Page 10 of Claimed Gem

“Hey, shush,” Ries pulled her to his chest and held her until she had control of her emotions once more. His arms were warm and strong, and she felt her breathing slow. It felt like, for just that moment – while she was in Ries’ arms, nothing bad could happen to either of them.

Once she was calm again, she pushed away and wiped the tears away before facing him again. “Sorry. Look, this guy…he’s big and he talks like he has killed people before. You need to take this seriously and get out of town. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

6

Ries lookedat her and after a long minute, he nodded. “I’ll call Damon and we’ll go from there.”

Ries had been stunned when he saw Stephanie standing outside his hotel room, and even more concerned when he’d seen how distraught she was.

What she’d told him had seemed impossible, but Ries was also smart enough to know that he and his brothers had been targets before and would likely have to contend with threats for the rest of their lives. It came with the territory of being extremely wealthy and controlling a major shipping company.

For months now, their company had been suffering one catastrophe after another, many of them seemed human-caused, but they had been unable to pinpoint where the threat was coming from. This man Stephanie had followed could be the key to finding out who was targeting his family.

Knowing that it was both their business and lives under threat, it sent a surge of urgency through Ries.

One thing was very clear: helping Stephanie solve the crime she witnessed was now a necessity. If the man who she’d followed was the one being paid to kill him, their answers were one in the same.

First, he needed to warn both his brothers. He normally despised calling Damon but this affected Damon’s safety, too. They needed to know that there was a threat against them and take the proper precautions.

After doing that, he’d find out who wanted to kill them.

“Thank you for coming to tell me this,” Ries told her sincerely. He walked over to the small bar and poured them both a drink. He tossed his back and then carried the other glass over to where Stephanie sat wringing her hands.

“Here, drink this.”

“What is it?” she asked suspiciously, eyeing the clear liquor and taking a tentative smell before wrinkling her nose in distaste.

“It will help calm your nerves,” Ries told her, tipping the glass toward her lips.

“I’m not really a drinker…”

“And yet you work in a bar,” he reminded her.

Stephanie shrugged, “It was the only job I could find and I wasn’t ready to go back home yet.”

“Home is where?”

“The States.” She eyed the glass once more and then took a deep breath and lifted it to her lips. She took a small sip and then shook her head and lowered the glass.

“Not to your liking?” Ries asked, taking the glass from her fingers, ignoring the way little sparks of electricity ran up his arm from that slight contact.

“No. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll call my brother Damon and then Nicolai. They need to step up their security until this man is caught.”

“Caught?”

Ries nodded, “Yes, caught. It’s me he’s after first. So, I’m going to turn the tables on him and find him before he finds me.”

Stephanie eyed him for a minute and then sat up straighter. “I want to help.”

“No way! In fact, I think it’s probably time you left. I have some plans and some phone calls to make.”

“Ries, you need my help.”

“No. I don’t. You’ve done more than enough by letting me know what you overheard.” Ries took her glass over to the bar and watched her.

Stephanie was just like all of the other women in his life, but she’d gotten lucky and had found a new way of getting close to him. That didn’t change the fact that she was only after his family money.