Chapter 40 Declan
Declan
My fist clenched as I fought the urge to slam it into the motherfucking bathroom mirror. I needed to get out of these wet pants.
Get some sleep.
Take a cold shower.
Erase the memory of her naked, achingly wet body as she lay in my arms with her eyes closed.
The feel of her breasts cushioned against my chest would go with me to my grave. That ass. The soft curve of her belly. That glorious curtain of ebony hair. Those fathomless obsidian eyes that bored into mine, seeing way more than I wanted her to see.
This was a disaster.
I never should have walked into that bathroom.
I had known damn well she'd be half-dressed or worse, naked. The scented steam spilling out from under the door told me that much.
So why had I crossed a line I swore never to cross?
Because I was weak.
Seeing Marku's hands on her earlier had shredded my self-control. Awoken the beast. The need to protect her obliterated everything. Despite knowing it could have been a suicide mission, I'd stormed into that private room at the club, dragging my two most trusted men with me.
We'd received the barest of intel before we arrived. Milo had found messages on a Dark Web forum about a monthly show for buyers looking to purchase girls. The moment he'd told me, I saw red.
I pictured her being taken. Sold into sexual slavery.
Of course, she'd been clueless the club was a front for more nefarious activities.
Unlike her sister, she'd grown up shielded from the worst of what men could do.
Yes, her father had abused her by locking her away for years, but it was nothing compared to the physical and psychological pain her sister had endured.
And unlike Thea, Verity had lived a mostly normal life since she hit her teenage years. We'd sent her away to school so she would be safe.
I took towels from the stack and threw them onto the floor to mop up the puddles of water left behind from when I dragged Verity from the tub.
Soft, wet skin rubbing against mine.
Deliciously tempting curves.
A body made for sin.
How I wanted to corrupt her.
Push her to her limit.
Extract every bit of pleasure from her body I could before I sank into her and found mine.
My jaw clenched as aching need gripped every part of me. My cock throbbed in my pants. Desperate for her. When I stared in the mirror, a haunted man stared back at me.
I looked away, stripped my pants off, and stepped into the shower. Cold water blasted down, stinging my shoulders. But it did nothing to quell the arousal burning like fire through my veins.
I doubted anything would.
My body wanted the woman lying naked in bed in the next room.
I gripped my solid shaft and closed my eyes. Maybe if I took the edge of things, it would help because right now, my head was too full of her to think straight. And given the threats we faced, that put us all in danger.
A soft tap on the outer door caught my attention as I buttoned a clean shirt. When I opened it, gun in hand, Ash stood there with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry to disturb you, but the storm's worsening. The jet's grounded for at least 12 more hours."
Dammit. The longer we stayed here in this cursed place, the more likely it was Verity's father would track her down. I should have brought more men with me, but there hadn't been time.
"I need one of you outside this room for the duration."
Ash nodded in agreement. "Connor's resting now, but he'll be up in three hours to take over the next shift."
"I'll speak to Milo to see if he's found anything on her father. If we can get a location for the bastard, the cops can pick him up."
"And Marku?"
His involvement in this mess was a mystery, but right now, my priority was Francesco di Luca. Until he was back behind bars where he belonged, or better still, dead, Verity remained in grave danger.
"If anyone tries to get into this room, shoot first and ask questions later. The hotel manager assures me his staff have all been security vetted, but we both know corruption is rife around here. Trust nobody except the three of us."
Ash rolled his eyes at my stating the fucking obvious.
I glared at him. "Anything happens to that girl and you're toast. Are we clear?"
The bastard smirked. "I don't remember you acting this way when Bridget had a stalker."
The fucker had a point. I'd barely given a shit about Bridget's so-called stalker. We later discovered she'd made the whole thing up to get my attention.
"Just do your fucking job!" I went to slam the door on the asshole before belatedly remembering my girl had finally fallen asleep. Instead, I closed it with a soft click, ignoring the chuff of laughter from the other side.
