Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Julia stopped alongside Finn and took a deep breath, expecting him to immediately walk inside the suite.
Instead, he set their bags down outside the door, then reached out, lifted her chin, and pinned his eyes on hers.
She was so distracted she’d barely noticed the opulence of the hotel, located right on the Arabian Gulf, as they checked in as Evie and Richard before making their way through the lobby and up the elevator.
“You okay?” The look on his face had her stomach tensing up. A sweet, almost tender expression took over his hard features. A handsome contrast. “Nervous?” He dropped his hand and gave her a small smile when she’d yet to answer. “I should be the nervous one. I’m about to get chewed—”
“Very nervous,” she finally answered. “Also, I feel bad that you’re about to get chewed out.”
“But you wouldn’t change anything, am I right?” he asked as his smile grew.
“No.” Julia returned his smile. “Does that make me a bad person?”
As his gaze held hers, she noticed that his irises were the same color as the emerald leaves on the palm trees outside surrounding the pool that seemed to disappear into the sea.
“I don’t think you could ever be a bad person even if you tried.
” Finn closed his eyes for one second, most likely remembering her icy act during those first two weeks.
“Although I will say you were very good at being mean and making me a little crazy because you were trying to save a friend.” When his lids parted, he lifted a hand between them.
“Don’t apologize for that again,” he said, shutting down the words that were about to leave her lips.
If she’d had a camera with her right now, she would have taken a picture of him.
Of how he looked in this exact moment. There was something about his expression as he studied her that she wanted to capture.
Or maybe it was the way she felt when he looked at her that she was seeking to capture and keep.
God, she missed being behind the lens of her camera where she could trap a moment forever. Immortalize a perfect memory or transform a not-so-perfect one into something unexpectedly beautiful.
She thought back to the darkroom her father had kitted out for her as a teenager.
That’d been her safe place, her haven. She’d never had an active social life.
Not a lot of friends, either. Her shy personality and preference for reading had other girls thinking she was stuck up or unfriendly.
“Pictures are also an interpretation, I guess. They can be misunderstood.”
“What?” Finn’s brow lifted, and she remembered he hadn’t been in her head to follow along with the detour she’d taken in her thoughts.
“Sorry, I um. I’ve been misunderstood my whole life because of my shyness.
By almost everyone, I think.” Her tongue pinned to the roof of her mouth for a brief moment.
“People rarely gave me the chance to show who I really am, and so I guess I just stopped trying to let them see me. And I spent my time behind the camera looking at everyone else, feeling like an outsider. Just observing. Wondering. Trying to find some peace, I guess.”
“Julia,” he said softly as if her name was somehow painful to say.
Then he cupped her cheek in his large, rough palm.
It was warm and inviting, comforting. And the memory of their conversation in the car not too long ago came to mind.
The way he studied her now was as if he were behind the lens himself and seeing her from a different angle.
“Angles?” she murmured, not referring to her ass. Not even a little.
Finn kept his palm on her cheek, studying her with those soulful eyes . . . had anyone ever looked at her that way? Had Tucker? Had she ever felt so understood, so seen before?
When the door opened behind her, Julia nearly fell inward, and Finn abruptly dropped his hand and cleared his throat.
“You’re here,” Wyatt announced in a growly voice.
Julia wished they’d had one more minute. Even one more second so she could snapshot and freeze whatever moment had happened between them in that hallway.
Wyatt ushered Finn into the bedroom without giving him a chance to do anything other than set their suitcases inside. Yeah, he was pissed.
She looked around at the rest of Finn’s teammates crowded in the bedroom, too.
Her shoulders startled back at the sound of the door closing shut, and she lost sight of her lifeline, of Finn.
Now she was alone with Harper in the living room of the suite, standing there, awkwardly waiting for her to look up and say something.
“Hold off on telling him for now,” she heard Finn say, his tone barely below a shout.
Ouch, not good.
“Tell who what?” Julia peered at Harper, hoping she’d finally talk. The silence sucked.
Harper sat at the desk in front of the window. From the looks of it, the room had a killer view. She walked by the U-shaped gray sofa to peer outside at a stretch of white sandy beach and shimmering turquoise water.
“Tell who what?” Harper responded by playing coy and repeating Julia’s question.
