Page 82 of Serena
“Ian, what is it?” I rush to him and snatch the card out of his hands. I look at the message.
Pretty Girl
X marks the spot.
“We need to leave.” He pulls out his phone and starts yelling into it, but I don’t hear anything. I feel his arms under my thighs, and he pulls me to his chest. I wrap my hands around his neck, and he carries me out.
Idrive up the dirt road and arrive at a warehouse nestled in the mountains. It’s the perfect location for this meeting. I turn off the car and look at Caleb, who's securing his guns. He hands me one, and I take it. I also have my knives. We know we won’t need them, but it's a habit. I check the surveillance footage and see Serena is working and Felix is on his laptop. It kills me to be away from her for this long, but this is for her.
“It seems those two have hit it off.” My cousin speaks as he checks his own phone.
“Don’t tell me you're jealous, Caleb?” I instigate.
“Fuck off.” Yes, he’s jealous. We both know there’s no reason for him to be. Serena is my obsession, and Felix is Caleb’s. I wish he finally did something about it.
“We should have brought backup.”
“Cousin, you know we won’t need it. He’s a business partner.”
I step out and breathe the fresh Caligo Valley air. Fuck, I hate this place. For all its beauty, it holds an equal amount of ugliness. We enter the building, Caleb just a couple of feet behind me. I approach the man standing in the middle of the abandoned building. I look around to make sure no one is hiding in any corner. He notices and grins.
“Hello, Javi.”
“Hello, Ian.” He turns to my cousin. “Hola, Caleb.” Both men acknowledge each other. “So, what brings you to town this time?”
“Javi, I need you to look into something.”
“I assume this is regarding your woman because there is no other reason Ian Kayde would come all the way to Caligo. If it were business, we could do this over the phone. So tell me. What do you need?”
“I need your help to dig deeper into the attack on Serena.” I hear footsteps behind him. His second in command is by his side.
“Laura, how lovely to see you.”
“Hello, boys.” She turns to her brother and nods. “What’s going on?” she asks, and I know she genuinely cares.
“Someone's been following Serena. It started after her trip to Caligo. I also saw the police report. It’s all shit. There has to be something that was missed. Javi, you’re in charge now. So, do what you need to do. If you need support, let me know.”
“I’ll look into this personally. I grew up here, so let me see what bodies I can dig up,” Javi says.
Laura interrupts her brother. “Byron Carson is back in town. He’s been with his parents for the last week. Before that, he was MIA. If he leaves again, I’ll have him tailed. He may hit his usual spots. That guy can’t stay away.”
I met Javi last year, when I first came to this town. He was working for a tyrant, Bruce Lars. I watched Javi for a coupleof days. I saw a man who wanted change, not only for himself, but for his sister. She was married to Lars, who was abusing her, sometimes daily. Javi couldn’t do much about it without her getting hurt in the process. I approached him with an offer. I’d help him get rid of Lars and put him in a seat of power. He didn’t hesitate. So eager to make a deal with the devil as long as he was able to save his sister and his town. There were a couple of stipulations. One, I would be the one to take care of Lars. Two, he eliminated drugs as part of his business; instead, he would go into business with my cousin, who made him a very generous offer.
“Consider it taken care of,” Javi assures. We sort out some details and head for the airport. We have another stop to make.
This trip is taking me further from Serena, and I hate it, but it needs to be done. We arrive in Miami and find Gabe waiting for us at the airport. Our destination is a luxury apartment building. When we’re in front of it, we park. It’s in one of the best parts of the city.
“So, this is what selling photos on the black market gets you?”
Miles was alerted that nude photographs of Veronica surfaced on the black market for purchase. The photos are of my sister changing into her swimsuit. They look like they were taken recently, a year ago, two at most. He was able to remove all the photos he could find. He traced the IP address to this building. My brother, cousin, and I make our way to apartment 4B. We knock, but there’s no answer. Plan B goes into action, and we break the front door. Looking around the apartment, we can see it’s empty; no one is here. There is a laptop on a desk but nothing else. A look at the screen shows our car. Whoever this was saw us coming.
"No one tells Veronica anything. Is that understood?” Gabe announces. “She’s already fragile as it is; this will destroy her.”He’s right—she isn’t strong enough to deal with this, but she has us. I check my phone. Miles sent the location where the picture may have been taken. I can’t deny that Miles is the best at what he does.
We arrive at the house of one of Vee's old acquaintances. The moment she opens the door and sees us, she knows why we’re standing on her doorstep. After confessing to setting up Vee, Tabitha gives me the email of where the photos were sent. Along with the accounting number that paid her. We don’t hurt women physically, but by this time tomorrow, Gabe will make sure she has nothing left to her name. The more answers we get, the more questions we have. One thing is for certain: someone has it out for my sister.
We decide to get some much-needed rest before heading back to Veridian Bay. It’s early morning here when my phone rings. I quickly answer it—Serena. Fuck, I miss her. I asked Veronica to spend time with her. I know they took a liking to each other, but my sister's comments about Yuri weren’t appreciated. I hope spending this time together will help them move past it because Serena will one day be Vee’s sister-in-law.
I’m on the phone with Serena. She asks me about being monitored. I pull up the live feed and see her naked in the kitchen. I immediately type in the code to ensure only I have access to this feed. With a mouthful of sass, she says, “Goodnight, baby.” Then she hangs up on me. Such a brat, but I love it when she calls me that. I can’t wait to punish her. I see a text, and it's a screenshot of the dating app I had Miles block. I bite back a smile. She’s realizing the lengths I'm going to for her. After a quick text, I replay the recording of her in the kitchen over and over, for the rest of the night. She stands there with so much confidence. Watching her walk away, swaying her hips. Fuck. I pull my cock out and spend the night stroking it to images of her.
