I nodded, praying I hadn’t just signed my sister’s death warrant.
Chapter 16
Killian
“Aboat?” Ian echoed back at us, his expression disbelieving. “No, that’s not possible. I ran her name in all the databases of registered vehicles, including boats.”
Willa shook her head. “It’s not in her name. The last time Lily and I had any significant contact was when our parents died. I was dating this guy Stephen and Lily…Lily was having an affair with Stephen’s father, who she met at our parents’ funeral.”
“Jesus,” Ian breathed in disgust and I couldn’t help but reach out and rub Willa’s back. Thinking of her young and alone at her parents’ grave while her selfish fucking sister tried to pick up old millionaires to scam made me feel sick and furious.
She shot me a brief, grateful smile at my touch and a dark place in my chest sparked to life, as it often did around Willa. Taking care of her, pleasing her, teaching her about her own body—fuck, I loved it.
A dynamic like that would have been anathema to me before Willa and I would have avoided it at all costs, but it had happened so organically with her, I was barely aware of it.
Seeing her tonight, strapped and helpless on that bench, surrendering and trusting me—Christ, it filled me with lust and affection and pride and about a hundred other uncomfortable, foreign as fuck feelings.
“Yeah, well, needless to say, Stephen wasn’t too keen on me or any member of my family after he realized what was going on. As he was breaking up with me, he threw in my face that his dad had even bought Lily a boat. It’s probably still in the dad’s name—Gordon Cambridge.”
Ian was still frowning. “Okay, it shouldn’t take me too long to access the database again. If I do find the boat, I’ve got to figure out where it’s being docked, unless you know?” Ian asked, shooting her an expectant look.
She shook her head. “Sorry, no. I just remembered the conversation with Stephen.”
Ian got to typing and I felt the stirrings of my original frantic need to avenge Mac spring to life. Finally, we were going to get our hands on that bitch. I slid my arm around Willa, silently thanking her. I knew telling us where her sister might be hiding probably felt like a betrayal, even after all her sister had done to her.
“Thank you, baby,” I said softly, kissing her temple. She melted against me, no doubt exhausted after our scene at the spanking bench and sharing this information about her sister.
“Jesus, can’t you two get a room?” Cullen said caustically as he entered the room.
I snorted. “I’ve seen you do far more than this in front of a hell of a lot more people.”
He glowered at me and ignored my comment. “The flight to Brazil was a fucking bust. Wasn’t her.”
“We got a new lead,” Ian said, clacking away behind his computer. “Willa told us Lily has a boat and I think I just found it.”
Cullen turned to Willa, his expression thunderous. “A boat? Why the fuck didn’t you mention it earlier?” Cullen barked.
Oh, fuck no. He wasn’t going to treat her like that.
I stepped between him and her, shoving him back. “You need to back the fuck up and calm the fuck down. She’s not close with Lily. She fucking forgot about it.”
Cullen shook his head. “More likely it’s a fucking ploy to send us running in the wrong direction while her whore of a sister makes clowns out of us. Again.”
I shot a look at Willa. She looked anxious and fearful as she hid her body behind mine, clearly uncomfortable with the level of Cullen’s antagonism. While she looked scared, she didn’t look guilty.
“Fuck you, Cullen, it’s more than we had. Leave her the fuck alone.”
“You pussy whipped asshole,” Cullen muttered, and I gave him a shot in the chest.
“Watch it,” I said in a low voice. He knew he was skating close to a line, and if he said one more thing, I was going to throw both of us over it. Literally.
He took a deep breath. “If we do find this bitch, Kill, I’m doing the interrogation,” he asserted sharply, and I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t failed in my objective with Willa, in terms of the interrogation. We’d simply failed to capture the correct person; the interrogation was never going to be successful.
“Fine,” I said and slid my arm around Willa’s waist, resisting the temptation to sneak it under her skirt and rub my hand over her scorched backside. Just thinking about my marks all over her sexy ass made my dick jerk in my pants. I was fucking obsessed with this woman and all I’d done was spank and fuck her, which was practically nothing when it came to the totality of my sex life.
“I got her! Well, her boat,” Ian amended. “It’s docked at Belmont Harbor, slip 189.”
“Let’s fucking go,” Cullen said. “Ian, contact the guys from our Alpha team and tell them to meet us there.”