The room has ceiling-to-floor windows, but the view leads to a garden located within the courtyard of the compound. Sunlight shines in through the windows, basking the room in a bright glow.
The wall opposite has no evidence of windows or the outside, but based on my sketch and the video footage we’ve gained access to, I’m fairly confident it’s an exterior wall. Almost like they intended for this room to appear deep inside the compound.
There are semi-circular, dark-red velvet booths and cherry wooden tables throughout the room. At the far end, against the exterior wall, is a bar. Chandelier lighting hangs overhead but is currently dimly lit, with most of the light coming from the windows to the garden.
The girls huddle together, frightened, like they know what’s about to come next.
Rhys grabs his phone that is ringing; it’s Jaxson Monroe from the caller I.D. screen. I glance at Ashton, staring up at him. “We can’t just sit out here and wait. We have to do something,” I whisper, pleading with him.
Watching is torture. Anxiety is mounting and I just want to rush through the open door and shoot all the bastards who are holding my friends against their will.
That must have been how Luca felt, knowing Harper was locked up inside.
Powerless.
“We need to take control,” I say, glancing from the compound to Ashton. “Please, tell me you have a plan.”
He wanted this life, working in the mafia, following in his father’s footsteps. Now is his time to shine and prove that this is what he intends to do and why it matters.
Because if anything happens to either one of them locked up inside?—
My breath catches in my throat, and I force away the slight tremor in my hands. “Ashton.” Urgency laces my voice.
“I’m thinking,” Ashton says, and glances at Rhys, who hurries to the trunk of the vehicle with all sorts of equipment we’ve been provided.
Rhys puts in a Bluetooth earpiece so he can hear Jaxson while he tinkers with three different devices, one of which is an explosive.
Hesitantly, I take a step back.
I don’t know what the hell Rhys is planning, but I don’t want to keep getting hurt. Already, I’m aching inside, my heart bleeding at the fact everyone I care about is in danger.
“Ashton, give me a hand,” Rhys orders and has him help make some modifications while I stalk over toward Sophia.
I glance at the tablet in her hands. Luca keeps yanking on the door handle in the room where he’s being held, but it’s locked. Without any windows, there isn’t another way out of that room.
“How large a blast radius are we looking at?” Rhys asks.
I glance back over my shoulder at him, already knowing what’s going to happen, and I can’t say I’m happy about it. But whatever it takes to save Harper and Luca.
Sophia places a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get them back.”
I roll my lips together and wordlessly nod. Right, we’ll get them back. But then what? With the DeLucas, it seems a never-ending battle. We need to stop them once and for all.
I heard Harper’s words to Luca; Livia wants their child.
When will it end?
“How do we detonate it?” Rhys asks over the earpiece, and his eyes tighten for a fraction of a second. “Okay. We’ll be in touch.” He removes the earpiece and shoves his phone into his pocket.
“What’s the plan?” Ashton asks, glancing at Rhys.
“We need to make sure that we use the explosive device before the EMP, or one of us will manually have to detonate it.” Rhys doesn’t so much as glance at me.
“Sophia, can you man the drone if we load the explosives and the EMP to it?”
She hands me the tablet, letting me keep an eye on Luca. “I don’t think we’ll be able to detonate more than one at a time,” Sophia says.
“That’s okay, we can have you put the explosive in position and wait to detonate until the EMP is in place.” Rhys clicks his tongue. “But I’ll need you and Nova to stay here while we infiltrate the compound and make sure that we get Harper and Luca out.”
