Page 20 of Shattered Reign

“They could be…hmmm. We should compare notes on them.”

Fuck.

I didn’t want to end Bianca’s vacation early, but it did make sense that we should talk about this in person. Her safety was the most important thing, and if this would help guarantee it, then so be it. I could also take her on another trip and spoil her there.

I cleared my throat. “Look, she’s safe with me for the time being. We’ll hang low and then meet up in a few days. Before the holiday rush really kicks off?”

I hoped that was enough to slightly push Nash away from wanting to meet right now. Bianca and I needed to get back to the United States, preferably without detection from Nash or anyone else.

“If that’s what she wants. Where is she anyway?”

“Sleeping.” At least that wasn’t a lie. While the rest of our world was in motion, Bianca was getting the rest she deserved, unaware of what I was currently doing.

“Okay. I’ll talk to her later then.” He stopped speaking for a moment and as I was about to say something else, he started speaking again. “You know what? This is partially my fault.”

I did a double take. “Wait, what? How?”

Nash sighed and I could hear the regret in it. “I thought Tomas was the one behind the text messages that were being sent to Raven and me. It ended when we took him down, but obviously, he wasn’t the culprit.”

There was very little I knew about Tomas due to him being the chairman of the Chevaliers before I became a member. But Nash was right. If Tomas currently didn’t have the ability to do this, then who the hell was sending these text messages?

“Would it make sense to talk to him? Could it be someone connected to the Chevaliers?”

“I don’t know if we could talk to him or if he would want to talk to us at all. And I’m not sure it’s someone related to the Chevaliers, but I’ll find out if it is…”

Nash didn’t need to elaborate on what he would do because I already knew. And I would be joining him in that crusade.

“Could this be connected to Iris’s disappearance?” The question just appeared from the corner of my mind.

Nash yawned loudly in my ear. “I’m not sure, but I’m hard-pressed to believe that Soren Grant would have taken Iris while watching Bianca. That’s a lot of work… unless he’s working with someone else.”

“And we still don’t know if she’s okay or not.”

“True, and I am still hoping to get more clarification on that soon…” Nash’s voice trailed off. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do on my end until we meet up.”

“Thanks, and I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“I’ll reach out when I have more information. We’ll hunt this asshole, Easton.”

“I know.”

I ended the call and glanced back at the stairs. Bianca was still asleep, blissfully unaware of the morning’s conversation. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and decided that I would end this if it was the last thing I did.

13

BIANCA

Icould feel my body starting to wake up, but I didn’t want to. Sleep was where I could forget about all the troubles of the world, and I wanted to stay there. I blinked my eyes as I tried to clear the sleep, but it didn’t help that I was disoriented. I didn’t recognize anything in the room I was in, from the colors to the luxurious sheets I lay on.

Confusion muddled my mind.Where the hell am I?

I closed my eyes again. For a moment, I couldn’t put it together, but then I heard something that sounded familiar. The steady, almost rhythmic sound of waves.

My eyes snapped open and the confusion that I felt was lifted. The jagged pieces that held the location of where I was finally snapped into place. I remembered that I was in Italy. I was safe in one of the bedrooms on the yacht that Easton had rented for us. I sighed as the realization of it washed over me, causing the tension within me to ease.

I frantically scanned where I was as my eyes darted left and then to my right. Where was Easton? I ran a hand down the side of the bed he’d gone to sleep on, and it had long cooled.

I took a shaky breath as I threw the covers off my body and shivered as I stepped onto the floor. There was a slight breeze in the air, and it raised goosebumps across my skin. I stretched my body and reached for the fluffy white robe that I’d laid across the foot of the bed. It covered the pajamas that I had on, and I walked out of the bedroom, determined to find Easton.

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