I’m coming right back, baby. And I’m bringing you a present.

Derek and Freya’s spot just so happens to be the small pier on the beach not far from Kingston Palace. The pier we can see from the penthouse. The pier where Damon and Callie got married. The pier where my mom would sit for hours, drink beers, read her books, and watch the sunset.

“This is your spot?” I ask, sneering at it from the passenger seat of Derek’s car.

He nods.

Fucking unbelievable.

“How long were you meeting up with her here, right under Wren’s nose?”

“I don’t know, Kai,” he mutters. “A while.”

“You’re an asshole.” I shake my head at him. “This is our spot. It’s our mom’s spot, Derek. Not yours.”

His jaw ticks before he swallows, and I don’t miss the look of raw misery in his eyes. “I spent time with her here too, you know? I lost her, too?—”

“I will break your fucking arm.”

His mouth snaps shut, and he wisely keeps it that way, his fingers tapping his thigh—something I know he does when he’s on edge.

“You know what the worst part is?” I ask after a few moments of heavy silence. “She’d still love you, even after everything you’ve done.”

He looks at me then, his dark brows dipped over eyes.

“She’s here,” I say, nodding my head at the little blonde bitch walking along the beach.

Derek gets out of the car and walks across the parking lot, then down to the sand to meet her. I stay in the car and watch them talk for a minute, squinting at the fresh looking bruise on the side of Freya’s face. She looks like she’s been crying, her shoulders tucked up to her ears with her hands tucked into the pocket of her pink hoodie.

When she takes Derek’s hand as if she’s planning on taking him somewhere, I open the car door and climb out. As I walk down to the beach, Freya looks around at me and jumps, her eyes widening as her face drains of all color. I try not to laugh when she inches closer to Derek. She’s out of her mind if she thinks he can protect her from me.

“Freya.”

With her face frozen in shock and fear, her eyes scan my face. “Wren?” she asks hopefully.

Smirking, I slowly shake my head, enjoying the way she looks as if she’s about to piss herself.

“What are you playing at this time, little girl?”

She says nothing, her nails digging into Derek’s forearm as her entire body trembles.

“Did Maverick do that to you?” I ask, studying the mark on her face. “Is that why you’re here? You think he can save you from him?” I tilt my head at Derek.

Again, she gives me nothing.

“Or maybe,” I say, snatching her by the scruff of her neck and spinning her around, her back to my chest as I lock my arms over hers. “Maverick wants his son back, and you came here to fetch him.”

When she opens her mouth to scream, I slam my palm down over it and drag her back toward the parking lot, her heels digging into the sand as she twists her body around in my arms.

“What the hell are you doing?” Derek hisses, scanning the beach to ensure no one’s around to witness me kidnap her. “We were supposed to lure her to the car, remember?”

“I broke a promise to my girl today,” I tell him. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Freya, are you alone?” Derek asks, his eyes shifting left and right as we walk back to the car.

She nods frantically.

“Promise me.”