Page 103 of Papers Don't Lie

“Hi,” she says in a thin voice, patting Purple and raising him so she can give him a kiss. He barks, wiggling his tail happily as he licks her face.

She throws her head back, a huge smile on her face that lights up the entire room. Or at least my eyes, because all I can focus on is her and the way she relaxes with each second.

Esmeray was nervous on the entire flight, wondering if Carter will ever come back, but I made sure he can’t. I made this plan long before he took Esmeray from me, and I knew I’deventually get him. It was only a matter of time until I found out his location.

He wasn’t the only one arrested. His employees who had anything to do with Esmeray’s kidnapping were too. So I’m happy to admit that I’m not worried about him coming back, especially because a friend of mine will take care of it from prison. No amount of money can get him out from behind bars.

Kiaran and Tristan are still in England, making sure that Carter’s arrest goes smoothly without any inconveniences in the way. Since he’s with the Italian mafia, I expect him to have some cards up his sleeves, but before acting, I made sure I was always one step before him.

There’s only one thing in this situation that I don’t know how to handle. Should I tell Esmeray that Carter was part of the mafia, or should I let it go instead of coming back to the subject that hunted me for months?

“Wait,” Esmeray says out of nowhere, taking me out of my thoughts. “Where’s Lacey? Is she okay?” She turns to me, her cheeks burning red as her breath struggles to even.

My eyebrows draw in a frown. “She should be here with Ryker,” I say and look over at Raven for confirmation.

She nods. “They’re in your office.”

Esmeray’s shoulders drop in relief, and she reaches her chest with a hand, curling her fingers a bit. “And Cielle?”

“She’s fine. Why?” I ask, squinting my eyes at her, but I don’t need to hear the response getting out of her mouth because I already know.

Carter threatened her with the life of my sister and hers, which ultimately convinced her to go. While I know how dangerous Carter is and that he’d have clearly gone through with that threat if she didn’t listen, she didn’t hold the kind of information I hold. Still, she chose me over her freedom.

Raven’s eyes glisten with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She gets up, walking to her sister with slow steps before she drops to her knees next to Esmeray, who’s seated on the couch. “You told me he was going to shut Kai’s company down.” Her voice shakes when she places a hand on Ray’s knee.

Esmeray puts her palm on her cheek. “Don’t worry about that now."

“I could’ve stopped him from locking you in the bas—” she tries to say, but Esmeray covers Raven’s mouth with her palm, her eyes rounding on her sister.

I lean down on my knees, feeling my blood boil when I glance at my wife. “Let her speak.”

Esmeray looks at me, an innocent expression on her face as she takes her palm off Raven. “I’m fine. It’s over now. We should focus on the present instead of the past,” she says, but my entire attention is on Raven, whose eyes are burning red.

When I nod my head at her to tell me what happened, she gulps, taking a deep breath. “The day she left, Esme told me Carter threatened her with your company, and she said she couldn’t live with doing that to you after your dad’s funeral.” At the mention of my dad’s death, I tense but let her continue. Esmeray slumps in her seat, clearly not happy with her sister’s choice. “Until three days ago, Carter didn’t let us know where they were, and when I called yesterday to check up on her, she told me Carter locked her in the basement. That’s what pushed me to come to you.”

I clench my fingers in a fist, deciding that having him locked behind bars is not enough for everything he did. He deserves to rot in hell, and it has to be done by my hand.

He hurt her. He hurt my wife.

“Bathroom," Esmeray corrects her sister.

“How long?” I ask, twitching my jaw.

Esmeray looks at me. “What?”

“How. Long?”

My wife glances at her sister, biting her lip with hesitancy before her attention moves back to me. “You’re shaking,” she tells me, putting a hand over the fists I placed over my knees.

I catch her palm and caress it, something growing bigger and bigger inside me. It’s anger. “Tell me how long, Ray,” I push.

She takes a deep breath. “Twenty-four hours.” As soon as I have that information, I get up on my feet, ready to bring hell to his cell. Esmeray tugs my hand, almost as if she’s begging me to stop. “But I’m fine now, Kai. Please let it go.”

My eyes lower themselves to the place she’s holding me, and when I look into her eyes, I soften a bit. “I can’t. He has to pay.”

“Is revenge more important than me?” she asks.

I shake my head, leaning down a bit and catching her cheeks in between my hands while I lower to press a kiss on her soft lips. “Revenge is not more important than you, my love,” I admit. “You are the most important person to me, and getting your revenge is what I have to do,” I tell her, and I wait for a few seconds for her reply, but it never comes. “I’ll be back in two minutes."

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