Chapter 10

I laughed before I could stop myself.

Cole glanced my way and I clapped a hand over my mouth, swallowing the rest of it.

Rio was too far gone to notice. He kept muttering to himself.

"Something must have happened to her. She wouldn't do this out of nowhere."

"Boss, I have to find her. Whatever the reason, I'm getting her back."

Cole said a few words to calm him down, then asked, "Did she say anything else?"

Rio's voice cracked. "No. Just that she's not marrying me. Told me to stop waiting."

He paused, something dead in his eyes.

"There was a transfer too. A hundred and two thousand dollars."

My heart skipped.

That couldn't be a coincidence.

I'd asked Cole for a hundred thousand and added the two thousand I'd made on the ship myself. All of it went to Leo.

I ran the numbers again in my head.

The amount. The message. It matched what I'd sent, word for word.

Rio pulled the broken necklace out of his pocket, running his thumb over the crack, his voice like sandpaper.

"This was our promise to each other."

"Now she's thrown that away too."

Something detonated in my head.

I couldn't laugh anymore.

I don't even remember Rio walking out.

Cole waved a hand in front of my face. "Nina?"

"Where'd you go just now?"

I bit my lip. "Nowhere. It's nothing."

I didn't sleep that night. Her words kept circling in my head, over and over. The exact same amount of money.

A theory started forming, and I hated it.

The next day, I brought it up to Cole like it was nothing. "How long has Rio worked for you? Where's he from?"

Cole didn't look up from his files. "Why the sudden interest?"

"No reason. Just curious."

He didn't push. "He doesn't talk much. Never told me where he's from. His real name's Leo, actually. He took the name Rio when he joined, so no one could trace it back to the people he cared about."