“I’m a free agent, you know. The Wolfes don’t own me. Nobody fucking owns me.”
“Of course no one owns you. The Wolfes are just trying to protect you. They were worried.”
Sadness whips through me. He’s right, of course. Reid Wolfe and his wife, Zee, have been nothing but kind to me. They’ve bent over backwards to make sure I have everything I need, and all they asked in return is that I stay safe. Stay protected. Check in and out with the security guard when I leave.
And I didn’t do that.
I didn’t do that because I needed to take myself back. I needed to take ownership of my own body and soul.
For so long, on that island, I was someone else’s property to use and abuse.
And I’ve got scars to prove it.
I was beaten.
Raped.
Hunted.
They had weapons. I did not.
All I had was my brain and my strong body.
Sometimes I escaped.
Most of the time…I didn’t.
Like I said, they had weapons.
And as strong and fit as I was, more often than not, I was captured and abused.
I was a favorite on the hunting ground. Diamond told me it was because I was a natural athlete, tall, muscular.
“And beautiful,” she used to say. “They want to take you because you’re beautiful.”
I never considered myself beautiful. And on the island? Any beauty I possessed was a fucking curse.
Katelyn—now she’s beautiful. Blond, fair, light blue eyes.
Soft and delicate.
That’s feminine beauty.
Me? I’m more masculine than feminine.
Standing here next to Buck, though, I feel more feminine than I have in a long time.
He so tall, so broad. He dwarfs me, and that’s not an easy thing to do.
He grabs his phone out of his pocket, punches on it, and then places it to his ear. “Hey, it’s Moreno.”
Pause.
“She wants to go to Colorado. Says she wants to see her state. Remember its beauty.”
Pause.
“Absolutely. You got it.”
Pause.
“Right. Got it. Bye.”
Buck turns to me. “We’re going. We’re going to go to Colorado.”
“We?”
“That’s right, Aspen. If you insist on going to Colorado, I’m going with you, to ensure your safety.”
3
BUCK
Chaperoning Aspen on a trip to Colorado is no hardship. The woman is freaking gorgeous.
Plus, I’m making a cool two grand per hour to babysit.
No complaints here.
I’d been ready to pull out all the stops, put my training to use to find a kidnapping victim. I called in Leif—Phoenix—and told him to bring in the battalion. I called him off an hour ago, as I don’t need him.
Turns out? Aspen left on her own.
I can’t blame her. She wants to be on her own. She was held captive for five years on that damned island.
And I know a little about captivity.
More than a little, actually, and it’s stuff I’d much rather forget.
“We’ll rent a car,” I say. “We’ll be there by tomorrow.”
“Can we fly?”
“If you’d rather.”
She pauses, seeming to ponder. “No, a car’s good. The idea of being at an airport is kind of…”
“I get it.”
“We were flown from the island on the Wolfes’ private jet. I haven’t been to an airport in… Well, a while.”
“Whatever you want.”
“It’s just… I was on a trip, to a championship game. That was the last time I was at an airport. I was taken when I was at the hotel.”
She doesn’t have to say any more. I get it.
“You don’t have to talk about it.”
“Good. I wasn’t going to. But yeah, no airports.”
So that’s why she chose the train. I figured it was because it was cheaper, but I should know better. The Wolfes are taking care of these ladies. They probably have as much cash as they want at their disposal.
“A car it is then,” I say.
“Good.”
“Get ready. I’ve been instructed to get you whatever you need. Take a shower or whatever.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll go take care of the car, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Taking care of the car is easy. Easy as calling Reid Wolfe’s assistant. She’s out of the office, apparently, so I get his secretary, Alicia.
“Not a problem, Mr. Moreno,” Alicia says. “I’ll get the car delivered to you within the hour.”
“Delivered to me?”
“Yeah, someone will drive it to your hotel.”
Right. I should’ve known. Top-notch service for the Wolfes.
An hour later, a Lincoln sedan arrives, and I have the keys. I also have my Wolfe credit card, which I’m to use for all expenses when I’m on their service.
I have no idea what the credit limit is, but I know it’s high, because I’ve put some damned high expenses on it in the past.
I knock on Aspen’s door. She opens it slowly and peeks out.
“All set,” I say. “The car’s here.”
She pulls her suitcase out of the room.
I grab it from her. “I’ll take that.”
“Oh. Sure. Thanks.”
We make our way down to the car, a bellhop secures our luggage, then we’re on our way.
“We’ll be there by dinnertime,” I say.
“Okay.”
“Where do you want to go first?” I ask her. “Your parents’ house?”