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I frowned. "I don't want her to be away from me."
He laughed. "The Faulkner building is the one right next to ours."
"I know. But she still won't be with me."
My brother rolled his eyes. "You would think you would pay more attention to your property assets. Faulkner has a tunnel in the basement that leads straight into the Park Tower. And it's not just a tunnel. There is underground shopping and restaurants down there. She'll be safe, but she also won't be alone. She'll go into her apartment every day, run around and do some things, turn off the lights, and sneak over to the penthouse unseen at night."
"You really have thought of everything."
"I try,” he said cheekily. “But we need that evidence our father has against your mom. And right now, your mother is not nearly as helpful as we’d hoped she'd be. She's lucid and improving every day, but she doesn't remember much. So we'll work on that. You just work on staying out of sight."
When my brother walked away, I found my wife in the crowd. She was dancing, her head tossed back with a grin plastered on her face. The feelings I had for her weren't going away. They were only getting stronger. The need to protect her, to be near her all the time. She was fucking mine. And anyone who tried to take her was going to have to go through me first.
Chapter 27
GWEN
The boat ride to Princess Island was a quiet one. We left from the dock right behind the palace. Zia and Jax from the Royal Elite took us. But what I was surprised about was that it didn't take very long. Only twenty minutes by speedboat, and they dropped us right in front of a bungalow.
Was it the kind of bungalow I would have expected for someone like Atticus? No. But was it beautifully designed? Yes. One story, completely open concept. It looked like glass, but I couldn't see inside. And they'd opened up the lanai so you could walk right into the house. On the other side, it seemed to open to a back garden.
"Not exactly secure," I muttered.
Zia laughed from behind us. "I assure you it is. Unauthorized vehicles or boats that come near this side of the island will be dealt with.”
“Dealt with?” I squeaked.
Her sharp nod told me not to ask too many questions about what ‘dealt with’ meant.
“There's also a panic room inside. And that glass, you can see out of it, not into it. Not to mention it's tempered. Completely bulletproof. If for some reason anything happens while the doors are open, hit the panic button, and steel shutters will come down, protecting whoever’s inside. If you are out on the rest of the island exploring and you notice something, there are also bunkers about half a mile from here, one on either side of the island, both accessible only by fingerprints. Your fingerprints have been added to the database so you'll be able to get inside. Fingerprint use will also alert the Royal Elite, the local police, etcetera," she assured me.
I lifted my brows. "Well, I guess I take that back. You guys have thought of everything."
"This is Sebastian and Penny's retreat,” Zia reminded me. “And Princess Island is actually an inlet. This part connects to Queen’s Island over there. On the very far side of that is the prison. Don't worry, it's behind a security fence. You'll never have any reason to go there. At low tide, you can walk the sand bay over to Queen's Island if you really want to, but there is always a boat for your use here at the dock."
Jax pointed around to the other side. "If you don't want to walk the sand bar or take the water route, there is a Jeep you can take over the bridge on that side. It's a little bit of a walk just around on the other side of the property."
Atticus nodded and shook both their hands. "Thank you."
"If you take the boat out, there is a notification button,” Zia said and pointed at the security panel. “Just let us know and we will have sea patrol also pay attention to your movements."
Jax pulled something out of the boat and handed it to Atticus. "You've been trained on handguns, right?"
Atticus nodded. "Yes."
"Good. I don't think there will be any need, but there are weapons in the bungalow as well. Extra ammo is stored in the bunkers and in the safe room."
"Ammo?" I turned to Atticus. "Do you know how to shoot?"
He pressed his lips together. "Yes. I had anti-kidnap training. It was interesting, so I kept working on the shooting and martial arts."
I blinked at him slowly, feeling like I was suddenly looking at a whole new person. "Well, I guess I'm dealing with a secret badass."
"Sweetheart, it's never been a secret." He said it so deadpan I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.
I rolled my eyes. "Okay."
Zia smirked, and then she and Jax left us to our own devices.
