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Her green eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head. “No. You learn not to ask questions in the Mafia. I just received a call from Finn, heard the baby in the background, and knew I was needed.”
“He called you?”
She nods while stroking Mia’s cheek as I change her diaper. My little girl’s eyes are puffy and rimmed red, but she’s stopped crying at least.
“He did. This needed a woman’s touch. Besides, I was happy to get out of the house.” She smirks, making me smile for the first time since Kem called to say that the girls were taken.
“Do you have kids?”
Her head snaps up from staring down at Mia, and she pauses, as if unsure of how much to share with me, but in that moment, her eyes soften. Maybe it’s the hopelessness fermenting from me or the way I’m clinging onto Harper’s giraffe stuffy like it’s my lifeline that has her spilling about her family. “I do, four. All very lively. Our house is a mad house. I swear I love my kids, but the stories I could tell you of their antics.” She shakes her head. “Last week, my youngest two, Knight and Kingston, dropped my daughter’s phone in a bucket of horse shit. It was no accident, trust me.” She waves her hand as she speaks, and I can’t help but like her enthusiasm for her family. She’s good people.
My smile tugs up. “How do you know it wasn’t an accident?”
She scoffs, and the sound has my eyes lighting up. “We don’t even have a fucking horse.” She huffs. “Nor do I want one.”
“Then how the hell did they get ahold of horse shit?”
She breaks out into a low chuckle. “Exactly.” My lip quirks up at the side on her words.
Harper likes horses. Maybe after this is over, I could see about getting her one. I can see her now in her pink cowgirl boots. Cute as shit. Emotion clogs my throat as the emptiness creeps back in. She might be the one missing but part of me is missing too.
When I fought so hard to find Thalia, I swore I’d never lose her again, yet here we are. And things are worse than ever.
Angel lowers her voice. “They’ll do everything they can to help, you know. They’re all family men. You need to trust them.” Sincerity oozes from her eyes, and I nod.
I only hope she’s right and it’s not too late.
Because without my girls in my life, it’s not worth living.
Her hand strokes my arm in a maternal gesture that doesn’t have me wanting to bat away her touch. “Come on, Jace. I’m sure Oscar has news by now.”
Hope blossoms in my chest as I finish buttoning up Mia’s romper and lift her into my arms, then we make our way back toward the office.
The moment I lock eyes with Lucas, my body tenses tenfold. He’s pale, drained, and his eyes scream for me to save him, a look I haven’t seen on his face in a long time—the look of trauma.
“What the fuck happened?” I glare toward Oscar and Luca in accusation.
“Your brother began puking.” Luca shrugs, as if it’s nothing. But it’s every-fucking-thing. Lucas has PTSD, and when he’s reminded of his trauma or being alone, he pukes. He’s suffered from it since the moment he was placed in Cole’s nana’s care.
I thrust Mia into Angel’s arms—shocking the hell out of her—and pull my shoulders back, ready for action. Then I step toward Oscar, prepared to go to battle for my brother. “You best start talking, motherfucker.”
His lip lifts at the side, goading me while Finn steps into my path.
“Sit your fucking ass down. We have a plan,” Luca booms, forcing me to give him my attention.
“He’s right. We have a plan, and I also have a ping on your little girl,” Owen adds. My ass finds a seat right away, and my attention is pulled toward him.
“They must have used a scanner over their bodies that scrambled the signal momentarily, but I have a ping on your little one now.” Owen continues staring at the laptop, without giving me a second glance, and normally, that would bother me, but in all honesty, I couldn’t give a shit less as long as his attention is on finding my girls.
“What about Tia?” Cole interrupts.
Owen shakes his head. “Not yet, which leads me to believe they’re being kept in different locations.”
Cole’s head drops, and my stomach plummets. Not only is this the news we didn’t want but it’s even worse knowing Thalia has been separated from her little girl, and that will be killing her.
My eyes latch onto Mia, who is now cooing back at Angel as she rocks her in her arms. She needs her mom and sister back, ASAP. With renewed vigor, I straighten in my chair. “Where is she?”
“At the Lancasters’ old home address.” Oscar turns to face me. “The property has been empty since the fraud was brought to light, but somehow, they’ve managed to hang onto it. Therefore, I believe there’s more at play here, a lot more.”
