“Mila got hurt.” Owen spoke softly, followed by a sniffle. “The man came, grabbed me. She tried to pull me away and he hurt her, Penny.”
Fuck.
“Don’t think about that right now. Daddy is there; he will try and get her help. I need you both to do whatever I say whenever I say it, understand?” They nodded against my shoulders. “No matter what it is, don’t argue, just do it. Promise?”
“Yes, Penny,” they said in unison.
We were led to a large room where there were a couple of chairs and what looked like shackles attached to the wall. It was easy to guess where I’d be going.
“The kids can sit in the chairs,” a man grumbled.
“If you think I’m going to let you tie me to a wall and leave them defenseless, you’re dumber than I thought you were.”
“There are no choices.” He tried to grab for Olivia, and I kneed him in the nuts.
“Don’t fucking touch them!”
The sound of a gun cocking made me freeze. “Let children down.” A man with a much thicker Russian accent pressed the barrel to Owen’s head. “I don’t care what Benito says, I will shoot him, then her, then you.”
I believed him wholeheartedly. “Fine. But I will take them to the chairs.”
“Go.” He lowered the gun, and I led them to the chairs.
“I want the two of you to do me a favor. Remember you said you’d do anything I said?” They nodded. “I want you to close your eyes.” I spoke so softly, only they could hear. “They can’t hurt me, but it may look like they are. I will be okay. I want you both to keep your eyes squeezed shut. Can you do that for me?”
Olivia started crying and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I don’t want them to hurt you, Penny.”
“I’m Batman, remember?”
Owen joined his sister in the neck hug. “I love you, Penny.”
“I love you guys. Eyes shut now, okay?”
Again they nodded and released me. I stood and faced the two men waiting for me.
“Let’s get this over with.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Gideon
The cops drove me home.Fuckinghome. I needed to be elsewhere. I answered their questions, and the detective I spoke to recognized a few of the shooters as organized crime linked to some Bratva in the area. Toni was able to get Mikhail, Ivan, and a few others out of there and to the crates with the help of Raff and Tate. On my orders, Danny went with Alex to the hospital.
At home, Rita, Dean, Matteo, and my parents were all waiting. Matteo was asleep on the couch, and I hoped he wasn’t having nightmares.
I looked into the eyes of my family, my vision blurring. “This is my fault.”
Rita rushed over and wrapped her arms around me. “You’re not responsible for the games other monsters play.”
“He took them, my babies, Penn. He has them because I helped Monica and his children break free.” I pulled away from Rita and paced. “The fucking Bratva! Why didn’t Aleksei tell me about this agreement he had with them? I could haveapproached the pakhan, maybe cut a deal. Then Benito wouldn’t have had anyone to turn to.”
I scraped my nails against my skull. Anger filled my veins, fear choking me.
“Gideon, sweetheart. We will find them, we will.” My mom stood in my path.
“I ruined lives, Mom.”
“No! You didn’t do this, and I won’t have you blaming yourself, Gideon. Rita is right, you didn’t make that man’s choices.”
