My brothers are right alongside me, poised and ready. We’ve planned this ambush down to the second, with every possible exit mapped and covered, and every contingency discussed until my head ached. And yet, it still doesn’t feel like enough.
There is a real possibility that even after all this work and planning, Scout might not be here. It feels too obvious for Adrian to have brought him to his own estate in Rhode Island that often sits empty, but it’s the only lead we have.
I’m counting on the fact that he will be more interested in having a living and breathing male heir than slaughtering him to get back at me.
I just hope to God I’ve made the right call.
Ronan speaks over the comms. “Cormac, we’re waiting for you.”
I check my gun for the hundredth time, making sure it’s loaded and ready.
There isn’t time for any more planning. The only thing left to do is move.
“I’m ready.”
“Then let’s bring Scout home.”
I suck in a breath before launching into action.
The estate erupts into chaos.
Gunfire tears through the night, sharp and deafening, shattering the silence as our men surge forward.
The guards at the gate barely have time to register what’s happening before they’re on the ground, their blood darkening the gravel beneath them.
Floodlights blaze to life, but by the time any of Smirnov’s men catch wind of what is happening, my brothers have taken them out.
We move toward the mansion like a single organism, making sure we have every blind spot covered.
Doors splinter, and glass explodes as we infiltrate Smirnov’s walls.
The mansion is obscene, but the once pristine stone floors are now streaked with blood, and the art worth more than most people will earn in a lifetime falls off the walls and crashes to the floor as we take out more of Adrian’s men.
I move through it like a ghost, not lingering in any one place for too long.
Once every man has been taken out, I move on to the next room without looking back. The bodies that fall at my feet are nothing more than obstacles removed.
At some point, Adrian is going to run out of men and places to hide.
I barely hear the sounds of the gunshots or the screams of pain, not when every instinct I have is screaming one thing over and over again.
Find Scout.
Someone yells, “Cormac! On your left!”
A man lunges at me from the side, but I take him down without breaking my stride.
Blood splatters across my cheek, warm and sticky, but I don’t wipe it away. That would only waste time.
The deeper we move through the house, the worse the feeling gets that I might already be too late. That I’m chasing something too far out of reach.
Maybe Scout isn’t here after all, and we’ve played right into Adrian’s hand.
He likely banked on us coming here first and decided to plant some of his men to keep us occupied while he took Scout deeper underground.
“Ground floor, clear!” Kieran yells over the comms.
I sprint straight for the stairs.
