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“I need his agreement that he will recognize our marriage as per the original terms of our contract that was dissolved.”

I stare at her for long seconds. “Are you telling me that you orchestrated my kidnapping with the intention of marrying me before you bothered to check Salvatore was still willing to honor a contract that you broke?”

“Not by choice,” she growls.

“Even if you had a gun to your head when you made that call, my father would not accept that as a reason to break a contract that had been in place for years.”

“I had his blessing before you decided to defect from the family. I need to make sure he’ll still give you the throne and therefore make me queen,” she huffs. “Plus kidnapping you was a happy coincidence while trying to kill Kingston.”

I’m about to tell her that it wouldn’t have mattered how many connections she had, that killing Kingston Beaumont would have been close to impossible, especially with that overgrown tattooed asshole by his side, but I’m cut off when two guards appear in the doorway with their guns drawn.

“We gotta go,” one of them says.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“We’ve been compromised.”

A slow smile tugs at my lips. I should have known it wouldn’t take them long to find us. Not with how obsessed they each are with our girl.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

RONAN

NOW

Clutching my gun in my hand, I move closer to the house with Rocco on my six.

He may not be my biggest fan, but he’s committed to bringing Chloe home, and that’s all that matters right now.

The fact his boss is just as obsessed with her as I am is certainly coming in handy right now.

Ryker’s voice fills my earpiece. “I want to know the second you have eyes on our girl, Lombardi.”

I roll my eyes but the corners of my lips quirk up. “I already told you that you’ll be the first to know.”

“Do not compromise our mission with your chatting,” Rocco snaps, and I snicker. Perhaps he just doesn’t care for other people in general outside of his found family.

“I haven’t missed this,” Corbin snarks. I haven’t formally met the guy, but I have a feeling we’re going to get along. “Thermal imaging indicates that there are ten people in the house. Presumably Chloe and Damon, along with eight targets.”

Rocco and I are approaching from the rear of the property, but without floor plans, we have no idea where they’ll be keeping them.

“There’s a target walking the perimeter, one hundred yards from your position, Rocco.”

“I have eyes on him,” he murmurs, raising his weapon toward a guy in all black that I hadn’t clocked.

I’m highly trained and have been since I was sixteen, but this guy is showing me up, and on any other day I would take offense to that. But today? Today I just want to get Chloe and Damon and get the fuck out of here.

I need the five of us back together and safe like we were at the cabin.

And then we need to figure out how we’re going to take out my father and anyone else that wishes us harm.

Two silenced shots fill my ears a moment before the guards drop between the weeds that surround the property.

This place looks just as poorly kept as the cabin King and Ryker are waiting at, and I didn’t think that was possible.

“Team A in position,” Rocco says once we reach the back fence and have a clear view of the entire back of the house.

“Team B is in position.”