CHAPTER TWENTY
Liv had never been to a party where ninety-five percent of the attendees would have no problem murdering someone in their sleep.
Three open-air cabanas had been set up along the beach, the white filmy drapes, billowing in the breeze, lending each one to the illusion of privacy. The first tent was where the food was being served—high round tables were spread around and white chairs lined the walls so people could eat comfortably—and there were also chairs and tables scattered along the beach. The second tent was set up for gambling with green felt poker tables, a bar that served hard liquor and cigars, and four armed men—one at each corner—to make sure everyone played fairly. And the third tent was nothing but a large dance floor, music wafting along the beach and getting lost in the sound of the waves.
But the jovial mood didn’t keep a chill from running down her spine.
“Relax, darling,” Axel said, bringing the champagne to his lips. “You look tense.”
“I feel tense,” she said, rolling back her shoulders. “Do you know how much firepower is under this tent? I’ve never seen so many ill-fitting tuxedos. And that woman in the red dress isn’t even trying to hide her thigh holster.”
“Which woman in the red dress?” Axel asked, taking a canapé from a passing tray. “There are two.”
“The one who isn’t wearing underwear. When she bent over to adjust her shoe, I got a better view than her gynecologist.”
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Axel said, smiling. “I was distracted by the woman in black whose dress is missing the top part.”
“She does have lovely breasts. I suppose when they look like that, it’s best to show them off.”
The woman in question wore a long, flowing skirt made of sheer black material. Instead of underwear, jewels were adhered to her bared pubic area. As Axel had pointed out, there was no top to the dress. She was completely bare except for matching jewels that covered her nipples. Her black hair was piled high on her head, and diamond earrings dangled all the way to her shoulders.
“Is this your first time at a party like this?” Axel asked.
“You mean where everyone is a criminal? Yes, this would be a first.”
“You’re doing fine,” he said. “You’re the equal of all the arm candy in attendance. You’re very good at the haughty bitch look.”
“You should’ve met my mother,” Liv said, draining her champagne. “She was an actress. I learned from a master. I feel overdressed.”
He snorted out a laugh. “I’d hardly call you overdressed. I’d be careful bending over if I were you too.”
She smiled and felt herself relax. She was used to working with a team, but not a team like The Gravediggers. That was special. She could see it in the way they communicated. How each of them seemed to know exactly what the others needed without having to speak the words. She couldn’t imagine having that kind of relationship with LeBlanc or Petrovich. She did have that sort of rapport with Donner, but they weren’t always on the same assignments. She was used to relying only on herself. Which was why she’d felt comfortable going into Shiv Mittal’s palace alone.
When Liv had stepped out of the golf cart that had dropped them at the tents, she’d felt like Daniel walking into the lions’ den. But she wasn’t alone. She was surrounded by The Gravediggers.
She’d chosen a gown of emerald green. Sheer material tied behind her neck and crossed over her breasts, leaving her back and most of her front bare. Her skirt was elegant, reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour, except that it was sheer as well. She wore full-coverage satin underwear beneath in a matching emerald green, and strappy, glittering Louboutins. Her bronzed skin glowed and she wore her hair in a high ponytail that trailed halfway down her back. Her makeup was natural, her lips plump and glossy. Her 9 mm was tucked away in her Chanel clutch.
“You didn’t prep her on what to expect?” Dante asked through their earpieces.
She looked around the tent and saw Deacon and Levi engaged in different conversations, though she knew they could hear as well.
“I’m briefing her now,” Axel said, putting his hand to the small of her back and leading her to the dance floor. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing a little recon?”
“I’m in position,” he said. “I just need to establish the guards’ pattern, and then I’ll do a dry run to see how easy it is to get in and out of the house. There are formal parties every night this week. I’ll have plenty of chances to get in and get the briefcase. Any luck on determining the location of the girls?”
“None,” Axel said. “We’re moving through the tents to the dancing area.”
“Be careful,” Elias said from his vantage point out on the water. He and Miller were watching every move that was made and making note of every person that disappeared from the party. “I’ve heard there will be more going on in that tent than dancing later on.”