Julia strode to the Nespresso machine positioned next to the TV stand on the other side of the room and inserted a pod to make an espresso.
She was desperate for java. It was late afternoon now, and she could count the hours she’d slept since Tuesday morning on both hands, and it was Friday.
Or was it Thursday? Great. I’ve lost track of time.
She turned to the side to observe Harper while she waited on her drink.
Wyatt, A.J., and Chris were sharing this particular suite. Roman and Harper had their own suite next door. And she and Finn, being last-minute additions, would be staying one level above them.
“So, you’re sure those men who tossed me into that trunk weren’t connected to all of this?
” Julia asked, seeing as how she didn’t think Harper would answer the who question anyway.
Plus, she hadn’t had a chance to hear Harper’s thoughts on the matter of the now-dead man lifting her like a feather, chucking her into a foul-smelling trunk, and zooming off. And everything else that followed.
“Looks like a crime of convenience. An amateur group of locals who abduct rich-looking people from expensive hotels to either traffic or ransom them.”
“Traffic.” She tried not to let the idea of being sold rattle her when she needed to focus.
“But we still need to keep a close eye on you just in case.” Julia heard the unsaid Don’t run away again message loud and clear.
“Did you happen to find out if Tariq was in Dubai at the time of Ario’s death? I think we ruled him out as being the murderer, but I was curious.”
Harper leaned back in her seat and closed her laptop. “No. Well, maybe yes.” She frowned. “Tariq wasn’t there, but his twin brother flew in a few days before Ario died, and he left the day after he was murdered.”
“Oh. And what do we know about his twin?” Julia never had Mya dig into Kaira’s royal family ties.
“He’s fairly conservative, unlike Tariq. Helps run the family oil business. Dots his I’s and crosses his T’s from what I can tell. Not like his sociopath brother.”
Mya hadn’t mentioned a twin. Hmm. Then again, why would she? They had no clue Oliver’s case was connected to Kaira’s family.
“So, you don’t think he’s involved?”
“I wouldn’t rule anything out. We’ll examine everything from all angles, I promise.” Harper straightened her posture. “So, while the boys talk, I can fill you in on the plan.”
“Okay.” Julia snatched her drink and disposed of the used pod.
If only she’d confessed the truth to Finn sooner about what she’d been up to, like two weeks ago, they’d have more time.
Maybe Oliver would already be free by now.
His team was uncovering information so much faster than she’d been able to up until now. “And, uh, what is the plan?”
“Kaira left her home on the island an hour before you arrived. Owen and Liam have eyes on her at the Al Habtoor Resort and Club where she checked in for the weekend,” Harper explained.
“Our people are splitting up. Focusing on both her and her brother. Luke wants Roman and me to check in at the resort. Keep tabs on her while she’s there for the weekend. ”
“Are you hoping to try and talk to her? Or is this going to be a wait-and-see kind of thing?” Did she have the patience for that, knowing Oliver was locked away somewhere in this city?
God, he must have felt so alone all these months.
She prayed he knew she was on the outside doing everything in her power to save him.
“Actually, we’ve been instructed not to talk to her.”
Shit, because of her family.
“But it does look like Kaira is meeting with an American couple that’s in town this weekend. They’re hosting an equine fundraising event Saturday night. A costume party. Dress up as your favorite eighties movie character. I managed to get the invite list, and Kaira is on it.”
“The resort is also an equestrian club?”
“Yeah, horse riding is huge here. Horses are strongly connected to Emirate history, and there’s a big equestrian training center and camp at the resort where Kaira’s at now. Her brother didn’t go with her, though. So, the rest of Bravo has eyes on the mansion for when he makes his next move.”
“I can’t imagine her dressing up in some eighties outfit either, even though Oliver said Kaira doesn’t wear a burqa or practice her religion. She appears to be somewhat of an outcast from her Saudi family.”
“Same story as Tariq.”
Julia sat on the couch facing the floor-to-ceiling window viewing the water. “Who are these Americans?”
“I’m doing my homework on them next to see how and when their paths have crossed before.”
“What if we get an invite to the party?” The idea of her and Finn playing dress-up seemed absurd, but her life felt a bit unreal in general lately.