Page 5 of Capture (Primal #3)

I texted Gunner that I was coming to take over my shift of guarding Riley, but after twenty minutes, he hadn’t replied, so I assumed he was asleep.

I found Mikky on the floor, sitting at a table with two silver-haired men smoking expensive cigars, sipping top-shelf whiskey, relaxing back, talking trade and business.

I signaled to him that I was going upstairs, and he cocked his eyebrows, beckoning me to come over for a chat. “Tell Gunner to go home and get some sleep, as I don’t want him moping around here. He can go to my apartment and sleep in the spare bedroom, if he wants.”

“Alright, no problem,” I replied as I scanned the area to ensure everything was functioning. The burlesque girls enthusiastically danced the cancan while the bar was busy with members waiting to be served by the impeccably dressed wait staff in bleached white shirts and hair tied severely back.

“Ronan,” Mikky grabbed my attention to return to him. “Don’t touch her.” His eye narrowed in severe slits. “You hear me. Don’t touch her.”

“I promise, boss,” I answered with sincerity. But leaving Gunner up there alone with Riley was taking a risk. Yet Mikky had higher standards of me than his nephew, not just because I was his paid right-hand man, but because Gunner was broken and unreliable.

The scent of perfume infiltrated my senses when I ran up the back stairs into the Velvet rooms. Weirdly, I’d frequented this area more in the past week than in the last three years. I’d never been interested in what occurred in these rooms or the women who worked here.

All doors were closed with ‘Do not disturb’ signs on the doors as I was serenaded by wailing sex noises that were making me hot, unfortunately. The last thing I needed was to get horny as I descended on the girl I was attracted to, who sat alone in her room.

My shoes froze on the wooden floorboards when I realized someone was missing from the interior—Gunner. Where the fuck had Gunner gone? He had the key to her room, so how would I check on her?

Feeling annoyed, I messaged Gunner to get his ass back here ASAP, so I could check on the girl. Moments after I sent it, I heard the distinctive beeps from Riley’s room, and my shoulders tensed in frustration.

My hand clenched into a fist, but I decided to go down to Freddie’s office to grab the spare key to surprise him and catch him in the act.

Jealousy and frustration stirred in my chest as I ran back down the stairs.

The jealousy came from the fact that Gunner had no problem ignoring orders from Mikky, yet, idiot me, the annoyingly loyal lackey, would use my self-control to obey Mikky’s orders.

I wouldn’t hesitate to put my unwavering loyalties toward Mikky and the Kaiser empire above my desires, and sometimes, it pisses me off how grotesquely dependable I was. But I’d be reluctant to explore the consequences of disobeying Mikky.

Under the choir of female staff greeting me with “Good evening, Mr. Bryne,” eyelashes fluttering, pretty smiles on their faces. Everyone knew the strict rules that staff were not permitted to date, and if they did, they were to keep it discreet within the club.

Freddie shared an office space with Betty, whose shift usually finished when the kitchen closed. Her second-in-command took over managerial duties governing the bar staff, whereas Freddie oversaw the casino, the dance girls, and the Velvet rooms.

The door was shut, but I walked in, and it was empty, so I knew the spare keys were in one of Freddie’s drawers in his desk. I found them in the bottom drawer on a key ring, slammed the drawer shut, and paused when my attention went to Betty’s desk.

Riley claimed she overheard someone who sounded like Betty talking about the rat drop and calling the press, but also mentioned the formidable Vladimir. Vladimir was not the person's name, but rather a reference to someone of great power and authority who was their dictator or boss.

Through my contacts, I learned that Mr. Ivanov, at the height of his power, was fondly referred to as Vlad by his subordinates and staff.

But it all came crashing down, and we ran them out of town.

But only a fool would’ve assumed that they’d never return.

Gothenburg was their territory, so we expected them to go underground to muster up finances and resources and return to fight the next battle in this war.

We knew it was not over when the Kaisers bought the Savile club for a killing.

No, it was merely a ceasefire, a pause in the combat.

Usually, this part of the club was quietened down when the kitchen closed for the evening, apart from the front reception.

I glanced down the hallway to ensure no one was around before casting my eye over the paperwork on her desk, which included the paper copy of the roster.

Then, I opened the top drawer and found a phone sitting there.

I doubted this was her usual phone, which was typically attached to her hip, but a four-digit passcode blocked it so that I couldn’t access it. I shut that drawer, looked inside the next drawer, found nothing of interest, and then tried the third drawer, which was locked.

Voices echoed down the hallway, so I left the office with the locked drawer lingering in my imagination.

After I've dealt with Gunner, I’ll find a tool in the kitchen to pry open that drawer.

I won’t rest until I do. Under this roof, everyone was presumed guilty until proven otherwise, including one of our most valued staff members.

I strolled out of Freddie’s and Betty’s office like I owned the place, showing my authority, avoiding eyes as I passed staff before stepping out into the open casino where the place was pumping.

I ducked into the private lounges and backed up to the Velvet rooms, then walked quietly to the room at the end of the hall.