“Liv should be long gone by that point,” Axel said.
“What am I missing?” Liv asked.
“Things get a little . . . risqué. Some of the women here are paid escorts. Juan Marco was trying to determine if you were with his little stunt earlier.”
“And I thought he was such a nice man,” she said sarcastically.
Axel laughed and took her into his arms to dance. Her first reaction was to tense up. She hadn’t felt any man’s touch besides Dante’s in two years. She caught a glimpse of Levi and Deacon settling in at one of the poker tables in the center tent. Shiv Mittal was at the same table as Deacon.
“We’ve used thermal imagery on every bungalow and structure on this island,” Axel said. “The girls are not in any of them. We think there might be an underground bunker somewhere. Elias and Miller will question the three girls we removed this afternoon and see if they can give us a clue, but so far they’re too scared to talk.”
“The rescued girls are being fed and taken care of,” Elias said. “Miller will try to talk to them again by herself in a little while. We think they might respond better if no men are present.”
The music was something slow and sultry, and she tried to relax against Axel, but he just didn’t feel right. And then he turned her and she saw the one person she’d been looking for all week. There had been a part of her who still believed Dante hadn’t been telling her the truth. That she and Elizabeth hadn’t really been at the palace at the same time. A twin would’ve known such a thing, right?
But there she was—unmistakable—standing at Shiv Mittal’s shoulder. He reached up absentmindedly and squeezed her hand, and Liv realized Dante hadn’t been exaggerating their relationship. There was affection there. It was easy to see in the way he touched her, the way she looked at him with love in her eyes.
She’d always thought Elizabeth the more beautiful of the two of them. And the sweetest. There was a gentleness of spirit in Elizabeth that Liv had never managed to achieve. Even at a young age, Liv was constantly going head-to-head with their mother, and Elizabeth would be right there, trying to smooth things over. There had been such absolute goodness in her sister—pure light—and Liv had always wondered why it had been Elizabeth who was taken and not her.
Of the two of them, Elizabeth was the one her mother would’ve preferred to be safe. Every time her mother looked at Liv, she could almost hear her thinking that she wished it had been the other way around. Their father had loved them both, and his grief for Elizabeth had been real, but he’d never made Liv feel inferior or that it was her fault. Although they all knew it was her fault. If she hadn’t led her sister away from their nanny that day, they’d both be leading very different lives.
She couldn’t take her eyes off her sister, and she realized she was having trouble breathing. She’d never thought past the point of finding her. What it would actually feel like to see her again after all this time. There wasn’t exuberant joy, or a heartfelt reunion. She was staring at a stranger. A stranger who seemed to be very much entrenched in the life she was living, and not a prisoner at all. It was a hard concept to wrap her brain around.
Elizabeth wore a gorgeous gown of royal purple. She looked like the queen reigning over the evening’s festivities. The dress was gathered at each shoulder by an amethyst clip and veed low between her breasts, all the way down to her navel. The long skirt pooled at her feet, and it was slit all the way to her hip on one side. A diamond and amethyst choker encircled her neck, and matching earrings sparkled at her ears. Her white-blond hair had been braided like a crown around her head, and diamonds glittered between the woven strands.
She watched the crowd impassively, her head held high as she sipped what looked like water. She nodded demurely at guests since she was acting as hostess, but she didn’t engage them in conversation. What was this world Elizabeth lived in? And had she really been afraid Dante had been at the palace to take her away? Maybe she’d been brainwashed and she truly did need rescuing.
Elizabeth touched Shiv’s arm and leaned in to whisper something to him, and then she pulled away and left the tent.
“I think I need a breath of fresh air,” Liv told Axel, stepping out of his arms. “I’ll be back.”
“Stay to the lighted paths,” he told her. “Are you armed?”
“As long as I have my clutch, yes,” she said.
“Good. Tomorrow night make sure you wear your thigh holster. And try to carry at least one knife on you at all times. There’s a reason these women are armed.”
