediate concerns first.
His sat phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket and answered, keeping his voice carefully neutral. “Jasper King here.”
“It’s Hunter. You good there?”
Something in the boss’s tone had Nash’s pulse quickening. “Define good.”
Hunter snorted. “Kane mentioned setbacks with your intel sources. But that footage he took during that storm last week. We’ve combed through it. And we shared it with the FBI.”
“Anything new on that front?”
“They’re taking point but can’t move until the next auction.”
Damn it. Nash would love to get Haisley off the island, but he couldn’t unless this ring got busted up…or Haisley turned up pregnant. “No idea when that will be.”
“Looking like Friday.” Hunter’s voice crackled through the encryption. “The feds are prepping a team to come in. We’ll pass on as they advise.”
Finally. Light at the end of the tunnel. “Thanks for the info.”
“There’s more. The FBI’s theory about Benedict seems solid. He was a mid-level player at best. Expendable, so when he botched the mall operation, he put the whole ring at risk. Black Velvet or someone close had him eliminated, staged to look like a murder-suicide. By the way, the dental records came back. The mistress was the other body. She was collateral damage—wrong place, wrong time.”
Nash absorbed that information. “Makes sense.”
“About Mila… They think she stumbled onto her husband’s affair. Maybe she suspected or even caught them at the house. That’s probably why she was at the office that night you and Haisley broke in. Either way, she was probably taken because she knew too much.”
“Maybe. But where to?” Nash asked carefully.
“She’s got to be on the island. They took Haisley directly there, right? You’ll find her during the raid. Keep your eyes open. I’m communicating with Karliah, too, in case Mila comes through the spa before Friday night. Speaking of the auction, you and Kane need to create a distraction. Ethan arrives tomorrow to bid in person. We’re giving you and Kane a budget to do the same since only buyers with confirmed bank accounts can attend.”
Nash’s gaze strayed to Haisley. She’d set aside her book, watching him intently. His chest ached. “Good plan.”
“One more thing…” Hunter’s voice hardened. “Don’t tell anyone else about the raid. The fewer people who know, the better.”
The implication hit Nash like a blade between his ribs. Hunter was forbidding him from telling Haisley? “That’s not going to work.”
“Not my call. The feds insist. If this op goes south and Haisley is questioned…”
“Ignorance won’t save—” her. But he couldn’t voice the rest of his thought, not with surveillance everywhere. “This is bullshit.”
“These are the feds’ rules. You understand? Blow this off, and never mind me firing you. They’ll assume you’re an accomplice and arrest your ass.”