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I resist rolling my eyes. I hate how they treat me with kid gloves, like I’m some wild caged bird who’s desperate to fly. If they would just give me a little trust and a little freedom, they’d see I have my shit together. I can handle this.
Carver lets out a sigh, and without another word, hits the gas and drives his Escalade off the road and into the trees of the mountains, keeping his car concealed just in case London is inside. All it would take is one quick glance out the window and she would have seen us stopped outside the front gates. Who knows, maybe we’ve already fucked up the mission.
Carver instantly gets out and hurries around to the back before yanking open the door and grabbing a few things. Grayson meets him around back before looking through to Cruz and King. “Fifteen minutes,” he reminds them.
They both nod, and I watch as not a second later, the boys disappear into the trees.
The minutes tick by painfully slow, and I find myself looking up at the ginormous house as King and Cruz get themselves organized while also checking the property for heat signatures.
“Nothing,” Cruz says after a few minutes, looking slightly pissed about the outcome. “The house is empty. The only heat signals I’m getting are from Gray and Carver. We’re good to go in.”
King nods. “So, I guess that means Carver didn’t get mauled by a mountain lion.”
“Not today,” Cruz mutters under his breath.
“So, what now?” I ask, jumping down from the open door of the Escalade and stepping out into the road.
Cruz comes to stand by me on the road before slipping a gun into the back of my jeans and pressing a knife into my hand just in case. “Now, we go in and hope we find a bit of information that tells us a little more about who she’s been working with and how she got away with this for so long.”
“Why do you sound so disappointed?”
Cruz’s lips press into a hard line. “Because I was hoping this would be the end of it. I hoped she’d be home and that we’d get the drop on her. I hate not knowing when she might show back up in your life and attack. Who knows? She could come back to haunt you next week or it could be next year. No one knows, and that scares the shit out of me.”
I take Cruz’s hand, lacing my fingers through his. “We’re going to get her,” I promise him, “and when we do, it’s going to be epic.”
Cruz rolls his eyes. “Yeah … let’s hope.”
King’s phone rings a second later and I glance back at him, watching as he slips his phone out of his pocket and glances down. “It’s Grayson,” he mutters, letting us know before accepting the call and pressing the phone to his ear. “Yeah,” he says down the line. “It’s clear. We’ll meet you up there.”
The call ends quicker than it started, and before I know it, King is walking toward us and nodding up at the big house. “So, you want to see the house your father created or what?”
Fuck yeah.
It takes well over ten minutes just to walk from the front gate up the long driveway, and for a slight moment, I’m left wondering why the fuck we didn’t just drive up considering that she’s not here. But the boys know best, and when I can, I follow their lead.
I might be stubborn as hell, but I’m not stupid. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m not looking to get shot again. That was a whole lot of bullshit that I don’t plan on reliving anytime soon.
We make it to the house and I stare up at the grand entrance in awe. How is it that places like this have existed all my life while I’ve lived in shitty foster homes with no electricity, moldy food, and a bad smell? I still find it hard to believe that I belong in this world. It doesn’t feel right, but somehow it is.
Just as Cruz enters the code for the house, we all hold our breath, waiting for an alarm to go off. Carver and Grayson show up and join us just as the door unlocks, and as a goofy, smug grin rips across Cruz’s face, relief slams through my chest.
He pushes the door wide. “After you,” he says, dramatically waving me through the big door.
I walk in and instantly stop, making the guys step around me as I stare up at all the beauty. There are high ceilings and everything is marble. It looks like something right out of a movie. It’s insane. I feel as though I need to walk with my hands tied behind my back just in case I break something that I’ll never be able to replace. Though … technically it’s all mine. At least, I think it is.
