Page 37 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

I stare at him. “Annabelle has proven she can take care of herself. Give her some credit, Holter. She’s been kidnapped once already.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “I’m betting Tinom has something to do with this. I’m never going to forgive myself for not taking her back myself.”

“I guess that’s your choice.” I spy Annabelle’s coffee maker on the counter, behind an unopened box. “Right now, I’m making coffee. And then I’m going back upstairs to brave my mother and my sister. Because I’m going to have to tell Nico that I’ve lost his mate.”

“No.”

“No?” I’m shocked. “No, you want to tell him?”

“No, we can’t tell him, not yet. He needs to get better. If we tell him Belle is missing, he’s going to tear the flimsy strap off his chest and race out of Glyden to Athens faster than you can say Poseidon.”

“Kind of like you wanted to.” Kind of like I want to right now.

“Exactly.”

“You know that’s not going to end well.”

“It didn’t start well, so how is that any different?”

“It’s not.”

19

HOLTER

Belle is out there somewhere, and I can’t do anything about it. “Check her bank account.”

“I did. It’s intact. The one we set up with 700 million and the original with a hundred and twenty-five dollars.”

“That’s all she had in her account?”

“Yes.” Castor confirms it on his block.

I want to rip her family apart, letting her be in the city with no money. Although, knowing Belle, she wouldn’t take anything from her father. She wants him to buy out her uncle and get the bastard away from her father and anyone else she loves.

Castor is sitting on the stool drinking his coffee. I’m just waiting. Waiting for what, I’m not sure. If she’s not back in Boston, she’s not going to just reappear.

The two remaining sharks are out front by the window. I saw Milo at the government building with a large group of his friends. He must be exhausted after all the piloting he’s done in the last few days. He said he was going to feed the sharks, but by the way they’re patrolling next to the glass, I’m not sure he has. I message him.

Milo, did you feed the sharks today?

Nothing comes back, so I message his Baba, Constantine.

Did you come and take back Mickey?

A shark?

Yes, M32. Belle named him.

No, do you need me to?

Weird, he’s not at the apartment. Thought you should know.

He’s chipped. Let me check it out. Give me a minute... Oddly enough, he’s circling outside of one of the garden domes in Zaffiro. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll swing around and pick him up.

What Zaffiro garden dome is it?

Looks like it belongs to the Herod family.

---