WRECKED: GODS OF CHAOS MC, BOOK FOUR by Honey Palomino

the strength behind them, but I also saw the pain. “So, the other thing that they refer to are places. Some of the meetings happen in hotels, but others, like I said the other day are held either on his plane or at one of his houses or at his island.”
    “What the island called?”
    “He calls it Kapu,” she answered.
    “What does that mean?” I asked.
    “It’s Hawaiian. Basically, it means ‘forbidden’ in its English translation. In Hawaii, the word is related to taboo and the tapu or tabu found in other Polynesian cultures. But it also means "keep out", "no trespassing", "sacred", "consecrated", or “holy”.”
    “Okay, wow,” I said. “That’s subtle.”
    “Royce isn’t known for subtlety. But anyway, when you see him writing to someone that he wants to have a day long meeting on Kapu with catered Chinese food, now you know what he’s really saying.”
    “Got it,” I nodded. “How long did it take you to figure it out?”
    “A while,” she answered. “The thing is, when he would talk to his friends on the phone, he wasn’t so subtle. Once I started reading his emails, I put two and two together.”
    “Okay, I should be able to get a good list of players from this, then.”
    “Yes, all of their contact information is on there, too.”
    “So, let’s talk houses. You said he never had these parties while you were there?”
    “No, he made sure I stayed in the West Hills mansion mostly anyway. He was rarely there himself.”
    “Where are the other homes?”
    “New York, LA, he owns three just in Portland alone. Two in Seattle and one in D.C. He owns a vineyard outside of Mendocino. Along with the sprawling mansion that’s on Kapu.”
    “Have you been there?”
    “Yes, a few times, when he needed me to come along on legitimate business. He used me as a prop when a wife was necessary for whatever scam he was pulling. It’s incredibly opulent, the most luxurious of all his homes. That’s where I first figured out what was going on. He has two residences on the island, and he keeps the girls locked up in one of them, only bringing them out when they’re needed. But once I saw a few of them looking out of the window. I snuck out in the middle of then night and looked in the windows. It was appalling, there are dozens of them, all living in one room, forced to wear practically nothing. Once I saw them, it was clear to me what was going on and why Royce spent so much time on the island with his friends.”
    “Did you ever say anything to him about it?” I asked.
    “Once. I casually mentioned on the way home that I thought I saw someone in the window of the other house, but he brushed it off, told me it was the maid. After that, he never let me go back to the island.”
    “Okay, well I’ll see what I can figure out. Grace and Ryder have a plan they are putting together. I’ll see if there’s anything I can find out before then.”
    “Thank you, Riot,” she said. “I hope the information helps. I want nothing more than to see Royce in jail.”
    “You did good, Vanessa,” I said. “If we bring him down, just think of how many girls we’ll save.”
    “That thought is what’s kept me going all this time,” she said. “That and getting revenge for him killing my father.”
    “Why did he kill your father?” I asked, trying to remember if she’d mentioned that before.
    Her eyes clouded over and her words sounded so far away, I almost couldn’t hear her.
    “My father was the best plastic surgeon on the West Coast. Royce had taken things too far with his constant abuse of two little girls. One night, while he slept, the girls set his bed on fire. Royce was burned badly, his face ruined. He went into hiding, insisting nobody find out what happened to him. He sought out my father, forced him to repair his face, to restore it back to normal, with a few enhancements, of course - and he did. Afterwards, Royce was determined to get rid of every one who knew his secret, and my father was