Page 189 of Dirty Damage

Their voices carry over to me in the wind. Elise and Oriana, whispering in my ear like they always do.

But now, there’s a third voice in the mix.

Sutton’s.

It was a mistake to have brought her out on this yacht. I let her into a place she never should’ve intruded. I’ve gone and robbed myself of the one space I go to get some peace of mind.

I check my phone again, but I haven’t heard anything from anyone. Not Sutton. Not Artem. Not even Oksana.

I expected to have my phone inundated with messages from my mother, each offering up a different woman for me.

It all stays silent. Just the wind and the voices carried on it that I can’t quite decipher.

I spend another hour out on the water, just to see if I can manage to shake off Sutton’s presence. When it’s clear that this is simply a more concentrated form of torture, I pilot the yacht around and make for land.

I’m just mooring when I see a tall figure step onto the dock.

Artem.

He’s standing patiently, waiting for me as I jump down off the boat.

“I warn you,” I tell him, “giving me bad news right now might mean a dip in the harbor.”

He gives me a tame, sorrowful grin. “I’ll risk it. There’s something you should know.”

Gritting my teeth, I twist around and duck back into the vessel to make sure I’ve shut everything down. Artem follows.

“Brother, I think this is serious.”

“It usually is,” I say. “But if it has anything to do with Sutton, I’m not interested.”

“Even if she’s in danger?”

My muscles tense immediately. Nostrils flaring, I turn my back on Artem so that he can’t read my face. “If she’s in danger, it’s because she asked for it. That’s what you get when you throw your lot in with scum like Drew Anton.”

“You can’t honestly be that cold.”

I twist around, causing Artem to run right into me. “You werethisclose to getting an apology out of me,” I grit. “Don’t ruin it now.”

“I don’t want an apology,” Artem insists. “What I want is for you to listen to me. Sutton texted me a little while ago. She sounded panicked.”

I shouldn’t ask. I don’t want to, but I hear myself do it anyway. “What did she say?”

“She told me to check on Mara.” He pushes his phone into my hand.

SUTTON:Artem, I know I shouldn’t be contacting you but I have no other choice.

SUTTON:I wouldn’t ask unless it was really important. Can you please check on Mara for me? Mara Bettis. I have reason to believe she could be in danger.

ARTEM:What’s going on, Sutton? Where are you?

SUTTON:It doesn’t matter about me. I just need to make sure Mara is okay. I had to leave her place quickly and I didn’t have time to explain.

ARTEM:An explanation sounds pretty good right about now.

My gaze pivots to Artem. “She hasn’t replied.”

“No, she hasn’t.”

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