Before settling, she reaches over to tap her phone’s screen. “Curious what time it—” Abruptly, she yanks herself away from me and grabs the phone, swiping it manically alive. “What the fuck?” she breathes. Her head jerks up to the door, then to me, then the phone. “You did this, right?Pleasetell me you did.”
“Did what?”
Who the fuck will I be killing?
She angles the phone my way to display a picture of us from last night, sitting in the ocean’s shallow waves, taken from afar but zoomed in, if the subtle blur is any indication.
It’s a message. Someone is threatening my girl. There’s only one hunter in Summer’s life, and that’s me. Anyone else is a risk to extinguish.
As the sensation of craving a stranger’s death creeps up, I click out of the photo and check the number that sent it, mentally repeating the digits until they stick.
My mind scrambles for a response. Telling her I’m not the sender will cause her stress. Lying could lead to follow-up questions.
“Block that number immediately.”
Only after witnessing her obey do I leave bed and rush out of her cabana, taking the extra-long route back to mine. Once inside and confident she didn’t see, I yank the mask off and dial the unknown caller. The call goes through for two rings before it’s picked up.
“What?” a man’s voice barks. “Who is this? How’d you get this number?” It’s deep, gravelly, and semi-familiar.
“Same question. Who the fuck are you, and why are you contacting Summer?”
The call dies, so I quickly redial. It’s ignored at first, but three attempts later, it goes through with another barked, “What the fuck do you want?”
“For you to stay away from Summer. Why are you calling her?”
Silence permeates before the deep voice laughs. Familiarity settles in my gut—I’ve heard that laugh before,recently. Across a courtroom from a man without a soul.
His gaze lands on Summer, then me, before he laughs. The judge bangs his gavel, demanding her father answer the question.
“Yeah,” he finally grates between laughs that are anything but happy. “Yeah, it was me. The bitch deserved it.”
“Boy, I remember you.”
Summer’s father.
Her father, who should be in prison. If the picture he sent her is any indication, he’shere, in her vicinity.
Someone fucked up. Someone is about to lose their job and maybe worse, because Summer, as the victim, should have been contacted by the police, and the prison is well aware to call me.A woman’s life is potentially in danger, and it’s up to me to keep her safe.
Instead, he’s out, and not even one fucking text message. My grip tightens around the device; the only thing preventing me from snapping it is the person on the opposite end of the line.
I’ll get her away from here, somewhere safe. Maybe to one of my father’s private islands in Greece, where she’ll never be permitted to leave. Anything to protect her.
“You put me in prison,” he adds, as if I haven’t pieced it together. “That was troublesome.”
“How’d you get out?”
“Transfers don’t have enough guards to watch everyone.”
My hand rubs through my hair, yanking on the strands. It was me who pushed for the transfer. In a way, I’m at fault for this. “I’ll find you,” I growl into the speaker. “You’re onmyterritory, and don’t deny it. You sent Summer a picture, which was a mistake. When I find you, there won’t be a body to return to prison.”
He tsks in my ear. “You did well, hiding her within your family’s wealth, but you forgot something.”
With a hollow feeling I plan on filling with his death, I bark, “What?”
“She was mine before she was anyone else’s. And she’ll be mine again. No one will keep my daughter from me.”
Click.