Page 77 of Brutal Obsession

“I’m in pursuit. Close by. I’ve got this under control?—”

“There was a headline this morning about a mass shooting attempt at a Waikiki restaurant last night. Reports say some random guy shot the would-be gunmen with their own weapons and fled the scene.”

My annoyed grumble causes a smug edge to underscore Finn’s voice. “I’m sure that wasn’t you.”

“Like I said, I’ve got things here under control. Harper and I will be on a plane back to New York by end-of-day.”

Finn goes quiet, which drives me fucking insane. I want to chuck my phone and go find Harper, but I can’t. I’m forced to stand there and wait while precious seconds slip past.

My phone vibrates against my ear. A text message. The coordinates.

“Get on a plane tonight, Cian.” Finn’s using his future-boss voice again. “If you’re not back here in the next twenty-four hours, I’m sending reinforcements.”

The line dies, but I don’t care about my friend’s thinly veiled threat.

He doesn’t have to worry about my dick getting in the way of this assignment anymore.It’s over. This thing between Harper and me? Case fucking closed. I cannot believe I actually thought things changed between us.

I spilled my soul to that backstabbing little succubus, and she ran off anyway. She doesn’t give a single shit about me. No amount of extraordinary sex can change that. I read too much into her act of decency that night, years ago.

I wanted the encounter to mean something, but like she told me herself, it was no big deal. Anyone in her position would have done the same.

Humidity swallows me whole as I power walk down the sidewalk, eyes glued to the navigation on my phone directing me to Harper’s location.

Wait until I get my hands on her.

Like I’ve been thrown back in time into all the agony of these past two months, fury froths inside me, congealing with cold, hard concern. As anger-inducing as Harper is, the thought of the De Lucas snatching her infuriates me enough to torch an entire city. I’ve got to find her lying, manipulative, scheming, sexy little ass or fucking else.

I took out those two guys yesterday, but there are others. Plenty of them. Enzo De Luca is no gifted leader, but Matteo was. Before Finn put those bullets between his eyes, Matteo had the respect and allegiance of mafia families at home and abroad. All Enzo would have to do is appeal to those sympathetic to Matteo’s plight, and he could have feet on the ground doing his bidding in all fifty states.

Finn’s right to consider reinforcements.

Me coming here on my own was misguided. I see that now.

Should’ve known better.

Wherever Harper Brennan goes, trouble follows.

The navigation leads me to a strip mall. Colorful, square little shops face the street, their windows sparkling in the summer sun as pedestrians crowd the walkways. On one end sits a McDonald’s, on the other, a supermarket, a dry cleaner’s, cellphone stores… The navigation tells me Harper’s last known location was near a café off to one end of the street.

I jog in that direction, zigzagging around pedestrians with recycled shopping bags and small children.

When I find Harper, I don’t know what I’ll do.

But I do know that she’s going topayfor putting me through all this.

Chapter 21

Harper

One thing I never knew until I started at Dish Waikiki is how everyone who’s worked in the service industry is united in this unspoken way. When I stepped into this cute little cafe and asked to use their phone, explaining that I worked at Dish, the people behind the counter believed me. They could see the truth in my eyes.

Well, I guess I’m also still wearing my name tag from yesterday.

Doesn’t matter. I was immensely thankful to use their phone to call Riley.

We only talked for a few minutes.

Hearing her voice gave me such relief and comfort.The point was to check and see if everything Cian told me last night was true, or if he was just placating me with moderately accurate information to keep me distracted from my escape plans.

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