I can’t be upset with him anymore, not after hearing those words from his lips. He kisses me again, plundering my mouth, giving me a promise of what will happen when I’m healed, and we are alone once more.
The door to my room opens, and we break apart as Uncle Nicolai enters the room with a scowl on his face. I’m thinking he’s upset that I’m kissing Rosco, until he speaks and confuses the hell all out of me.
“The boys are missing.” I’m puzzled by his words. We already knew this, but he’s saying it like it’s a new development.
“What do you mean?” Rosco asks before I can. “Vena has the boys. We saw them with him on video surveillance.” I’m nodding my agreement as I remember the incident at the truck stop.
“Hehadthem,” Nicolai corrects. “He just called demanding I return them to him immediately.”
“Why is he calling you?” I can’t fathom what’s happening. Vena no longer has the twins?
“I asked him the same thing. He flew them to Chicago from a private airport not far from Richmond,” Nicolai says. “Vena said they were on their way home when the boys disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” I question. “He took them. Has he lost his mind?” Nicolai makes a face.
“I asked him the same thing,” Nicolai says with a grin. “He finally admitted the boys overpowered his bodyguard and got away. They were last seen near the Lincoln Park Zoo.”
They got away.I can’t begin to process what this means. They fought their father and freed themselves, but now they’re on their own in an unforgiving city. Anything could happen to them. Vena finding them again is far from the worst thing that could happen to them.We have to find them!
“If he doesn’t have them, then where are they?” My eyes are darting between Rosco and Nicolai. One of them needs to know the answer. Rosco pulls out his phone, placing a call.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Kelvin’s voice comes from the speaker.
“We have a problem,” Rosco begins.
“Fuck! I knew I shouldn’t have told you that Caprice was willing to meet,” Kelvin grumbles into the phone. “Fucking mafia…can’t be trusted. What do you need?” The clackity-clack of his fingers on the keyboard can be heard over the line. Uncle Nicolai is glaring in our direction.
“Caprice isn’t the problem,” Rosco replies. “He’s actually standing right here.” The clacking stops abruptly.
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Damn, stuck my foot in my mouth again, didn’t I?”
“Yep.” Bo joins the conversation from the door.
“The twins are missing,” Rosco interjects, trying to steer the conversation back on track.
“Not news,” Kelvin says in a bored tone. “I’m doing everything I can to track them. Vena left on a charted flight to Chicago. I’m trying to get footage from the airport, but it’s not easy.”
“They made it to Chicago,” Bo announces. “The twins freed themselves, according to Vena, but they’re in the wind. We need to find them before Vena or someone worse does.”
“What? How do you know all this?” Dalton’s voice is now the one on the line.
“Vena thought Caprice might have them since he has Rachel,” Rosco answers.
“They don’t have their phones, I.D.s, or any money,” I whisper as that reality hits me. “I doubt they have any friends left they can trust. We have to get to Chicago!” I push against Rosco’s hold, but he refuses to let me out of bed.
“I could call Branch,” Kelvin suggests. Bo and Rosco look at one another, but I don’t understand their silent communication.
“You should check with Luke first,” Bo says, “It’s been a long time since we’ve asked him for a favor.”
“Who’s Branch?” I look back and forth between them.
“Our Uncle.” They both say at the same time.
“He’s former Black Ops,” Rosco continues like he’s trying to convince the rest of them that calling him is a good idea. “He won’t have any difficulty handling Vena.”