“Lovely,” she said, holding her clutch close.
Liv headed in the same direction she’d seen Elizabeth go, pausing at the edge of the tent where the hard flooring stopped to lean down and take off her shoes. The sand was cool beneath her feet, and she carried her shoes in her other hand as she followed Elizabeth. She was headed toward one of the docks that led out over the water.
Her sister hadn’t once looked behind her to see if she was being followed, and Liv shook her head, glancing back toward the tents to check whether anyone had followed them out. The party was in full swing, all three of the tents occupied, though there seemed to be a great deal of interest in whatever was happening in the poker room.
Liv climbed the wooden stairs up to the dock and saw her sister at the very end, gazing out over the crashing waves at the full moon. As she came up behind Elizabeth, Liv said, “I hope you don’t mind if I join you. I needed some air.”
Elizabeth didn’t turn around. “You’ll miss all the fun,” she said.
“I can only take so much fun before I start to go crazy. Besides, my feet were hurting and it’s getting drafty. Maybe we could have a party where everyone wears warm-up suits.”
The woman laughed, and Liv could see her smile in profile. “I’ll pass it along to the party planner.”
“I’m Genevieve, by the way,” Liv said, using the cover The Gravediggers had established for her.
“You’re here with Joaquin Logan,” she said by way of answering.
“In a manner of speaking,” Liv answered vaguely. “You’re good at remembering names and faces?”
Elizabeth still hadn’t looked at her. She leaned against the dock railing and stared out over the water, the wind blowing wisps of hair around her face.
“Yes, I’ve always been,” she said, “Even as a child. I never forget a name or a face. Will you be joining the ladies at the main house tomorrow for spa treatments?”
“I will,” Liv said. “It’s not often I get to enjoy time with other women. And there seems to be many fascinating ones here.”
“Your words speak something much different than your tone of voice. Am I to take it that you’re different than most of the women here?”
“I made the choice to attend, if that’s what you’re asking. And I could leave at any time. I’ve always found Joaquin a fascinating man, though I’m intelligent enough to know him for who he is. Nevertheless, I’m an independent, educated woman who travels the world and makes her own decisions. But the sex . . .” she said, her laugh low and husky. “That’s not something I can do on my own. And he’s phenomenal at it.”
Elizabeth’s smile grew. “That I can understand completely. There are some needs someone else needs to meet.”
Liv couldn’t stand it anymore. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since she was six years old. It was what she’d every worked for and dreamed of—to see her sister again.
“Elizabeth,” she whispered, wondering if she’d even said it aloud. But Elizabeth’s shoulders stiffened, and she turned slowly to face Liv—two identical faces, one with an expression of hope, the other with an expression of horror.
“That’s not my name,” she said, her face pale in the moonlight. She took a step back. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”
“It was your name once,” Liv said, blocking her way. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she could barely breathe. “You remember it. You remember me.”
Liv had been standing in the shadows, but she took a step forward so she was illuminated in the moonlight. “You’d lie to your own sister?”
Elizabeth was utterly still for a moment, taking in Liv’s every feature. And then her shoulders straightened and she said, “I don’t have a sister.”
Liv felt as if she’d been slapped in the face. “I deserve that, I suppose,” she said. “It was my fault you were taken. I’ve blamed myself every day. Relived the nightmare in my head.”
“Let me pass,” Elizabeth said. “I have no desire to get caught up in whatever scheme you’re up to. If you want money, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
“No, I don’t need your money. Our parents left me plenty after they died. Does that even matter to you?”
“I can’t even bring up their pictures in my head. Whatever you came here to accomplish, it’s not going to work.”
“I just want to tell you I’m sorry.”
“Why? So you can clear your conscience? You were always getting us into trouble. I should’ve known better than to go with you that day. But I never could resist the temptation. It’s as much my fault as it was yours. Now, let me go back to my husband.”
“Your husband?” Liv asked, stunned. “He’s your husband?”
“Of course. Do you think I’m one of the call girls you hold in such disregard? Many of them started out like I did. Slaves. Sold to the highest bidder.”
