Page 145 of The Heart

“How long has she been wearing that?” Luke grits out, no doubt an equal strain in his pants, because I know he likes those things too.

In fact, I’ve seen him wear one.

I didn’t appreciate it at the time, that’s for fucking sure.

“Since the gift shop,” Leena says sheepishly. “I found it in Colt’s go-bag and well… he was kind enough to help me put it on.” She smirks, glancing at him.

“And why are we just now hearing about this, sugar?” I say, stepping close enough to her so that she has to look up at me to fucking answer.

“We thought… it would be a fun surprise?” she says with a smirk, trying to gauge my reaction to this.

I step closer.

“If you’re wondering if I’ve been picturing strapping you into a harness every second since that show, then yes, sweetheart. I have,” I say, running my hands up under her shirt, because I need to fucking feel it. Feel the hard lines of metal and leather framing her perfectly soft breasts.

She takes in a breath and her eyes grow dark, but before my fingers find their way, a deafening sound rings out in the distance.

“What the fuck was that?” Luke shouts as he and Colton hold the rail to lean out the door. I immediately grab Leena, rushing her to the front seat and strapping her into it. I don’t care what just exploded.

It’s time to get the fuck out of here.

I hear the door slide shut and move out of Colton’s way as he throws himself into the pilot seat with a pained grunt. I glare at that.

“It was a boat,” he says grimly, glancing up at me.

I stare back, my jaw clenched.

No.

“Colt?” Leena’s voice breaks, but he doesn’t say anything. He just looks at her, which is confirmation enough.

I grip the back of Leena’s seat as Colton takes us back up the coast.

Leena doesn’t move. Her face goes pale as she grips the straps at her shoulders, clawing at them.

I stare at her.

I don’t know what else to fucking do.

I feel Luke’s hand on my shoulder and I let him kneel down beside her. “Breathe for me baby girl, we don’t know if Kat was on it. Let’s assume she wasn’t until we know more, okay? We’ll ask Ry and Ava to pull up the police scanners.” His words seem to calm her down, because she loosens her grip and nods her head nearly imperceptibly.

I glance at Luke, giving him a nod of gratitude. I know his words won’t change what we both know just happened, but I appreciate how he could give her this little bit of hope, even if it’s only for a moment. Because as Colton heads up the coast, we see the aftermath of the explosion.

A black plume of smoke billows from a yacht on the horizon. Even from here, it’s plain to see that the entire vessel is completely engulfed in flames.

Luke and I share a devastated glance, and Leena starts sobbing. Because if there was anyone on that boat, it’s very fucking clear they didn’t survive.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

LUKE

All of us are silent.

I glance over at Sebastian, sitting in the jump seat beside me. He’s staring at the floor.

It doesn’t matter that he and I never met Kathryn. Not at all. She’s a part of Leena, which makes her important to us.

And now, it’s more than likely she’s gone.

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