I sat in my study, phone clutched in one hand, staring at the screen like it might blink back at me.
Kaia still wasn’t answering. Still. Straight to voicemail again and again.
I hated the idea of hiring a private investigator to find my own sister. But at this point, I had no choice.
I exhaled sharply and tapped the screen. “Jackson.”
“Mr. Renner.”
“I need you to find someone for me.”
“Of course. Sylvie?”
The assumption made something in my chest twist. ” No,” I said tightly. “My sister Kaia Renner.”
There was a pause on the other end. “…Right. Of course. Give me thirty minutes. I’ll call back with what I find.”
I hung up and headed for the shower, trying to scrub the tension off my skin.
Kaia, it couldn’t be anything bad. She was strong. Smart. Tough as nails. Always had been.
When Jackson called back, it wasn’t the certainty in his voice I was used to. “Mr. Renner… I have her location. I think. But it’s… unusual.”
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Jackson never hesitated.
“What happened?” I demanded. “Did someone hurt her?”
“No, sir. Nothing like that.” A beat. “But according to my sources, your sister Kaia checked into the Orman Group compound… and she never left.”
Silence. Then rage. “The Orman Group?” I repeated.
The very name made my skin crawl. Our longest- standing rival. Drug deals, arms trafficking–across every field we operated in, they were the shadow to our flame.
“What the hell is she doing there?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Jackson said. “But I’ll send you a
contact number for their leader. Adam Orman. Be careful.
That family doesn’t swim in shallow waters.”
I nodded absently, though he couldn’t see me. “Thanks.”
That night, I didn’t sleep.
Instead, I dreamed. Kaia, bound in some underground chamber. Strung up, tortured, silenced. Her eyes accusing me even in death.
I woke in a sweat, heart pounding, chest tight.
It was already past eight.
I didn’t wait another second. I grabbed the number from my desk and punched it in.
“Adam Orman speaking.”
“Where the fuck is my sister?” I snarled. “You want to
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screw with someone, come after me, not her.”
The man on the other end actually laughed. A low,
amused chuckle. “Asher Renner. Finally. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to call.”
“Cut the bullshit. You took her.”
“No,” he said calmly. “Your sister came to me on her own. Offered herself up as our youngest chemist. Seems she was looking for a career change.”
His words hit like a brick to the chest. “She–what?”
“Didn’t she tell you?” he asked lightly. “Strange. I’d think family would know these things.”
“You’re lying.”
“Mr. Renner, even if we’re not business partners, you should know–I don’t lie. And I especially don’t appreciate being called a liar.”
My mind was reeling.
Kaia joined the Ormans? Why?
“Why…?” I didn’t even realize I’d said it aloud.
Adam sounded almost bored now. “I heard that you’ve treated her like shit for years. Ignored her. Replaced her. Let another girl wear her place at the table, take the attention that was supposed to be hers.”
My jaw clenched. “That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
