Heart of the Devil (The Forge Trilogy #3)(37)

“It’s not over. Not until I say it’s over.” I straighten my shoulders and shore up my emotions. “I’ll marry Jericho again tomorrow if I have to. But first, I have to find him and explain to him exactly why he doesn’t get to make decisions about our future without involving me.”

Summer steps back on a wobbling heel. “Whoa. Really?”

“Yes. Really. And so what if you got fired? Start your own damn fashion label. Make what you want. Fuck everyone else. That’s how we work in this family, Summer.”

My sister’s anger drains away to be replaced by an expression of open-mouthed wonderment. “Really?”

“If that’s what you want. I’ll be your investor. But you have to promise me you’ll take it seriously.”

Summer’s big blue eyes shine with glee instead of tears. “I will. I swear. I really will. Juliette doesn’t know it, but I studied everything she did—and I can do it better. I just need a splashy way to enter the market. Something daring and incredible.”

“We’ll come up with something,” I tell her. “Start working on your business plan. I have calls to make.”

Leaving my sister inside with a bracing cup of tea, I step out onto the balcony with my phone and make a call to one person who might actually be able to help me.

“Indy? Is that you?” Holly answers the phone on the second ring.

“Thank you so much for taking my call. I know you’re busy.” I stare out at the birds swooping across the blue sky and sit on a cushioned chaise.

“Anytime. I told you, we’re friends. What can I do for you?” The background noise, people yelling and instruments playing, fades away.

“I didn’t have Creighton’s number, but I need some information, and I was hoping you could help me.”

“He’s backstage with me, actually. What do you need to know?”

“That deal with my father. Did it go through?”

“You’re going to want to talk to him. Hold on a sec.”

Her voice grows faint as she explains who is on the phone before she hands off the call.

“India, it’s Creighton Karas.”

“I need some information. Really, I just need to know about the deal with my father and what’s happening.”

There’s a silence on the line before he answers. “The deal is off.”

His clipped tone tells me there’s a hell of a lot more to it, but a tendril of hope rises up from the cracks in my soul.

“Really? Why? What happened?” I ask as I rise from the chaise to pace my small balcony.

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Creighton. Please. I saw my father in Monte Carlo. He said he made the ultimatum that he would only close the deal if Forge agreed to give me up forever.”

“Goddamned Russian. I knew there was something going on that didn’t make sense. Forge wouldn’t sign off, even when your father agreed to revert to the original agreement and drop the clause about giving him—and eventually you—a share in the new company.”

He wouldn’t agree to give me up. That tendril of hope blooms inside me like a field of sunflowers reaching for the sky. He does care. There’s hope still.

“I’m sorry, Creighton. I really am. Kind of. I need to find my husband.” I squeeze one hand into a fist as I wait for him to give me the information I need.

“Indy . . . I hate to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure you’re not married anymore.”

“I’ve heard,” I tell him as the sun warms my face. I’m not even upset about being divorced now. Not when Jericho refused to say he’d give me up forever. “Which is why I need to find him.”

Creighton is quiet for a few moments, and when he speaks, his tone is contemplative. “I wish he would’ve told me what was going on. We could’ve found a way to make this work. Riscoff might never speak to Forge again after this stunt, and our friendship took a huge hit.”

“I think I might be able to fix things.”

“What can I do to help?” Creighton asks, and I want to hug him.

“Do you know where Jericho is?”

“No idea. The last time I talked to him, the connection was shit and he was calling from a sat phone, so I’m assuming out to sea on one of his cargo ships. If I were you, I’d ask his employees. They’re going to have a better idea.”

“Okay. I can work with that. I’ll be in touch. Thanks, Creighton.”

“Good luck, Indy. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re fighting for him. I don’t think anyone ever has.”

When I end the call, I know exactly what I’m going to do next.

Jericho Forge doesn’t have a single clue what it’s like to be the center of someone’s world. He’s about to find out.

But first . . . I have to lure him back to Isla del Cielo.





34





Forge





“What the fuck do you mean, she’s on the island?”

“Sir, we didn’t know what to do. Smith and Sanderson are here with her. Do you want me to have them remove her?” Dorsey asks.

The one damn time I leave my phone in my cabin, all hell breaks loose, in the form of India showing up on Isla del Cielo, unannounced.