MERCILESS (The Mermen Trilogy #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

getting back to that island? An island normal people couldn’t see unless one was physically right on top of it because the place was alive and had some sort of ability to camouflage itself. And if she managed to get there, what would she do? She was no match for the men who lived there.
    There was a light knock on the door.
    “Yes?” Liv said.
    “Honey,” said her mother, “there’s a call for you. It’s a man named Phil. He says it’s urgent and that you know him?”
    Liv blinked. Phil was Roen’s pit bull attorney. And a notorious asshole. Why’s he calling me? The last time she and Phil had spoken—the only time they’d spoken—was a few months ago when he’d been looking for Roen. Phil then accused her of killing him and then proceeded to tell the press the same thing. It was a nightmare until Roen resurfaced.
    Yeah, never did see an apology card for that.
    Liv walked out into the living room that now looked like a crocheting workshop. Handmade throws, doilies, and pillows covered almost every surface and every piece of furniture, including the top of their old television. Obviously, her mother had recently taken up crocheting for stress relief.
    “Hello?” Liv said, dragging the phone with the long cord into the den, where stacks of paper covered her parents’ desk. Her father worked as an insurance broker and her mother was a bookkeeper for some of the local businesses.
    “Miss Stratton, it’s Phil—Mr. Doran’s lawyer.”
    “Yes?” Her parents were just in the other room, so she spoke quietly. She had no clue what Phil wanted or knew or didn’t know.
    “I just saw the news that you were rescued. Do you have any news from Roen?”
    Liv’s heart sank. “No. I was hoping you would.”
    “Fucking hell. He’d better be dead, because I’m going to fucking kill him.”
    Nice. “When’s the last time you spoke to him?” Please say it was yesterday. Or the day before. Or any time after she’d seen him last. He had to be alive.
    Phil groaned. “Early last week. I’ve been trying to reach him since. It’s important.”
    Last week. That would be before Shane had taken her, right?
    Fuck. It didn’t tell her anything.
    Liv closed the den door so her parents wouldn’t overhear. “Phil, do you know anything about his island?”
    “I know everything about his island.”
    She sincerely doubted that; otherwise, he wouldn’t still be Roen’s lawyer. No person in their right mind wanted anything to do with that place. Regardless, his words ignited a spark of hope.
    “You have to tell me where it is—the exact location.”
    “Why do you need to know?” Phil asked.
    “Listen, asshole, you just called me looking for Roen. That means you don’t know where he is and that you’re probably worried.” She lowered her voice, trying to keep herself from yelling. “And you should be. Now tell me where the fucking thing is.”
    “I’ll tell you, but I need a favor.”
    A favor? From her?
    “What?” she snapped.
    “I’m getting close to having this island formally recognized as US property, something I promised Roen I’d do for him. But I need money. A lot of it.”
    She blinked. “I don’t understand.” With her small savings from tutoring undergrads last semester, minus her student loans, she had exactly… Negative one hundred and ten thousand dollars.
    “You have to sign the form to release the funds,” he said.
    “Sorry?”
    “Didn’t that fucking idiot tell you?” Phil grumbled.
    “No. And stop talking about him like that.”
    “He signed over all of his assets to you,” Phil said, not sounding too thrilled about it.
    Liv felt her blood pressure plummet. “Huh?”
    “You own it all. His twelve homes, his cars, his ten-billion-dollar shipping company.”
    Holy crap. “What was he thinking? Why?”
    “I thought you might know. The way it sounded: he was dying.”
    Oh no. Oh no. “Phil, I need to get to that island. Can you help me?”
    “Roen has three company jets—I