Rough Exile

I laughed and gave her a hug. “Jesus, Lane. When you got to Prey Island, you were so new to kink, and now look at you—brands and under-bed cages.”

She caught my hand and brought it up to eye level. “Nice rock on the engagement ring.”

“It belonged to Ilya’s mother.”

“That’s so sweet! And the double, entwined wedding band? Nice touch.”

We’d picked it out together, later, and I loved it.

“They’re both my husbands—at least as far as we’re concerned.”

“That’s the way things are here, too, except everyone is Ajax’s bitch.”

“Everyone is Bron’s bitch at our house.”

She led me into another living room and flopped onto an elegant couch, then patted the seat beside her. I sank down and leaned my head against the back of it, considering the modern art sculpture that stood on the other side of the room.

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “So…did you choose to move here, or did you get kidnapped too?”

“They gave me a choice, but only after they stalked me and broke into my apartment.” She groaned as though the memory was embarrassing. “Is there anything toxic men won’t do to get their way?”

“Speaking of which, have you had any new leads on Clover?”

“The guys have been looking, but they haven’t had any luck yet. The poor kid has nothing. Did you know she aged out of foster care? She never mentioned that to me. Did she mention it to you?”

“No. She talked about her parents as though she lived with them. You haven’t found any family?”

Lane frowned. “Calder found out her parents are dead—her father when she was still a baby, and her mother when she was fourteen. She lived in a group home after that and then got her own apartment. From what the guys have been able to piece together, after her tour on the Island finished, she never came home. Her landlord sold off her stuff to pay back rent, and moved in new tenants. The neighbors say they haven’t seen her.”

“Oh god. Where could she be?”

“Ajax has been reaching out to other people he knows—the kind of people you and I don’t want to know.” She shivered. “One of them said he met you and your men briefly at a club in Saint Petersburg. It’s how they tracked you down.”

I felt my cheeks grow hot, and I looked away.

“So, what happened at this club?”

“Nothing compared to what you’ve been doing here!”

Lane bit her bottom lip and was clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

“You know you can tell me anything. I mean, who am I going to tell? I would never tell the guys because they might get ideas I don’t want them to have.”

Of course, I told her everything.

For the week we stayed, it was like we had never left Prey Island, except there were no organized games and there was a hell of a lot more privacy. Lane and I got to hang out, and Ajax gave Bron instructions on how to get internet on our island so Lane and I could keep in touch.

As for Clover, Calder and Ajax promised us they would keep looking, but there was no way to know where one small, helpless girl could have gone.