Page 52 of Rami

The smile made the vertical tattoo across his eye ripple, and she lifted her fingertips to brush the spot where the ink ended. This close, it was evident the writing was Arabic. “What does this say?”

Rami touched his eyebrow, and his expression morphed from endearing to dark. But it was more than just anger that emanated from him. Grief also shimmered in his eyes.

She pulled her fingers away as if she’d touched him with a match. “You don’t have to tell me.”

He dropped his hand. “It says ‘The bond between brothers is unbreakable’ in Arabic.” He cleared his throat. “It’s something my mother used to tell us all the time. Whenever we’d fight, she’d make us figure it out, would never let us stay mad at one another, no matter what we’d done to piss each other off.”

Ivy smiled. She and Gigi had a similar bond, but it was one that had formed without prompting. One that was deeply imbedded in them from growing in the same womb. They’d been inseparable since birth. “I can understand that. It’s good your mom made sure you guys always stayed close.”

“I got the tattoo after he went missing. It’s my”—he rocked his jaw and looked away—“my reminder to bring him home.”

She swallowed down the words brimming at the back of her tongue. He’d said before that his brother, Zain, was presumed dead, but clearly he didn’t accept that.

He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “Not for you to worry about.” He shifted her to the couch and stood. “I need to call the guys. They’re supposed to come by in the morning.”

“Are we safe here?”

“For now. Toth is posted at the street leading into the subdivision and an intern followed the cartel members to a motel and is keeping watch. We can breathe easy until we get word they’re on the move. And they will try again. It’s only a matter of time before they start looking at family, and Gigi still shares your last name. Won’t be long before they find this place.”

A shudder ran through her. “I don’t want Gigi knowing about any of this. Not yet. She’ll be on a plane so fast, and I don’t want to put her at risk any further. Right now, she’s safe in Colorado.”

Rami nodded and strode to the kitchen, pulling his phone from his pocket.

She’d give him some space and maybe distract herself. She moved to the guest bedroom and scooped up her computer. Thankfully the house was big, so she didn’t need to hover nearby while he talked with his team. Besides, she really didn’t want to overhear any details that’d stress her out.

With that in mind, she made her way to the staircase and into Todd’s office. Before leaving, Gigi had said she could feel free to use Todd’s workspace to edit photos and try to get her mind back in the groove of doing what she loved.

As she swung open the office door, the scent of lemon wood polish struck her. The room felt richly masculine. Wooden beams spanned the ceiling and a large bookcase to the right of the desk overlooked the expansive backyard. A slider took up the exterior wall, offering a floor-to-ceiling view of the outdoors. Exactly what she needed.

She sat in the brown leather office chair and positioned her laptop on the desk. The surface was neat and tidy, clearly indicating the owner was on vacation.

After plugging in her neglected laptop, she lifted the screen that’d been closed for three weeks. A little buzz of excitement hit her. She loved her job. Loved creating beautiful portraits for her clients. Every session was an adventure. Sitting at her computer gave her a sense of normalcy—and gave her hope that life would return to normal.

She opened her email and drafted a letter to all her clients waiting on edited photos as well as those whose sessions had been canceled during her abduction.

Gigi had shared a missing-person post on Ivy’s social media accounts. Ivy kept all of her passwords saved to her laptop, so Gigi was able to login easily. And of course, Gigi had a key to Ivy’s apartment. While the posts must have been hard for her sister to write, Ivy was grateful. Plus, there were many news reports of her missing, so a lot of her clients knew what had happened.

She sent the email, which briefly explained why she’d been absent and that she was now home and would work on the edited files as soon as possible. Heaving a sigh, she pressed her palm to her chest to calm her racing heart. She wasn’t ready for all the well-wishing emails and “ohmigods,” but if she wanted to return to her business at some point, she had to complete the work for her customers who’d paid.

Sure enough, within a few minutes her inbox pinged with responses. She typed out a short, generic reply, sent it to everyone, and then closed her laptop.

Footsteps in the hallway caught her attention. Rami appeared in the doorway. Something about his energy waved a red flag.

It wasn’t for her to push, but her spidey senses told her things were a lot worse than he was letting on. If the situation were different and she weren’t with someone as strong and capable as Rami, she’d be more freaked out. Add in the fact that her sister lived in one of the most prestigious gated communities in Seattle and the odds of the cartel roaring down the street to fetch her were slim.

Right?

“What’s wrong?”

Rami’s eyes clouded but he shook his head. “Nothing.”

She rolled back the chair, got to her feet, and crossed the room to where he stood. His solid form drew her in like the current of a river. “Tell me.”

“Just rattled.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t usually hang on to adrenaline like this—or crash from it this hard. I dunno what’s going on with me. It’s just...” He swept her hair behind her ear, his eyes softening a touch. “It shook me when I couldn’t find you. I thought they’d gotten you. That I wouldn’t see you again.”

Pain contorted his face. He’d thought he’d find her dead, and he almost had.

“I’m here. You found me.”

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