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My heart drops right to the bottom of my feet, my stomach roiling and twisting around itself. I blanch when I take a look at the picture on the phone screen. I feel hazy for a moment, as though all the blood has left my head and gone south, as though there’s no substance holding me up.
On the screen is a picture of Mel, her arms tightly wound around her back and tied to a pillar in the living room. I don’t see Lucian anywhere, and my heart skips as I think the worst.
Where the hell is my son?
I look back at the phone, my eyes drifting to my wife.
If looks could kill, Mel would already have flayed him. But since it can’t, when I get home, I’m going to cut his arm off; then I’m going to feed it to him. I allow the rage to clear from my eyes, and then I turn and walk away, Ryder behind me.
“What happened to the fucking men at the house? Where’s Romero?” It didn’t matter much where he was; he’d better be dead when I found him.
No one came near my wife.
No one came near my son.
And I was going to teach them exactly why.
* * *
33
MEL
Two hours earlier
I have my arms around Lucian, who has finally fallen asleep, his body lax against mine. Rosa is in the car riding shotgun beside Romero, who has his fingers clenched around the wheel.
“Can you go faster?” Rosa snaps at him, her body bent forward, her phone pressed to her ears.
“I’m going as fast as I can. Unless you want to explain to the Capo why his wife and kids were found in a ditch somewhere.” Romero snaps back, throwing her a sharp glare. She grimaces and looks away, frowning.
Whoever she’s trying to reach on the phone must not be getting through because she takes the phone from her ears, her hands wrapped tight around it like it’s a neck she wants to squeeze. “Good gracious. Why the hell do they never take up the fucking phone.”
“Language Rosa!” I lean forward to glare at her, too, my nerves stretched taut. She lifts her hands in the air, throws me a look of apology, and taps at the phone again, placing it right back against her ears.
She growls and jerks the phone from her ears, throwing it into the console. “Something’s very wrong. I can feel it in my guts. We need to get these two to safety right now.”
Romero presses down on the gas, and I run my fingers through Lucian’s hair, praying in my heart that he stays asleep through all this. “Where’s Xander?”
Rosa doesn’t mince words. “Killing the Russians. I should be there too, but as per the boss’ instructions, you’re more of a priority.”
She says the words begrudgingly with no rancor in her tone. Her eyes are on the road as we hurry home, and I add another line to my mantra of prayers. I pray he comes home safe to me.
We arrive home, and the gate opens automatically, as always. We go up the driveway, Romero’s eyes darting right and left. We’re almost at the door when I notice the cars. The only problem is none of the three look familiar, and none of our men are standing guard.
Rosa must notice the same thing because she stills and winds her glass down. “Where are the men? There should be at least three in sight.”
She’s barely spoken the words before the sound of footsteps hits my ears. I gasp and hug Lucian tighter against me. He heaves out a long breath and shifts restlessly in my arms, and I pray he really doesn’t wake up now.
Romero finally turns to me. His eyes are hard. “Get off the seat. Get on the floor. Don’t move. Not a sound.”
He opens the door and steps out just as I push off the chair carefully with Lucian in my arms. I’m sweating, the air sticking in my throat, my blood pumping a million times a minute.
The sound of voices and footsteps comes closer. In a minute, the passenger car door snaps closed and I know Rosa has left the car too.
I shudder as I stay hidden in the car but soon, the footsteps head towards the car. Towards me.
The tears pool in my ears and I bite my lip to hold back the cry in my throat. I’m mewling softly when the door opens, and someone barks an order I can’t hear. Hot air sweeps into the car interior, and I stifle the sob building in my chest.
