Chapter 6

Rio looked like he'd lost his mind. He grabbed my shoulders, his voice raw.

"This necklace. How is it in your hands?"

I went on guard right away.

Rio's reaction to that necklace wasn't nothing. He recognized it.

But I'd only known him a few days. Leo was the one who had a necklace just like it.

If Rio really knew this necklace, there was only one place he could have seen it. Through Leo.

A thought hit me, ugly and cold.

Did Rio have some kind of history with Leo? Bad blood?

"Talk to me."

His eyes were red at the rims, stacked with pain, shock, and something underneath that he didn't dare hope for.

His voice snapped me out of it. I lied before I could stop myself.

"I found it."

His shoulders dropped. He let out a long breath.

Then he was on me again.

"Where."

"How."

"Did you see who it belonged to?"

I stumbled through an answer. "Near the dock. I just picked it up."

I tried my luck. "Why? Does the owner have a problem with you?"

He didn't answer that. He gave me one cold look and walked off without turning back.

The ship docked that day. Rio asked Cole for leave and left alone.

My stomach turned. Something was wrong.

Was he tracking down Leo? Was this about revenge?

I went to Cole and tried to find out without asking outright. He humored me.

"I checked every man close to me before I let them near this family. Rio doesn't have enemies like that."

"He went to find his fiancée. That's all this is."

I didn't buy it. Not after the way Rio's face had come apart over that necklace. Nobody looked like that over an old grudge.

I figured "fiancée" was just his excuse to Cole.

I was wrong.

He really had gone looking for her.

Three days later, he came back.

I barely recognized him. He'd lost weight fast, his eyes bloodshot, his steps unsteady, like something had taken him apart from the inside.

Cole frowned. "You find her?"

Rio nodded, then shook his head. His voice came out rough.

"I didn't find her. She sent me a text."

"She's calling off the engagement."