Page 339 of Tempted By her Daddies

“Good. Now, we just have to figure out where they are holding our girl and get to her.” Somehow.

“I’m guessing we’re on Pinky’s island,” Alexei said. “He has several as decoys. This could be his main one. It’s warm and humid. And only those closest to him would know where it is.”

Suddenly, a door opened and Salem caught a glimpse of the landscape outside. Although it was semi-dark, he could make out some palm trees. And Alexei was right, it was warm and humid.

Maybe this was some sort of storage hut. There were no windows so that would make sense.

A good-looking man walked into the room, switching on a light.

Fuck.

Motherfucker.

How? How was it this man? There had been no clues. Sure, they’d known Pinky was likely Irish. Or that he misled people into thinking he was.

But this . . . this hadn’t been on their radar.

“You!” Alexei said, sounding shocked. He tugged at the restraint around his right arm, the chain straining as he attempted to free himself.

Jesus.

“All along it’s been you? Why? Don’t you have enough money and power? You have to go stealing more?” Alexei demanded.

“You know, I was very close to trusting you with my identity, Lyoha,” Pinky replied calmly. “To letting you into my close circle. But I am glad I never did it. Otherwise my plans could have very well been ruined. And I have big plans.”

Standing before them wasn’t just Pinky, the criminal mastermind. Standing there, was the favored candidate to become the next Taoiseach or Prime Minister of Ireland.

God.

The irony was that he had promised to sort out the high crime rates that were plaguing Ireland at the moment.

Then it went off in his head like a lightbulb.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Salem said with sudden understanding. “You’re supplying the weapons to the gangs in Ireland. You’re creating the issue so you can come in and solve it. But there would be no issue without you.”

Fuck.

Why hadn’t anyone considered that already? Well, no one would suspect someone like Patrick O’Connor of being the infamous Pinky.

This was so much worse than he’d thought.

“Now, would I do that?” Pinky said. “Well, yes, it seems I would. Create a problem, then fix it. It’s the biggest con there is. And a way to make you beloved to everyone.”

Fuck.

This was a huge mess.

“Why are you so interested in Escana?” Salem asked. “Is it just about their natural resources? About their wealth and power and having it for yourself?”

“It was in the beginning. Although there’s always been a personal aspect to it. I remember the kings when we were at university. They were Gods. Everyone flocked to them, loved them, despite their perverted ways. It was sickening. My father used to go on and on about how sick they were with what they did to women.”

Had his father tainted his view of them? If he ever got out of here, he was going to have Roman look into his father.

“I also hate being thwarted. I do not like to lose. I had my way in. Jeric would have been my puppet; I would have been the power behind the throne and have had access to all that wealth. They had to pay for ruining my plans.”

So it was partially about revenge and jealousy, but also about the need for wealth and power.

It twisted people.

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