Page 4

FOUR

HARKIN

Blood//Water - grandson

“ D omenico’s been spotted in the city.” I break the silence hanging over the group. Keira stiffens in my lap, even though I just told her in the kitchen. It’s been months of dragging the internet and using all my contacts to locate the man. In the end, my system pinged him, spotted by multiple cameras in the city. The ease with which he moved through his trip made me realize he was done hiding. If I’d found him, he wanted to be found. He was back in the game and ready to play.

The only problem was we still didn’t know his endgame. If it was just for Alina’s profit, why all the theatrics? Keira would have been open to helping her sister without being kidnapped. She didn’t need to be put through the shock of finding out her father had been watching her. And certainly not that the twin she so desperately wanted to have a relationship with growing up was still alive. Alina showed her true colors immediately, and those dreams that Keira had held tightly were crushed.

“So, what do we do now?” Keira asks.

I look over at James. I'm grateful that his cold mask of indifference is set in place. It’s time to tell Keira about my results, but not in front of everyone. I don’t know how she’s going to react.

“We watch and wait. If you want to contact Alina, we can figure that out. It hasn’t been hard to keep an eye on her and Sofia.”

“But if I do?—”

“Yeah, she’s likely to tell Domenico. Or shit, she probably wouldn’t even have to. I’m sure his men are watching over her like a hawk. At least Marcello is.”

“I’m a match, Harkin. If I can help, I need to do it,” she says with all the sincerity in the world.

“I know, sweetness.” Dropping a gentle kiss on her hair, I draw her in closer to me. The rawness of the conversation drives away the earlier lust. “I can set you up with an encrypted email. That way, you can reach out to her. Domenico might find out, but that doesn’t mean he needs to know where you are. When the time comes for the procedure, we’ll figure it out.”

“There’s something else,” James says, sitting forward on the couch. “I’ve done more digging into your dad’s connection with Domenico. After everything that happened, Domenico reached out to him, trying to shake him down for information.” Pausing, his eyes train on mine. “He’s missing, and your mom’s gone off the deep end.”

“What!” I jolt forward, almost sending Keira to the floor. She adjusts and lets me stand before she returns to the leather chair.

I pace back and forth between everyone, where a coffee table should be. I haven’t spoken to my parents in months with everything going on. I didn’t think to check in on them. It would have taken two seconds to log into their security system, but Keira was more important.

“When?” My tone runs cold, and James hesitates to answer. Certainly not out of fear, but he knows he fucked up. “When, James?”

“About a month ago.”

A small ceramic sculpture sits on the side table next to Keira. Before I can think, my hand grips around it, and it hurtles across the room, crashing into the wall. Keira and Stacey jump in their seats, but James just stares at me.

“I’m handling it,” he finally adds.

“I don’t fucking care. You should have told me the moment it happened. Where’s my mom?”

“She’s cooped up at home these days. There was an incident at the club, and she was asked not to return until they could speak with your father.”

“So, everyone knows?” But that can’t be the case because if my father had been reported missing, it would have made it online somewhere. And while I wasn’t checking in on the cameras, one of my systems would have alerted me to that news. “No, that’s not it.”

“You’re right, no one knows. Your mom hasn’t reported anything, and I’m not even sure she understands the full scope of the situation.”

“Harkin, you need to call her. Get a burner or whatever, but call her,” Keira says, leaning forward in her chair to wrap her delicate fingers around my wrist.

Her touch soothes my racing heart, allowing my thoughts an anchor to steady the raging sea of emotions vying for my attention. Logic starts to settle into place. I draw in a breath, placing my hand on her shoulder and giving her a thankful squeeze.

“Why don’t you guys figure out what takeout they have around here,” I suggest as Keira looks up at me. I’m not trying to dismiss her from the conversation, but I need to have some words with James after this huge revelation.

The quick bite at the tip of her tongue to say something mouthy back sits unsaid between us. I drop my mask for her, staring deep into her narrowed gaze. She closes her eyes with a lengthy sigh before unfolding her legs and standing.

Her soft lips press to my cheek, and then the girls head to the kitchen. I tilt my head to the side, motioning for James to follow me. There’s an office at the back of the modest home with double doors that lead out to the wrap-around porch.

The late afternoon air is crisp when I push the doors open and sit in one of the wooden deck chairs. James drops down next to me, and I take in the scenery. Time passes as I sort all the shit that’s been laid on the table before turning his way.

“Well, you’re handling it, so what do you know?”

“I think Keira’s right. You should talk to your mom. I called and tried to get information out of her, but she was tight-lipped, even under the influence of whatever was running through her bloodstream.”

“Jesus.” I rub my forehead and drag my hand down my face.

“You think it was Domenico?”

“I’d bet my life savings on it. Your dad tried to warn you. For all Domenico knows, he’s the one who tipped you off to Keira’s possible location. Do I think he’s dead? Not likely, but I think Domenico will try to use him to bait you out of hiding.”

I let that sink in. It was my first thought, too. “Then he’s a fool.” I bite out. “I’d never put Keira in danger, not even for my father.”

“I suspected as much. Does she know?” James asks.

“Know what?”

“How much you love her.”

He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. But those three little words have yet to be uttered by either of us. Of course, I love her. I’ve loved her from the moment she stormed into my life and became the only thing my mind would think about. But it’s different for her, and I don’t want to push her into saying something she’s not ready for.

“That’s not important right now,” I tell him.

“Don’t fuck that shit up, Harkin. That girl loves you, but knowing her, she’s waiting for you to say something before she tears down that final wall.”

“Enough about my love life. What the hell is going on with you and Stacey?” I pry.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. You showed up here with her.”

“She wouldn’t stop hounding me about Keira,” he tries to justify.

“And the tension between you two? The firm hand?”

“Nothing’s happened,” he says again, a little less confident.

“Yet,” I mumble, but he doesn’t argue. I leave it; what he does and who he does it with are none of my concerns. But Stacey is a handful. I’ve seen it firsthand.

“Do you have any leads on where my father is being held?”

“Nothing’s popped up yet, but I hope your mom’s hiding something. If it’s Domenico, he likely gave her instructions that she can only share with you. But since you’ve been MIA?—”

I cut him off. “You should have told me. I could have reached out from Colorado. It would have been no different than calling from here. You fucked up.”

“I needed to sort some shit before you risked your location. But now that it’s compromised, the timing is better.”

The doorbell rings throughout the house and into the backyard. James and I are on our feet, rushing through the office and down the hall, past the kitchen and into the entryway.

Both girls stand at the door, arms weighed down with takeout bags, staring at us with amused grins.

“Dinner?” Stacey finally breaks the tensions rolling between the four of us. She passes, and James is on her trail.

Keira slides up next to me. “It’s fine, Harkin. They left the bags at the front door, and I waited until they were in their car and gone to grab them.”

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her to my side and drop a kiss on her temple. “You still should have waited for us.”

“You worry too much.”

“One of us has to.”

We dish out the Chinese food and settle in the living room. Turning on the TV, the news blares to life. I’m about to flip past the channel in search of a movie, but the story catches my attention.

“Greyson Global is facing a legal inquiry on five counts of money laundering. We were unable to reach the company’s spokesperson for a comment. However, a source tells us the company’s CEO, Scott Greyson, hasn’t been seen for months. Was he given a heads-up that this legal battle was on the horizon? Stay tuned as we follow the story as it develops.”