Page 16 of Unspoken Passions

Or more specifically, she felt like her whole world had just bloomed with roses and vibrant color.

“Spill, woman!” Loretta ordered. “What’s the deal? How long have you secretly been doing our very handsome sheriff?”

Ella glanced around at the shop, but there were only two men and a woman at the counter. And they didn’t seem to be listening. She turned back to the group and shrugged. “Not long,” she explained, which was the absolute truth. Didn’t twenty-four hours fit into the “not long” definition?

“So, when did all of this happen?”

Ooh. A more complicated question. She’d been in love with Mick for years. Forever, it sometimes felt like. She’d loved him since she was teenager. But he hadn’t really ever noticed her. Not until yesterday.

Which was an excellent question to ask him. Why had he done that yesterday? What had changed yesterday? She felt as if she’d just been hit by a truck. The questions were piling up now. She wanted to rush out of the shop and down the street to his office, to demand that he explain things to her so that she could explain everything to the others.

But what could he tell her? They’d had sex. That was it. A lot of sex, but nothing more. She’d said…well, a lot of stuff that she probably shouldn’t have said to him. She’d revealed feelings that were probably better left unsaid.

And yet, he’d come over yesterday, wanting more.

Oh, this was all so confusing!

“I think she’s smitten,” Loretta teased.

The group laughed and there were a few more questions. But thankfully, Sean Byrne, Kennedi’s handsome husband, stepped into the shop, drawing everyone’s attention. Right behind him was Tom and his wife, Dorothy.

Tom owned “The Old Goat” brewery and beer distribution factory in town. At least, he owned it for the moment. Sean had already signed papers that would transfer ownership to him. In fact, that sale was the main reason that they’d discovered the sex trafficking ring that had somehow set up shop somewhere in town.

Sean’s biological father, Martin O’Clary, the Earl of Winton, had sexually assaulted the local pub owner years ago back in Ireland. The woman had gotten pregnant and Sean Byrne had been born. The earl’s wife and legitimate son, Liam O’Clary, had lived with “the shame” of Sean’s existence for more than thirty years. And since Sean’s mother had been wearing a red dress the night that Martin had hurt her, Liam had decided that he would punish her by kidnapping women from around the world, force them into red dresses, and then sell them into prostitution.

It was a warped punishment that only made sense in Liam’s mind. But since Sean kept buying up any brewery that Liam showed interest in, and Liam wanted to use those breweries as a distribution front for the kidnapped women, Liam had finally broken and kidnapped Sean.

Thankfully, Sean had escaped and all was well with the world once again. Liam had been captured and was waiting trial, his father was facing bankruptcy and Sean was still a billionaire that had married the love of his life.

Okay, not completely “well” since the sex trafficking ring was still in operation. Apparently, Liam hadn’t been fully in control of his operation. He might be in prison at the moment, awaiting trial, but there were others who were still kidnapping women and “renting” them out for sex.

“Ella?”

Ella blinked and looked around. “What?” she asked, looking at Loretta. “Where’s everyone going?” she asked, watching as her friends followed Kennedi and Sean out of the coffee shop.

“Sean and Kennedi are taking Declan to the airport. They’re flying back to Philadelphia. Sean has some business there, but they’ll be back next week.”

Ella nodded, but she still was confused. “And the others?”

“They’re heading out to get their red dresses. It was decided that they’d start the hunt tonight.”

Ella’s breath caught in her throat. Boy, she’d been in her own world for the past few minutes! “What?”

“Yeah. Mandy, Tammy, and Suzie are all heading home. They got their red dresses, just like they’d talked about a few days ago. They’re all meeting up at the brewery to start trying to entice those who might know something about the red dressed women.”

The trio at the doorway paused, glancing over at her and Loretta curiously. Ella waved to them, trying to appear friendly while she hissed under her breath, “We’re not supposed to know about the red dresses, Loretta.”

Her night manager and friend cringed, pulling her lips slightly and she looked around. But to her, the area was empty. There would be a small surge of customers in a couple of hours, but at this point in the afternoon, everything was quiet. The two men standing at the counter didn’t “count” in their minds.

“I need to talk to Mick,” Ella said, knowing that he wasn’t going to be happy about the others going ahead with their plan. And since she’d been oblivious to the conversation, Ella knew that he was going to blame her for not stopping them. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said to Loretta.

Loretta laughed. “Right. You’re going to talk.”

Ella smiled slightly, but she was anxious to tell Mick what was going on. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, starting a message to the group chat, warning everyone not to go ahead with the plan as she walked out of her café, heading towards the sheriff’s station on the next block.

If she’d been looking where she’d been going, Ella might have seen the dark sedan sooner. But with her thumbs flying over the keys on her cell phone, trying to discourage her friends from heading out with their red-dresses on, she didn’t see anything. She just wanted to get to Mick and stop her friends from walking into a dangerous situation.

So it was a shock when she was grabbed from behind. And even more of a shock when she was shoved into the trunk of the black sedan.

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