Page 53 of Hidden Heir

Kreik stops near a large blue container and snatches the clipboard from the door. A couple of men rush forward and start hauling the door open as the first man speaks with Kreik.

“We were expecting sixty and were promised sixty, but only fifty-four arrived.”

“Were the other six lost in transportation?”

“Not that we can tell,” the man sighs. “No sign of tampering either, so only fifty-four were loaded. Either we’ve paid too much, or someone broke in and took a couple before they arrived.”

“I want to know every single person that touched this crate from the moment it was loaded,” Kreik says, his tone sharp.

I’m close enough now that I can almost see inside the container. I peek over Kreik’s shoulder to satisfy my curiosity, expecting to see machinery or vehicles, possibly some kind of exotic animal from the way they’re talking.

It’s dark inside. Something moves, and my heart jumps in fright. It's definitely an animal. My lips part, and I’m about toask what kind of animal it is when the man lifts his flashlight and shines it inside.

The world suddenly falls away from my feet as the beam highlights several dirty, stained faces of people clad in chains. They’re all clothed and surrounded by various dirty blankets, but each one wears the same terrified look on their face. My breath catches until I can’t breathe.

A wave of dizziness hits me with the force of a hurricane and I stumble back, losing my balance on my heels. I nearly fall but a strong pair of hands catches me. I wrench myself away, the sound of my stumbling heels catching Kreik’s attention.

He glances up and scowls. “What are you doing?”

My bones have turned to jelly. Each beat of my heart is like an explosion in my ears and a dark hollowness opens up inside me.

People.

That container is filled withpeople.

Glancing around, I’m shocked at the amount of containers that fill the warehouse. Suddenly, a hot rush of bile scrapes up my throat, and I turn away just in time to throw up against the wall of one of the containers. Tears burst into my eyes and I struggle for air around the retching, gagging ripples of repulsion that pour through me.

There’s no way.

There’s nofuckingway this is real.

My head swims and when I blink, I immediately see those illuminated faces again.

“What’s the matter?” Kreik asks as he grabs my arm and pulls me around to face him. Our eyes lock, and there’s a coldness in those depths that I’ve never seen before. “Leonity never told you what we did for work?”

My stomach cramps so painfully that I’m forced to double over again.

I need to get the fuck away from here, now.

23

LEON

“What do you mean he took her to a warehouse?”

Rik stands in front of me, his face grim. “Exactly that. They left here an hour ago. Your father claimed he was taking her to meet you for a family dinner, and I guess detoured down by the river.”

Fuck.

We did have plans for a family dinner. Plans my father set in motion and I was foolish enough to believe. I want us to be family, especially as my feelings for Brooke grow, but not like this.

Brooke learning what we do is something I wanted to approach carefully, if at all. ButIwanted to be the one to tell her. Keeping her away from the business side of things felt like the best way forward; the less she knows, the less use she is to anyone seeking to hurt me. My father, however, has other plans, it seems.

“When did they get back?” I demand, shrugging off my coat into the arms of a nearby guard.

“Ten minutes ago.”

“Where is she?”

---