Liv shook her head in denial. “I don’t understand, Elizabeth. You could be free. They stole you from us! They sold you into slavery. Used you. You’d stay with a man who bought you?”
“My husband saved me,” Elizabeth said, emotion ringing in her voice. “And stop calling me Elizabeth! That’s no longer my name.”
“Fine,” she said, “what is your name?”
“Yasmin.”
“Yasmin,” Liv repeated, trying to associate the name with the woman who stood in front of her. Maybe there was no longer any sign of Elizabeth in her. “You’d have been a child when he bought you. What they did to you was criminal. It was wrong on every level. And no one can make you stay in bondage. Not even if they’ve made you think what they did to you was okay.”
“My loyalty is to my husband,” she said. “As I said, he saved me. I barely remember you. And because of him, I hardly think of the horrors that were done to me before we married. He healed me in every way possible.”
Liv knew the others could hear their conversation, but she didn’t care. “You were a child,” she insisted.
“I stopped being a child the first time one of those monsters touched me,” Elizabeth said, her voice rising in volume. “I was one of the lucky ones. Raj bought me to be the bride of his son. Shiv was seventeen at the time, and I was thirteen. Their culture is different than ours. I was considered a woman of marriageable age.
“After I was taken that day at Harrods, I spent the next seven years with a groomer, until I was old enough to go on the market. He was very careful to make sure I remained a virgin so he got the best possible price for me. But he’d made sure I was trained in all things sexual. It was my duty to please my future owner. It was my sole purpose in life. The things he made me do . . .” Elizabeth said, her voice breaking.
Liv barely realized the tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her whole body was numb.
“I was very fortunate,” Elizabeth continued. “Shiv and I have been married for seventeen years. He’s a good husband, and I love him. I’ll never leave him.”
“I’m not trying to take you away from him,” Liv assured her, trying to wrap her brain around what she’d been told. “But I’ve spent almost my entire life searching for you. You’re my sister. You’re my twin. We’ll always be connected.”
“And now you’ve found me,” she said. “But I don’t wish to be found. We’ve gone to great lengths to make sure that I stay hidden.”
“I’ve noticed,” Liv said wryly. “Seeing you here face-to-face was somewhat of a shock.”
“And now that you’ve seen me, I’ll ask that you go.”
“I can’t do that,” Liv said, moving to block her way again. “You’ve got to listen to me. Raj Mittal is a bad man. He’s just like the monsters who sold you to him.”
“It’s true that he and my husband are not close, and we do not spend time together other than at events like this, but I would know if he was a monster.”
Frustration built inside her. “Think about it, Yasmin,” Liv said, emphasizing her name. “He bought you for his son. Who do you think does that kind of thing? How do you think he has the connections? A week and a half ago I tracked down a group of twelve Russian girls that Mittal had sold to a prominent man in London. The youngest was six, the oldest twelve. Your father-in-law was the one who’d had them taken from their families.”
“No,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head. But she didn’t seem too sure.
“Yes,” Liv insisted. “Did you know he uses your home to hide the girls he’s selling to the highest bidder? If you do know and have done nothing about it, you’re just as much of a monster as he is.”
Her anger was getting the best of her, but she couldn’t seem to help it. Twenty-four years of searching and worrying and grieving—all for nothing.
“I don’t believe you,” Elizabeth said, her own anger showing.
“Raj uses your home in case he’s caught. Interpol has been after him for forty years, and he knows that if the girls are discovered on your husband’s property then he can be blamed for Raj’s crime. Who wouldn’t know there were little girls being held captive inside their own home? In fact, I’m not convinced your husband doesn’t know exactly what’s going on. Have you ever been in his vault? There’s a room set up for them. Blankets on the floor and buckets in the corners for waste. There are bowls on the floor so they can be fed like the dogs they’re not treated as well as.”
Elizabeth was shaking her head vehemently, her skin ghostly pale.
