14
I
pressed my phone against my ear, expecting to hear Riley’s sweet voice, but instead, I got distant voices in the background, including hers. I couldn’t catch exactly what they were saying, but the tone of their voices raised alarm bells for me. Riley seemed to speak methodically when she mentioned the basement under the Science Library, but the tone of the male voices got me concerned.
The male voices seemed to threaten her, and when she spoke to them, she sounded terrified.
Then the phone cut out, and I knew trouble was about to go down. I grabbed my car key, gun, and wallet, poked my head into Mikael’s smoke-filled office, where he was downing another glass of whiskey. “I’ve got an emergency to attend to. I’ll be back soon.”
“About what?” he snarled as if another drama amongst rats and naked toymakers would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He could handle the pressure, but he didn’t want it.
“I’m unsure. “I’ll get back to you,” I said, as I was in a hurry and didn’t want to stand around and chat. She sounded like she was in trouble, so I needed to get there before something terrible happened.
I ran down the hall as he yelled after me, “Where the fuck is Gunner?”
Jumping into my car, I put it into gear and sped off toward Gotland as I tried to call her back, but it went straight to voicemail. My heart was drumming against my rib cage as I swiped for Shaun’s number to call him and check on Riley, since I assumed he was on campus. But paused when I remembered that Gunner had beaten him black and blue just for touching Riley without permission.
The problem with Gunner was that he was a loose cannon and viewed Riley as his possession. He was pissed that Shaun broke rank and disobeyed him, so I didn’t blame Gunner for reminding him that he was under our command not the other way around.
It took too fucking long to arrive at Gotland, then even longer to find a fucking park, so I suspected that by the time I found her, it might be too late. I ran toward the Science library, hoping she was still inside, incredibly concerned for her welfare.
When I approached, the door was locked, and I pressed my ear against the wood, but it sounded empty. So, I found my key and unlocked the door, pushing it open with my hand resting on the gun tucked in the belt of my pants.
At first glance, it seemed empty, but the cigarette smoke was still fresh. A crunching underfoot forced me to look down for a pair of glasses with smashed lenses. Riley.
Panic surged through my body as I swiped for her number again, and it switched to voicemail. I combed my finger through my hair wondering where the fuck she had gone. Gunner, Shaun, and I were the only people with a key to this basement. But I thought Gunner told Shaun to return his key.
“She’s okay,” a small voice echoed, and she glanced back, doing a double-take to find a girl with similar features to Riley Laws. For a split second, I thought it was her. Her large eyes widened in horror at the sight of the broken glasses.
“Where is she?”
She bit her bottom lip and shrugged, playing dumb.
“Where is she?” I asked, and it then occurred to me that she was the girl in Gunner's picture.
The girl, Katherine or Katerina, wanted Gunner to stay away from Riley. She hardly looked threatening, but she seemed like the type who was always in the right place at the right time, like now. “You just spoke to her, so where did she go?” My fists clenched, and I lost my patience with her.
“You’re Ronan Byrne, aren’t you?” she stated bravely.
“And so? Tell me where Riley is? She might be in trouble,” I snarled at her, until she got the message that I wouldn’t hurt her.
“Her dorm,” she stated, pointing her finger at the glasses. “She said her glasses were broken.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, passing by her and swiping my contacts to call Riley again to ensure she was okay.
“And her phone is broken,” she added, scanning the floor, likely looking for her phone as well. “She seemed upset and…”
I paused to wait for her to finish, but she shook her head, apparently changing her mind about what she was about to say. “Do you know how her phone and glasses got broken?”
She shook her head, swallowed, then pushed her glasses back against her nose, reminding me of Riley.
My patience wore thin speaking to this little weirdo, so I left. Once outside, I returned to my car and drove to her dorm. I couldn’t get into the building without a keycard, so I had to wait until someone came out of the dorm, allowing me to rush past them and run up to her door.
“Riley?” I knocked gently on her door with the knuckle of my finger and listened for a sound.
Footsteps treaded toward the door, and she opened it a crack. She was wearing glasses and a furrowed brow, looking sweet. “Hi,” she sighed. “I called you.”
“I know that’s why I’m here,” I said softly, my heart melting for her. Mikky ordered us to stay away from her, but she captured my heart the moment I saw her swimming in the forest pool, riveting, alive and so fucking beautiful. But the girl I was looking at now was not that girl in the pool. This girl was broken and terrified.
