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“And the others?” Gideon asked.

“I’ve made calls to all of them. Five are out of the country, so I’m assuming they’re safe. Three families went to Florida, that included Elani and her brood, and my other two brothers have taken jobs where they’re on site. The one I’m most worried about is Angelica. But Bruno insisted on two bodyguards while she’s on location. I vetted these guys. They’re good. The filming ends in two weeks. If we’re not done by then, Renzo is taking her to Jasper Creek.”

“What about Renzo?” Kostya asked. “Aren’t he and Millie sitting ducks on her farm?”

“She’s gotten a little better. Somehow, he got her to agree to sit things out in a cabin up in the Smoky Mountains. I don’t know how he did it, but my brother has always been a bit of a miracle worker. My guess is, he made her think he was in danger.”

The men chuckled.

“Asshats.” Jada muttered to Lark.

Kostya turned to look at everyone else. He went through the same drill. He wanted to know about parents, sisters, brothers, or any long-term relationships. Truly, Mateo didn’t know why in the hell he was asking—like any of his teammates would leave anything to chance.

“Mateo, what about you? You haven’t said anything,” Kostya asked.

“There’s nobody I need to worry about,” he assured him.

“Are you sure? I would have thought there would have been two or three,” Braxton teased, and Jase laughed.

“Hey, watch it,” Mateo glowered. “There might have been a few women in my life, but there was never crossover. When I was with someone, I was with them exclusively.”

“So, aren’t you with somebody exclusively at the moment? After all, the weekend is coming up.” Braxton’s eyes were positively dancing.

“You’re an asshole, Braxton. Trudie and I went our separate ways two months ago, and no, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment.”

“Are you okay? Did they thoroughly check you out at the hospital?” Jase asked.

“Enough already,” Kostya broke in. He turned to Gideon. “So, that’s eighty-seven. Is that the count you got?”

“Yep.”

“I want each and every one of these people to have some type of life alert that comes to each one of you. I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Wait a minute. My grandmother thinks she won a trip to Branson, Missouri. She’s going to know something is up if I tell her she has to wear a life alert,” Landon said.

“How old is your grandmother?” Jonas asked.

“Grandma Kathleen is sixty-eight, and she can probably out-shoot most of you. She still goes duck hunting every season, and if necessary, she’ll fill in as a bartender in town when a waitress is sick. But mostly she’s a church-going lady who works at the food pantry, and she deserves time watching Elvis impersonators and playing poker at Branson. If I tell her to wear a life alert, she’ll tan my hide for sure.”

“Landon,” Gideon started. Mateo clearly heard the exasperation in his voice. “These will not be typical life alerts. Most of these will be concealed in wrist watches or jewelry. For the kids, they’ll be in those kinds of braided⁠—”

“Friendship bracelets. Yeah, my girlfriend has dozens. A lot of them are Swiftie bracelets. She tries to get me to wear them, but I can’t hang with that.”

“Thank everloving fuck,” Braxton called out. “But yeah, I can see how the little kids could wear them. We can ask Bonnie if some of the boys would wear them.”

“Yeah, I saw the little boys at Lachlan and Amber’s birthday party wearing some. It’ll depend on their age,” Mateo stated.

“So, we’ll get your grandmother a necklace or a watch. It’ll be fine, Landon,” Lark assured him. Kostya squeezed her shoulder from where he was seated on the arm of the couch, right next to his wife. “I’m going to talk to each of you about who we’re getting the alerts for, and we’ll make sure to get the right thing for them to wear. Trust me,” Lark said seriously.

Mateo saw every man in the room relax. They trusted Lark, and it wasn’t just because she was married to their lieutenant. She’d proven herself on that mission in Pakistan. She was a warrior, the same as they were.

“Now for the enemy. You’re right.” Kostya nodded his head at him. “Gideon and Jada can work on the money angle, but what else do we have?”

“I say we dig deep on Ely Roberts and Ephram Brady,” Jonas spoke up. “Yeah, they’re both dead, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t training other men to take over for them. Also, if we find family members of either of them, maybe they’ll know of other folks who are part of the Kraken.”

Everybody in the room smiled and Kostya turned to Lark. “Seems to me we need an investigative journalist digging up those kinds of answers.”

Lark gave an evil grin. “Let me at it.”