“We have the proof now,” Liv said angrily. “I was there. I saw the space in the vault. But your father-in-law didn’t plan to unload the rest of the girls until this week for his birthday. He brought them to the island, and today three girls were sold to the highest bidder. You’ll be glad to know they’ve already been extracted and will be home to their families soon. But there are still seven other girls waiting to be sold. Where are they?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elizabeth said. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Good,” she said. “You deserve to be, if you’ve been complicit all this time.”
“No, I haven’t—I didn’t know. . . . How can I believe you?”
Liv took her phone from her purse and opened up the pictures, and then she handed it to her sister. “Just start scrolling.”
She’d taken pictures once Axel had brought the girl he’d purchased back to their bungalow. And she’d taken pictures of the two Deacon and Levi had bought as well. Deacon had waited with them until nightfall and then led them to where Elias and Miller were waiting with the ferry to take them from the island.
“I didn’t know,” Elizabeth said. “And Shiv doesn’t know either. He and his father don’t speak. We’re required to come to things like this to present a united front, but the two of them have never seen eye to eye. Shiv says the men he does business with are not good men.”
“They’re not,” Liv said, “and most of them are here on this island. The auction for the girls isn’t the only thing your father-in-law is mixed up in.”
“Careful, Liv,” she heard Dante say through her earpiece.
But she ignored him. She could tell by looking at her sister that she was speaking the truth. And she had to trust that Elizabeth would do the right thing and help if she could. It was a complete and total leap of faith.
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth demanded.
“Your father-in-law has recently come into possession of Russian nuclear launch codes. And he’s decided to sell them to the highest bidder. That’s why he’s gathered all these particular men for his birthday. He’s looking for a big payday as his gift.”
“Who are you?” Elizabeth asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I can’t tell you that,” Liv said. “But I have two priorities. I want those launch codes to keep whoever plans to bid on them from starting World War III. And I want those girls off this island and back with their families.”
“I haven’t seen any children on the island,” Elizabeth said.
“I believe they might be underground. Do you know if any of the bungalows have a trapdoor? Or if there’s an underground weather shelter somewhere on the island?”
“I don’t know. But I can try to find out. Despite what you think of me, I’d never want what happened to me to happen to other girls. My story ended happily. I know most do not.”
“Raj is auctioning off more girls tomorrow afternoon. The sooner we can find them, the better.”
“I’ll make sure to let you know if I find out anything.”
Elizabeth moved to walk by her again, but Liv didn’t budge “There’s a safe inside his bungalow,” she said. “It’s where he’s keeping the launch codes.”
“I heard him mention the safe at dinner last night,” Elizabeth said. “I did not know what was in the safe, but he seemed very proud of whatever it was. And . . .”
“And what?” Liv asked, after she’d paused for several moments.
“The conversation about the safe upset my husband. He was very angry about it, and Raj kept looking at Shiv as if he was bragging.”
Liv decided it wasn’t worth bringing up the fact that Shiv had had the codes to begin with. Her sister had obviously put her husband on a pedestal, and no amount of fact would topple him.
“The safe is somewhere in his bungalow,” Liv told her.
“I don’t know how I can help you with that,” she said. “I will do my best with the girls. But I really must leave. There’s a cart waiting to take me back to the bungalow. I’ve never been a fan of these parties either.”
“But your husband stays?” Liv asked, unable to help herself.
“Shiv has always been faithful to me, and I trust him. But he has a reputation to uphold. No one knows I am his wife. There is too much at stake. So it is best if things stay as they are.”
“What is at stake?” she asked. “If he had a wife and an heir, you’d think it would provide protection as far as his money.”
“That’s the problem,” Elizabeth said, her voice soft and sad. “He has no heirs. Will never have them. Part of the grooming process was to sterilize me.” She pointed to a tiny scar along her belly button, no wider than a thumbprint. But it was there. “No one knowing about me is the best way for me to stay alive. If the word got out, there are plenty of women who wouldn’t mind seeing me dead if they had the opportunity to provide him with an heir.”
With that parting statement, Elizabeth moved past her and back down the dock. As far as reunions went, it left a lot to be desired.