That bastard would get his comeuppance when we next trained, and I looked forward to wiping the smile off his face with my fists.
Wind and rain lashed the windows overlooking the bay far below, reminding me we were stuck here for the next day. I sighed before picking up my phone to check for messages.
There were dozens, mostly from my brothers. Which I ignored. They could stew for a bit longer. It served the fuckers right.
Milo: Call me.
With a sigh, I called Milo's number. "Declan." My jaw clenched. The guy was a fucking android. It was hard to understand what Thea saw in him, but whatever.
"Found anything?"
"Lots." I waited for him to elaborate but heard only the faint tapping of fingers on a keyboard.
My irritation flared hot and bright. "Well?"
Milo sighed like I was a massive inconvenience to him.
"Di Luca's still off the radar. He must be hiding somewhere because I haven't picked up any traces of him since the one sighting in Naples."
Forcing my irritation down, I focused on what Milo had just said.
This cemented my belief someone was helping him.
The asshole didn't have the resources to go off-grid these days.
The authorities confiscated his assets years ago, and unless he'd squirreled away funds somewhere out of sight, he was officially penniless.
"And Avram Marku?"
"He's a tricky one. He operates in plain sight, but I've found links between him and a Russian splinter bratva, as well as the cartel.
It looks like he's heavily involved in the trafficking network operating across Europe and into the States, but from what I can tell, he mainly runs an online web cam network. "
I frowned. "Web cams?"
"Yeah. It's a relatively new thing. Women, girls, and sometimes boys are trafficked and forced into doing live streaming shows daily.
Solo or with other people." Anyone else would have displayed some emotion, most likely disgust, but not Milo – no, he acted like he was reciting a fucking Wikipedia entry.
I forced my dislike for the guy down. It wasn't helpful, not when the asshole was feeding me useful intel.
"From what he said to Verity before we retrieved her, he's working with di Luca. I'm not sure how or why, but it's possible di Luca has agreed to hand over Verity in exchange for money and resources."
"That would make sense," Milo said. "Konstantin lost Thea and a shitload of money at the same time."
"And his life."
"That too." I heard the barest hint of satisfaction in Milo's voice. I guessed all Thea's guys were happy that fucker no longer walked this earth.
"Are the authorities looking into this shit?"
"There is an FBI task force investigating, yes. I've been working with a guy called Quinn Ellis. Anything important, I pass on to him. But their jurisdiction only applies to crimes on US soil, so it doesn't help you right now."
Hearing that Milo was working with the FBI made my skin itch. The last thing I needed was them up my ass. Or worse, handing over evidence on my activities to the Garda organized crime bastards. That kind of heat would make my life extremely difficult.
"Don't worry, you're not in danger."
"I better not be, Milo."
"Quinn's cool. He's not interested in digging into your activities. His focus is on this trafficking ring."
"Good, because the sooner that shit's shut down, the better."
"I think we all agree on that." Milo sounded almost amused. I heard a female voice in the background before Thea came on the line.
"Is she safe?"
"Yes, she's with me right now. Asleep."
"She better not be in your fucking bed, Declan!"
"She's in a bed. Would you rather I locked her in the closet?"
Thea sighed. "No, of course not. As long as she's safe."
"She is."
"You said that last time," she reminded me. "And look what happened!"
"I can't help it if your sister is almost as stubborn and reckless as you!" I hissed.
There was a long, pregnant pause. "You never did tell me why she left in such a hurry." Dammit. That wasn't a conversation I wanted to have with her.
"You need to talk to her about that, not me. I'm not a fucking mind reader."
The grumble of annoyance across our connection told me Verity had said nothing at all to her sister, which suited me just fine. I'd prefer it if my balls stayed attached to my body for now.
"I would, but you told me she ditched her phone."
My jaw clenched. "I'll let her call you from my phone when she wakes," I told her before ending the call.