Page 8 of Swan River

The female bodyguard spoke for her. “Someone has taken Ms. Rojas’s sister, and they’ve threatened to come after her as well. We need to take her into hiding for a few days.”

“Feck,” Fee exclaimed before wrapping her in a hug. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Adria shook her head. “No…no…you need to take care of…” She waved her hand around the room at the studio but meant the band, the album, the documentary, and the argument between Landry and Paisley that needed fixing. Normally, Nikki would have been the one to try and bring them back together while Adria forced them into making lists to bang out their differences. It was a skill she’d learned from her father. Negotiation at its best.

Her stomach twisted. Papá would have to use those skills now to try and save his youngest child. She’d never lost faith in her father, never in all her twenty-four years, but this…could he do this when there were so many emotions tied to it?

Adria handed Fiadh her phone. “Take this. I can’t have it right now. But be careful. If they use it to try and track me…they’ll end up with you instead.”

Fiadh’s eyes were full of concern. “They’ll hardly mistake me for you. If it was Landry you were giving your phone to, it would be different.”

Adria nodded. It was all she could do.

She grabbed her bag and went to follow the bodyguards from the room, but at the last minute, she turned back with eyes full of unshed tears. Fiadh was at her side once more, hugging her, holding her up. Adria felt the slide of uncharacteristic tears down her cheeks, and it was Fee who leaned away to swipe at them for her.

“She’s going to be okay, Adria. They’ll find her. But go. Go so you’ll be safe and be able to come back to us soon.”

Adria nodded, squeezed Fiadh tightly, and then followed the team out of the room.

The SUVs were dark and tinted just like every set of them they’d been in since the band had taken off, but also like the ones her father had ridden in for decades. Protection from those who targeted him.

As Grand Orchard faded behind them, Adria panicked. What if she couldn’t trust these people either? What if they were being paid by the kidnappers? She had no phone. No way of contacting anyone.

She was surrounded by big burly men and one single, equally built woman.

She wasn’t alone. And yet every single fiber in her being felt that way.

Her breath came in short pants, her vision turned cloudy, and the woman next to her put a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to jump. The seat belt bit into her skin.

“Breathe,” the woman said, and Adria noticed her eyes were kind. Soft and brown like Fiadh’s. Like looking through a glass of amber liquid.

Adria nodded.

“Inhale slowly, count to five, hold it for five, and then slowly exhale for another five,” the woman instructed.

Adria already knew this. She’d been taught to maintain her control from a young age. Beauty contestants didn’t lose their shit unless they wanted to be the first out of the competition. So she did as she was told, repeating the process several times until her shortness of breath eased ever so slightly. Her veins still beat at a wild pace, her heart still pounded as if it was trying to break free, but at least she wasn’t going to pass out.

One of the men up front spoke into his earpiece. “We’ve got Rojas and are twenty minutes out.”

The way he said her name in a deep gravelly tone reminded her of Ronan saying any of the nicknames he’d given her in the same way, but with also a taunt to it. A dare.

The only good thing about any of this was that, with both Leya and Adria gone, there was no way Ronan was going to be able to film his documentary tonight. Adria couldn’t help the pleasure the thought brought her. He deserved to have his plans screwed up. He’d earned every bit of bad luck being sent his way.

She leaned back against the headrest, turning her eyes to the darkened skies. She watched as the valley turned into hills and the hills turned into mountains outside the window. She said every prayer she could remember learning in her mother’s church, hoping, somehow, they would protect her little sister.

Chapter Five

Fiadh

THAT DAY

Performed by Natalie Imbruglia

Fiadh watched as Adria and some of their detail left in a flurry of activity. Her heart pounded out an aching cry for Adria’s sister who was bright, beautiful, and fiercely determined to become a pediatrician. A shocked silence filled the studio, and all Fee could think was that everything was crumbling apart.

Landry and Paisley were at each other’s throats, Leya was off on the campaign trail, Nikki was hurting, and now Adria was gone…hidden away for who knew how long. This was how bands fell apart. This was how things cracked and fissured.

She couldn’t let it happen. She refused to let it happen.

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