Page 33 of Capture (Primal #3)

I kept my cool around Gunner as the three of us walked through the private lounges, opened the secret door, and then climbed the stairs. I didn’t know what we would find when we arrived, and despite being disappointed that she had left, I knew I had done the right thing.

Set her free. If she comes back, then she’s yours. If she doesn’t, she never was.

Gunner was at the front of us, eager to see her, and going by the cloud of cologne trailing behind him, he slathered quite a bit on.

I avoided Ronan’s stabbing glare when we approached her door to find that it was closed.

Gunner will have to learn to move on without her.

We all will have to learn to move on without her.

Maybe she’ll turn up again in a year to say hello, but I doubt Gunner would be open to allowing her back into his heart again.

“Have you got a key?’ Gunner asked, and I patted my pocket, finding the key, then handed it to him.

“Try the handle first,” I told him.

Confusion washed across his face as he looked at me, then to Ronan, and knew something was awry. Without a word, he turned the handle, finding it was unlocked. He paused and asked, “Why is it unlocked?”

I had no words to give that would make him better, so I turned away as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“About bloody time,” a scolding voice came from the room, and a smile stretched across Ronan’s face as I dropped my head down into my hands, almost in tears.

I had convinced myself that she must’ve gone. I convinced myself that was the only explanation. We could give her everything, but only if she wanted it.

The three of us piled inside to find our girl sitting on the bed, knees bent, arms wrapped around her knees, bag packed on the floor, as she was ready to go somewhere. Looking glorious.

She lunged at Gunner and flung her arms around his neck as the two of them jumped up and down together in happiness, then she fussed over him as he lapped it up like a puppy dog.

“Bro, are you falling for her?” Ronan asked me quietly, while Annika giggled in glee at having Gunner back.

“No,” I snapped.

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Sure, you ain’t. Big hard man.”

“I was so worried something happened to you,” Annika crowed, running her hands through his hair.

Then a shadow cast over his face as he stepped back from her and looked to Ronan and me. “I know who killed Dad,” he said, and the room fell silent, seeming to be swept up into another dimension.

Before I sliced through the silence, I asked, “Who?”

He turned to Annika, “Do you remember that cop who approached you that day. She said she knew your father. Do you remember her?”

Annika frowned, baffled. “Yes, but she was Judith, Gunner.”

“I know,” he replied. “It was she who was blackmailing my dad. I overheard him on the phone one day, so I called the number, and it was the same voice. It was the same person.”

“That’s impossible,” Annika said, shaking her head.

“She was a police officer. Why would she blackmail him? She was watching our family,” she paused to clear her throat, as her cheeks reddened after saying the word ‘family’.

It’s as if she didn’t believe she deserved to have that title anymore.

And if it were a month ago, I would’ve agreed with her, but not now.

She continued, “I realized later, after Mr. Kaiser died, that she was the same person who approached me that day. She was all nice and friendly, but when I wouldn’t cave to her demands, she began to threaten to hurt my brother until it got so bad that I started to believe her.

Annika paused to sip her water, “She mentioned knowing who my father was only once, and when I brought it up again, she said I imagined it. But I knew I didn’t because I told Gunner. So, what did she have on Mr. Kaiser to blackmail him with?”

Gunner opened his mouth, then shut because he didn’t have the answer, so I stepped in, “Because she did know who your father was.” I glanced at Gunner again.

“She knew him very well.” I paused to take a breath.

“She was married to him. And he died in a car crash, and she, Judith, believed it was Lars and Sylvie who organized his death.”

Gunner and Annika’s mouths had dropped open as were their eyes, taking it all in. Perplexed and in awe.

“That was what she blackmailed my dad with?” Gunner exclaimed in surprise. “Did she have evidence?”

“Well, obviously not because he didn’t succumb to her demands,” I explained.

“She wanted to expose how her husband died, committed to spending her career destroying the Kaiser empire, was behind Lars’ first arrest many years ago, behind his second arrest two years after, and was behind my arrest three years ago.

I suspect we’re going to find out that she was also responsible for Lars’ death. ”

“I knew it,” Gunner stamped his foot down.

Ronan’s phone beeped. “I have to get down onto the floor. We’re short in staff,” he said to me, shooting me a sharp look.

“Short in staff?” Annika crowed. “I can help. Please let me help.”

“You’re not old enough to work on the floor,” I reminded her.

She ignored me and opened her bag, dragging out the white polo shirt uniform top. “I hadn’t handed it in to Betty so that I could help in the kitchen.”

“Betty doesn’t work for us anymore,” I told her sternly.

“Ha,” she bit. “Good job. Now, Gunner, you go home and shower because,” she pinched her nose, “you need soap. Then come back, and we can get this functioning at a higher standard.”

“Excuse me?” I was a little put out, but I enjoyed her enthusiasm and bossiness.

Against my wishes, she pulled her top off in front of us, slid on her Savile club polo shirt, then flapped her hands at us to get to work. “Get back to work, you lot. You don’t make money by standing around, watching me get dressed.”

Ronan grinned from ear to ear as it was evident that there was nothing we could do to stop her, even if we wanted to. I let Ronan and Gunner leave the room first, then gently grabbed Annika’s forearm to pull her back.

“I was surprised to see you here,” I whispered.

A breathy chuckle exuded from her delectable mouth, and her eyes sparkled like stars. She bit her bottom lip, shooting me a mischievous look. “So, you left it open deliberately? I wondered that. You don’t seem like someone who would make a major error such as leaving your prisoner’s door open.”

She sighed as grief washed over her face, and she lowered her head, looking at me under her eyelashes.

“Why would I leave? This is my home.” Her voice cracked, and then she swallowed, turning away to hide the emotions behind her eyes. “You three are my family...” She paused again as if it was difficult for her to open up like this. “Aren’t you? Aren’t you my family?”

I nodded and released her arm and let her go to catch up with the other two, as I grabbed her bags to take them back to my apartment, where she was welcome to stay for as long as she liked.

As I stepped toward the door, I paused to reflect on the last few days with Annika locked in this room: the fun we’ve had and my growing fondness for her. I’ll miss Annika not being in here anymore, my pet locked in the room ripe for the picking. She’s happier now.

Her sweet figure appeared at the door after she had gone, and I had a moment to myself. Her smile is vast and beautiful as she leaped toward me, wrapping her arms around my neck, her feet lifting off the ground as she peppered kisses over my cheeks.

“Thank you,” she whispered into my ear, then let go too soon.

As she walked away, that little ass wiggled as she moved. I asked, “For what? What are you thanking me for?”

She glanced back with a tear in her eye, “For believing in me.” Before I had a chance to reply, she vanished from view, and I stood in her room for a few moments to dwell on what she said. It was a cliché, but she became the light to my dark and the joy to my bitterness.

Still with my hands occupied with her bags, I wandered to the viewing room to watch her go by.

Ronan appeared first. The responsible, loyal one, not blood-related, but he was family, and I wouldn’t be here without him.

Gunner was next with Annika beside him, arm looped in his, chatting away as she scanned the floor as if scrutinizing and planning in her mind what she would change.

She stalled on the empty casino floor as Gunner kept walking forward and glanced up at me, as if she knew I’d be there watching. A gorgeous smile across that face as she flicked me a naughty little, discreet wave, then skipped to catch up with Gunner.

That’s what happiness looked like, and I hoped it only got better for all of us. No one could replace Lars, yet our family seemed complete with Annika returning to us.