I held up the frames of her glasses, which were missing the lenses, scattered in a thousand pieces on the basement floor. “What happened, Riley?”
She hesitated, bit her bottom lip, and stepped back, opening the door wider so I could enter her room. It’s small, featuring a single bed, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a window that overlooks the road. I inhaled her scent, which infiltrated this small space, and it was warm and inviting.
“I had a spare,” she sighed, pointing to her glasses as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m blind as a bat without them.”
I chose my spot on the window frame to sit, keeping my distance from her, so she wouldn’t feel intimidated. “I bumped into a girl with glasses who said that your phone was also broken, so what happened?”
“That’s probably Cheetos,” she said softly, “I mean…Kat, but I call her Cheetos.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Long story.”
“Riley, did someone try to hurt you?” I pressed firmly, but softly.
She found a spot on the floor and stared at it, her hands wringing together as if cold, even though it was warm in there.
“You called me, so…” I urged her to open up, but it was evident that she was frightened by something or someone.
She bowed her head in a graceful nod, then propelled herself to her feet, pulled open the drawer in her desk, and took out a pen and paper. Then, she wrote down something before folding it and handing it to me. I opened it slowly and read her words: I’m being watched and don’t know who to trust.
I nodded, “Let’s go for a walk,” I beckoned, stepping to the door as she grabbed her bag and followed shyly behind. She was hesitant to be alone with me, and when I glanced back at her as she closed and locked her door, I could see the strain on her pretty face and the trembling of her warm hands.
We didn’t speak again until we were outside on the street. “I might sound nuts, but I found a camera in my room.”
“Oh,” I grunted, knowing it was Gunner who had done that, and perhaps she was not as na?ve as we had first thought.
“I’m too afraid to touch it in case someone turns up and hurts me,” she added as her head bowed, and my heart wrenched.
Fuck, we’d been cruel to her. She didn’t know what the fuck she’d done. It seemed she was a perfectly innocent, sweet girl, Gunner believed was Annika.
“Riley,” I started as we walked to the end of the street and turned left toward the sports field. There were too many things going on in Riley’s life that raised suspicions, and maybe it was more mature to ask her face-to-face. “Gunner has seen you with cops.”
My selkie flinched, then grimaced, but kept her eyes low. “He has?” She cleared her throat as if collecting her thoughts. “Oh, that’s right. They turned up one night, and he thought they were following me.”
She was covering for herself, and I didn’t blame her, but there was the issue of the blond cop that Danny Lam identified as an officer from the Larsson Police Department. That was a problem and a strange coincidence, since Riley Laws had never lived in Larsson, why would that particular cop be interested in her? The entire situation stinks badly.
“Riley,” I stopped walking and turned to face her, but she kept her distance, head bowed, trembling hands clasped tightly together, and my heart ached for her. “Who hurt you?”
She scanned the street, noticed students walking toward us, and turned away from them, hinting that we shouldn’t talk out here in the open.
“You called me, Riley,” I whispered as we strolled closer to the bushes and trees, a path weaving through them that led to the baseball diamond. “You called me. I heard you mention the basement on campus, and I could hear angry voices scolding you, then the phone cut out. Next, I turn up and your glasses and phone are broken.”
“You…” she gasped as if catching her breath. “You sound like you genuinely care.”
I swallowed as my words caught in my throat. “I do,” I asserted as my arm brushed against hers, and she pulled away.
As we stepped under the canopy of the trees and strolled along the path, I spotted a park bench and gestured for her to sit there. As soon as she sat down, she asked, “Where’s Gunner today?”
I ignored the jealousy stirring in my gut, wondering why she thought about him when I was right before her. “I’m not sure,” I replied. “Anyway, don’t change the subject. Who broke your phone and glasses?”
“I went into the basement to find Gunner, and the door was open, so I pushed it more, and two guys walked in. I think they thought I was snooping,” she explained.
“Was it Shaun?” I assumed because it wouldn’t be anyone else.
She nodded slightly. “Don’t hurt him, will you?”
I exhaled, feeling the weight of the situation. “Why did he smash your glasses and phone?”
“He noticed I had my phone on and assumed I was recording him…” She paused as someone walked past before adding, “That was when I called you, because Gunner said he was out of town.”
