Page 121 of The Bounty

CHAPTER 40

DYLAN

She’s gone,and it consumes my mind.

Her beautiful face, her independent spirit, her cleverness…

It’s as if she was never here.

We failed her.

I lied to her face, never telling her the truth about Hannah.

If I had, would she have stayed?

It’s been three days, and Brock, Killian and I have been glued to the news, hoping to see any sign of her.

My brother and best friend have stopped fighting, which shows something is very wrong,

“We have to save Hannah, too,” Killian says, as I chop up an onion. I’ve thrown myself into my cooking more than usual, making complicated recipes and sourcing ingredients that are almost impossible to find.

It’s my therapy. It keeps me sane.

I nod. “Of course, we do.”

“What the fuck does it say about us that we didn’t even fight for her?” He mutters, watching my knife skills.

They offered Brock access toEden, and he turned it down. He only turned Hannah in, thinking it was what was best for her.

I argued at first, but eventually, my brother convinced me.

“Youfought for her,” I add. “I didn’t.”

“I could have fought harder,” he mutters. “Fuck, how many onions are you chopping?”

“I’m making French onion soup, asshole.”

“What, enough to feed all ofEden? You gonna make sure they all shit themselves, so they have to evacuate?”

I smile for the first time in days. “If only it were that easy.”

He sighs. “Yeah, if only. We should have fucking told her.”

I try not to think about Olive inEden. I try not to imagine the Alpha assholes, and what could be happening to her.

Mine and Brock’s combined worth is around fifty million.

It’s not enough to grant us entrance.

“Ifoundout who’s working security, though,” Killian adds, and I pause my chopping. “And their schedules. It’s a start.”

It’s not really anything, though.

But I hold on to that glimmer of hope, the same one that Olive has always had.

I nod. “It’s something.”

Brock, for the first time in three days, enters the kitchen. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair is unkempt, but he looks…excited.