I slid the key into the lock, opened the door, and stalled at the sight before me. Riley and Gunner were spooning, fully clothed, deeply asleep. They didn’t move at the sound of the lock turning.

“Interesting way to treat the captive,” I spoke aloud to break their sleep, and Gunner propels out of the bed in horror that I caught him in the act.

He approached me with his head down, fingers combing through this raven messy hair. “Annika,” he mumbled.

“Huh? Are we still going to pretend-”

“She’s Annika,” he spoke aloud as Annika sat up and leaned against the bed frame. “She confessed it.”

I glanced over his shoulder at her, chewing her bottom lip, avoiding my eye. “You’re Annika?” I questioned.

Lashes beat over blue dazzlers, and I almost lost my breath at how beautiful she looked. The fake lenses were removed to reveal stunningly beautiful eyes. “Yes,” she resigned.

“Well, Mikky is going to be…” I didn’t bother finishing the sentence because I couldn’t find the right words to fit the moment, and the grand reveal took me aback.

“I told you, Ronan. I told you from the start, Ronan, that she was Annika. " He sounded proud that he stuck to his guns, yet where did this leave us? Now that it’s revealed who she was, it gives us more power because she has the answer to our problems.

I stood over her as she pressed her back against the wall, hugging her knees, listening to us talk about her while remaining silent.

My gaze continued to slide over her eyes because this revelation only made her look more feral and beautiful, like the smooth-skinned selkie diving through the frothing water.

“So, here we have it,” I breathed. “You were here the entire time, right under our noses. You outfooled us-

“Not me,” Gunner asserted. “She didn’t have me beat.”

“Yeah, well, you knew her better than us and knew the details of her character,” I rationalized, trying to hold back the urge to touch her face to make sure she was real.

All our Christmases had come at once, yet this felt like a heavy loss, not a win. I composed myself and turned to Gunner, “I’m taking over the shift. Mikky wants you to head back to his apartment and get some sleep.”

“I’ve been sleeping,” he argued as panic flashed behind his dark eyes. “I don’t need to sleep. I can stay, Ronan. It’s okay. I can stay and carry on the shift.”

“That’s an order, Gunner,” I snarled, annoyed by his petulance, and pointed to the door.

“Ronan,” he pulled over to the far side of the room and lowered his voice. “Don’t…” he exhaled as if finding it difficult to express what he wanted to say. “Don’t hurt her, Ronan. Please, I’m begging you, don’t hurt her.”

That’s the problem, though. My loyalties to the Mikky and Kaiser empire supersede my attachment to the Selkie, and if Mikky asked me to hold a gun to her head and pull the trigger, I’d do it. Gunner knew this, which made me the most dangerous person in the room.

“I won’t, Gunner,” I replied honestly. “I won’t touch her, I swear, but I might need to ask her a few things now that we know she betrayed Mikky.”

“Yeah, I get it,” he replied in anguish, wrestling with his love for the girl versus Mikky. And it was apparent: he had loved her since they were kids, and he had always loved her.

“Go,” I pointed to the door, and he dragged his feet, looked back one more time at the girl on the bed, and closed the door behind him.

I find my phone in my pocket, swipe Mikky’s number as those blue eyes watch me closely, dropping away when my gaze meets hers.

“Yup,” Mikky answered cheerfully as the sounds of the club echoed in the background.

“She’s confessed,” I told him. “Thanks to Gunner.”

“Confessed? Confessed to what?” he asked as it occurred to me that there could be a thousand different things that she could confess to, but only one that mattered.

“She’s the girl we’ve been looking for. Annika, the adopted daughter of your uncle.

It’s her. She's here.” I narrowed my eyes as I stood over her, as her fingers trembled in fear.

“Riley Laws confessed that she is Annika.” My gaze met hers again, and this time, she allowed her stare to remain bravely fixed on my face, where her fate was laid before her. “What do you want me to do with her?”

“You’re kidding?” he chuckled, sounding chilled out by expensive alcohol. “Gunner was right all along?”

“He was,” I hit as she hugged her knees tighter as if to shield her from her impending punishment. “Gunner was right.”

“What do you want me to do with her?” I asked again, then added to scare her, “I can start torturing her to siphon information. To see how far I can go before she breaks.”

The traitor’s mouth parted in fear as those bright, blue eyes flicked about the room as if searching for an escape.

I had no intention of torturing her, not yet anyway, but if Mikky asked me to hasten the process, I’d do it.

That’s me, Ronan Byrne, Mikael Kaiser’s number one man, butcher, whatever he wanted, I’d do it on command.

“Make my life easy for me and ask her some questions to warm her up,” he directed. “If she doesn’t squeal, then put some pressure on.”

“Done,” I replied, swiping off as my eyes rake over her soft, pale cheeks that I had the urge to sink my teeth into.

Of all the girls I discovered in the forest that day, it’s a pity it happened to be the girl who had a target on her back with Mikky’s name on it.