“Is he? Gunner is out of town?” It annoyed me that she only called me because she knew Gunner wasn’t nearby to help her. “Huh, I didn’t know.” He possibly lied to her, causing trouble for someone on the other side of town. But who knew with Gunner, as he was a law unto himself.
“That’s what he said,” she sighed, her body starting to relax beside me. “I can tell he’s not nearby. I can always tell as it’s a feeling I get.”
“A feeling?” Again, I had to sweep aside my jealousy.
Riley had known Gunner longer than I, and he knew more about her, so he pursued her at college. All I knew was the beautiful naked girl I encountered in the forest. The selkie. My selkie. I wanted her back. I wanted that girl, shimmering wet, slipping through the water, dipping and diving like a mythical being.
“Yeah,” she chuckled, slightly embarrassed by her comment. “I can feel him watching me without actually seeing him. He’s very intense. Strange.”
“I’d agree with that,” I settled. “He had a tough life when he was a teenager and lost his father under suspicious circumstances.”
“Really? “Like what?” she asked, her lips parting in suspense.
“He was murdered,” I replied, curious to see how she would react to that, considering that Gunner reckons that she was Annika, but I wasn’t so sure because I didn’t remember Annika that well.
“Oh my gosh, that’s terrible,” he gasped, covering her mouth as I watched her closely, searching for insincerity.
Her reaction seemed genuine, but she might be good at faking it if well-rehearsed. “Yeah,” I agreed. “He kind of sank into a dark place, and I’m unsure if he’ll ever climb out of it.”
“That explains a lot,” she sighed. “His tattoos and scar…”
Enough of talking about him. “So, what are we going to do with Shaun?”
She shook her head as I could feel the panic radiate from her and tremble along my thigh and arm pressing against hers. “Nothing. Did you see what Gunner did to Shaun last time?”
Fuck. We’re talking about Gunner again. “Yeah, I did.”
“So, don’t tell him, will you?” she pleaded.
It was odd that she had no idea who she was talking to. Yes, Gunner was openly sinister, but he had nothing on Ronan Byrne. I was better at hiding it and covering my tracks because that was what I was paid to do. I was clean-cut and looked like I had been carved from a trust fund, giving people the impression that I was trustworthy.
I made a hissing sound with my mouth, conflicted by what she was saying. “I can’t let that happen, Riley.”
“What do you mean?” she panted nervously.
“Your glasses and phone were broken. Riley. The only way that happened was if they threatened or hurt you. I can’t let them do that and get away with it,” I told her sternly.
“What are you going to do?” she gasped, and I saw a hint of something I hadn’t seen in her before. Maybe she did know who I was and what I was capable of.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have a little chat with them. That’s all,” I promised as I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, and she responded by nestling into me. We watched students walk by in silence as his little finger drew circles on my thigh, and that alone was getting me hard. Fuck. “The boss said you’re out of bounds.”
She glanced up at my face with a look of curiosity. “Mr. Kaiser? That boss?”
I nodded, cocking my eyebrows at her. “Yeah. You’re a staff member, so you know, that’s against club rules.”
“Oh, I guess you didn’t know we worked together when we met,” she spoke softly.
“No.”
“And guess you didn’t know that Gunner liked me too,” she said breathlessly, relaxing into me more.
Fuck, she brought up Gunner again. “I think he likes you more than just a little,” I told her.
A flurry of giggles shivered against my chest, adding to the hardening of my crotch pushing against my zipper. “Yeah, he’s a bit obsessive.”
“I’m honestly unsure how I can keep my hands off you, Riley,” I admitted openly as her finger kept drawing circles on my thigh as if she were unaware she was doing it.
“Oh,” she grunted, giving me nothing as her finger traveled further up my thigh to my bulge and then pulled away before touching it. I clenched my jaw, eager for her to slide inside my pants and stroke my hardness until I cum into her hand. This was fucking torture.
“Hmm, this definitely will not be easy,” I mumbled under my breath.
“I guess I better get back to my dorm as I have an assignment to work on,” she stated, pulling away from me and I sucked my lips in irritation. But she didn’t stand up to leave. Instead, she stared at the grass as her hand landed back on my thigh again.
A circus was going on in my pants as her eyes drifted down that way, then she looked away. My selkie would rather play by the rules than ignore them momentarily.
“I’ll walk you back,” I told her as her hand moved further up to my pulsating bulge, and like her, I remained seated.