Page 71 of The Saint (Gentlemen Rogues 3)
"Oh, come on, let it just be adorable like it is Kaya. He helped you. He charmed Lydia. Technically he really is angling for best boyfriend ever."
"Except he'snotmy boyfriend. He's the man pretending to be my fiancé so that gangsters or whoever the hell don't try to kill me."
"You know, you have a way of ruining my fun. Can’t you let me live vicariously through you?"
“I’m rolling my eyes loudly at you, Gems.”
For the next hour, we dug through the paperwork. There was information on school records and such. There was alsoinformation on banks where she had safe deposit boxes stashed. Other files showing things I didn't quite understand. Something called theDoveand then a set of files calledRavenswere in this section. Then Mum had just stacks and stacks of maps. To me, it looked like schematics to buildings and layouts of towns.
Some of the images were difficult to follow. Why would Mum have pages that looked like they were in codes? I needed to suss out what it all meant for the bigger picture.
What had she really been running from?
An hour and a half in, Gemma whistled loudly, waving a piece of paper in the air. "Oh boy, I think I've finally got something."
I glanced up. "What do you have?"
"It's a property deed in the name Cass Reynolds. That's your mum, right?"
I frowned. She’d used her middle name. Her full name was Keilani Cassandra Reynolds. But using the name Cass, I would have just ignored it. This felt like something big. I leaned over. "Where's the property?"
Gemma grinned at me. "Croatia. You know, I've always wanted to go to Croatia."
"I can't just go to Croatia. Let's look up the property online."
Gemma nodded. "To Home Search International." She put on incognito browser mode and typed in the address. Google maps was oh so bloody helpful.
"Okay, here it is, located in the village of Petina, near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The property is near the city, but more like in one of the neighborhoods. Looks like a house.” Then she went to Home Search. "I don't know about you, but I think this place looks kept up. Don't you agree?"
It wasn't listed for sale, but you could see photos of the property. There was something old-world looking about the architecture. Lots of arches in the doorways and in the gate.Pristine too, as if someone had been there recently to keep it up. Stark white paint, manicured lawn and perfectly painted flower boxes. The house was a mile from the center of the small town of Petina.
My stomach cramped as I stared at the house. This was the kind of place mum said we should have someday. Some place safe where we could be ourselves and no one would come looking for us. Had she found this on her own and just left me behind to enjoy it?
I knew in my heart of hearts that didn't sound right. Truly I did, but it was so hard to ignore that feeling of being abandoned. Watching her go away in that car all those years ago… Was it to leave me behind for her perfect life? The whole situation made my guts twist in agony.
"I… I really don't know what to think."
"Well, you know, the only way we're going to find out is if we go to Croatia and see it."
"I can't just go to Croatia."
"Sure, you can. You know, there are these things called planes. You can buy a ticket."
I blinked rapidly. "No, I have school and…" I heard myself making excuses. I’d committed to finding her, and I could work on my next photo assignment in Croatia.
"I can see your mind turning,” Gemma said. “Don't focus on what’s on hold. How about we focus on the fact that Croatia isn't far away? That's a weekend girls’ getaway. Something we can plan out tonight, be there tomorrow, and then be on a plane back tomorrow night or the day after."
"I-I don't know."
Gemma turned, put the file down, and took my hand. "I know it's scary, but it's a real lead. One that doesn't involve you being chased by scary men. We're just going to go have a look at thisproperty. Take a couple of photos of the location and be on a plane right back."
"Well, what about Saint?"
"Well, nobody has told you that you are a penthouse prisoner, correct?"
I shook my head. She had a point there. I was not a prisoner. At least I shouldn't be.
"You just tell him the truth that you are spending the weekend with me."
