What now? I obediently trailed after Arlo, rounding the long, low storage building that hid the building I’d been held captive in from view. Caiden stayed close to me, a silent support, as I stared at the scene in front of me.
My mouth fell open in shock. “What…where…” I couldn’t think.
He smiled at me. “Caiden and Weston told me a little about what you went through. I know you gave them permission to, and I want you to know that it goes no further.”
I nodded. I’d wanted the boys to be open with him about what had happened, and part of that included telling him about my time in captivity. We hadn’t given all the details, but enough to give him a cohesive story.
“After they’d told me, I was…I think ‘horrified’ would be the appropriate word. I did some digging, made a few calls to your friend Mr. Pope. By the way, he speaks very highly of your negotiation skills, Winter.” He gave me a grin that was so infectious, I couldn’t help returning it.
His smile faded. “What I managed to glean was that the Strelichevo syndicate had been using our docks to transport drugs, thanks to Christine’s underhanded techniques. That would have been bad enough—after all, if it had come to light, Alstone Holdings would have been liable. That wasn’t the most concerning news, though.” He scrubbed his hand across his face. “At some point, that building you were held in had been used for people.”
“What do you mean?” Nausea rose up inside me.
“Human trafficking. Girls.”
“No.” I gripped hold of Caiden’s arm, needing his strength.
He smiled sadly. “I’m afraid so. In cutting the head off this operation, so to speak, it’s ended with us. But cut the head off in one place, and another will grow elsewhere.”
“That’s just…”
“I won’t let it lie, Winter. Listen to me. I am going to donate a considerable amount of my own personal funds and resources towards hunting this operation down and ending it for once and for all, I can promise you that.”
“Thank you.” What else could I say?
“As for the building…” He indicated to the empty area where it had once stood. “I had the basement filled in and the entire building demolished. Even if the future buyer keeps the docks as they are, it’s gone, never to be seen again.”
“Thank you,” I said again, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
“You’re welcome. I hope it makes some small difference, at least.”
It did.
I gave him a grateful smile and he nodded, before glancing at his watch. “Better get going. The estate agent is due in half an hour to take photos.”
Caiden took my hand. “Come on, baby. Let’s go home.”
We drove away, and I never looked back.
EPILOGUE 2
Twenty-nine days later…
“What’s going on?” Winter’s gaze was suspicious as she took in the four of us standing in front of her.
I grinned. “Do you trust me, baby?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know I do, but why does it feel like a trick question?”
“No tricks.” I took her hand, leading her towards the door. “Come with us.”
We split into two cars so I could drive my girl, needing to be alone with her. It had only been just under a month since everything had gone down, but with all the shit that had been going on, it felt like we’d barely had time to be alone together. Not only that, she’d refused to have sex with me because of my bullet wound. Oral wasn’t out, but she wouldn’t let me inside her, saying I needed to heal. So fucking stubborn. Yeah, getting shot had really fucking hurt, but I was fine now. As fine as I was gonna get, anyway. I still had twinges of pain, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
I was tired of waiting, and I knew she was, too, so I was planning on using all my powers of persuasion later.
My phone rang as we were pulling onto the motorway, and I connected the speaker so I could answer my dad, pushing all thoughts of sex from my mind.
“Alright, Dad?”