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The idea of Mia no longer breathing makes me feel physically ill, but I can’t focus on that right now. Not when there’s still a chance.
They reach the bottom of the stairs, and Todd drops Mia in front of me, her body crumbling to the floor with a pained yelp.
Kyle crouches beside her, his fingers wrapping around her chin and forcing her eyes up to meet his. “It seems you’ve forgotten your training during your little holiday,” he muses, his voice light despite the darkness swirling in his eyes. “But we’ll get you back on track.” He moves so quickly I almost miss his other hand raising and his fist coming at Mia’s face. But there’s nothing either of us can do to stop it.
The heavy thump makes my stomach revolt against me, and I almost lose the contents, but I refuse to appear weak.
Mia doesn’t make a sound, despite the tears falling down her cheeks.
My brave girl.
“You don’t want to do this, Kyle,” I growl. “You don’t want to start this war with the Saint James family.”
“I couldn’t give a shit about those assholes.” He laughs, his attention pulling from Mia and allowing me to breathe for a moment. “The Factory is moving its headquarters, so any business we may have had in Chicago is over.”
I open my mouth to reply, but I’m quickly cut off by the asshole himself.
“You may be wondering why we would choose to do such a thing considering our long-standing tenancy in Illinois, but this is something we put into the works soon after the Saint James family took out our connection at the Loudner Cartel. It’s just a happy accident that I’m getting Mia back at the same time and can squirrel her away somewhere that none of you can find her.”
Blood drips from the corner of her mouth as she stares down at the floor, but it’s her silent tears that break my fucking heart.
I’ve let her down again and this time she knows what’s in store for her. Perhaps that’s better than whatever her imagination conjured the first time she was taken, or maybe it’s worse. But either way I won’t blame her for whatever resentment she’s bound to feel toward me. I promised to keep her safe, and I’ve failed. That’s all there is to it.
“I’m sure you know they’re on their way,” I tell them, forcing as much confidence into my voice as I can manage. “They would have known you were on your way up here the second you stepped foot into the elevator.”
Todd laughs. “You think we’re that stupid? We cut off the camera feed inside the elevator right after we killed the other guards.”
I smirk at him, the cockiness I wish I actually felt coming to the surface. I’ve played this part my whole fucking life, and this might be the most important time, so I need to make it count. “This entire apartment is full of cameras, panic buttons—you name a security measure, and it’s in this place. You think Rayne and Storm Saint James would have let their baby sister live in a place without a state-of-the-art security system with every fail-safe possible? If so, yes, I do think you’re stupid.”
Todd’s eyes flick to Kyle, who shrugs it off as if it’s nothing. I need to keep them here. Even if that means antagonizing them. The longer I can keep them in this apartment, the better chance we have of someone coming to help.
“That may be so, but they won’t be getting up here. We have men in the stairwell and stationed around all exits of the building. There’s no way they’re getting in here without tarnishing their reputation, which we both know they won’t do for two people that have no connection to them.”
I force my body to remain still, my gaze to remain locked on his, but there’s an element of truth to what he’s saying. They don’t owe me or Mia anything. We’re not family. We don’t work for them. And up until a month ago, they probably would have considered me their enemy.
So why the hell would they sacrifice everything to save Mia?
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
MIA
Iknow what Ace is doing.
He’s trying to buy us time.
The longer he keeps Kyle here bragging about how he’s won, the more likely it is that the Saint James family will come to our rescue.
But Kyle is right.
Why would they?
Everyone in Chicago knows what they’re involved in. The police are in their pocket, and they own most of the media companies in the city, so they control a lot of what is said about them, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to risk it all on Ace and me.
I take a deep breath and chance a look up at Ace, where he’s tied to one of the dining chairs. He looks okay, but the way his eyes droop closed every so often and the blood dripping from his hands tell me that’s probably not the case.
I drink in his features, knowing this is probably the last time I’m ever going to see him outside my dreams, and I’m desperate to remember every little detail.
Every tattoo.
