Island of Secrets and Scars

When Cameron arrived at the clinic almost an hour later, Ian stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. With his dark T-shirt, hard muscles, and scowl, he looked more like one of Victor Roberts’s thugs than one of the US’s top surgeons. If she didn’t know him so well, the opposing sight might frighten her, but Ian would never hurt her. In fact, after what he’d revealed earlier, she’d been the cause of both their pain.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He bit out when she neared.

Oh, for Christ’s sake. She’d already told him she’d been attacked before she could make it back to camp after seeing him with Mallory. And afterward, she’d been too distraught. Was he really going to rehash that again?

She sighed. “Ian—”

“That’s why you were relieved when I got there this morning? Because someone had been in your house? Jesus, Cam, you should’ve said something.”

Wait. He was upset about the pictures, not their argument?

“I tried to tell you it wasn’t a good time. You insisted on ripping open wounds anyway,” she reminded him.

His mouth opened, as if to argue, but he quickly snapped it shut.

Deciding to let him off the hook, she changed the subject. “I didn’t know for sure. I was hoping Keso had just been home without me knowing.” She didn’t miss the way Ian’s face tightened at her statement. Oh well, she spoke fact. She and Keso shared a home of sorts with Arabella. They were bound by their love for the small girl and their past.

“You said things were missing. Do you think Keso would steal from you?” Worry and suspicion clouded his words.

Just what she didn’t need. Ian suspicious of Keso.

She shrugged. “They were pictures. I hoped maybe he just took them and planned to bring them back.”

Ian studied her through narrowed eyes. Her story wasn’t entirely ludicrous, but he wasn’t quite falling for it either. “Why would anyone want your pictures?”

She raised her hands, then let them fall.

“Wait. What kind of pictures were they?” The gleam in his eyes let her know what kind he suspected.

Heat washed over her. She’d taken pictures like that only once in her life… for Ian. “They were normal pictures,” she assured him. “I was only in one.” But she didn’t think she’d been the subject that caught the thief’s eye.

“So, who else was in them? Why would someone want your pictures?”

“One was of me, Keso, and Ara at her birthday party. The other was of Keira, Keso’s sister.”

Ian’s lips turned down. “Keso has a sister? Does she not live on the island?”

She shook her head. “She’s dead.”

Frown deepening, his eyes darkened. “What happened?”

She snickered. “What didn’t happen? Long story short, Keso’s certain Victor Roberts, or at least his men, killed her.”

Ian’s eyes flashed wide seconds before rage burned through them. “The man who was here yesterday killed Keso’s sister? Ara’s aunt?”

Lunging forward, she clamped a hand over his mouth. “Keep your voice down. We don’t exactly yell that accusation from the mountaintop.”

Ian pressed a kiss to her palm, sending shivers down her arm. She eased away.

“Why didn’t you tell me that yesterday?”

“Again, not information I like to spread around. We have no proof.” Except Keira’s own account of the way the men had tortured and abused her, and Cameron’s medical exam that confirmed every word. Still, going after Roberts wouldn’t end in their favor.

“That’s why you freaked out when I brought Ara out yesterday?”

She nodded.

“But you stayed alone and faced off with him?”

“To keep him away from Arabella, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.” That was a vow, or perhaps a warning. Either way, she spoke the truth.

Ian straightened, considering her words. “You don’t have to do any of it alone.”

“I know, Keso—”

He clutched her shoulders. “I mean me. I have your back. Yours and Arabella’s. If this man is a threat to you—”

“No.” No, no, no. Already Keso was fixated on stopping the other man. She didn’t want Ian in harm’s way too. “Victor Roberts isn’t worried about me or Arabella.” Probably a lie. “If it was his men, I’m sure they’ll move on now that they’ve dug around and realize how boring I am.”

Ian gifted her with a rare eye roll. “You’re far from boring, baby.”

Despite her attempts not to, she smiled. “I need to check on Esme and the baby.”

“And I need to make sure your daughter realizes she’s going home to rest, not chase mermaids.” From the exasperation in his voice, she assumed he’d already tried and failed to convince her.

“I’ll come help you when I’m done,” she promised. Sliding past him, she entered the clinic and started toward Esme’s room.

“Hey Cam,” he called before she disappeared.

She stopped, turning to glance at where he still stood in the doorway, backlit by the sun. “We’re not finished. Not with our conversation. Not with each other.”

Arguing would only prove to be a waste of her breath. Instead, she nodded. “Let me just get through the day?”

“The day, but soon.”

Yeah, soon. She just hoped she’d managed to wrap her mind around all he’d said before he decided her time ran out.