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Bates shut down the helicopter and pulled off his headset. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll take care of them.” He grabbed my arm and helped me out of the chopper so I could get on the gurney.
The second my back hit the support, I grabbed my brother by the arm. “If I die, I need you to take care of them, alright?”
“You know I will.”
“I mean it. They’re your responsibility. I want Siena to have all my assets. Everything. Give it to her.”
“You have my word. But that’s not gonna happen.” He kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll see you soon.”
14
Siena
They wheeled him away and took him inside the hospital.
I didn’t say goodbye because there wasn’t time. He’d needed medical attention hours ago. Every moment he waited hurt his odds of surviving. So I let him go without a kiss because he already knew I loved him.
I’d proved it a million times over.
“What now?” I held Martina against my chest as we stood on the rooftop of a hospital in London. We’d had to touch down to refuel once along the way, but Bates insisted this hospital was our best option. The London Eye was across the river, visible as the sun rose and struck it with its brilliance. It was my first time in the city, but I didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it.
“I have an apartment here. You guys will stay there and lay low.” Bates pulled back his sleeve and looked at the time. “I’ll escort you there and come back to the hospital.”
“Why can’t we stay here too?”
“The hospital is no place for a baby without an immune system,” Bates said. “And if Micah’s men are as furious as I think they are, they’re going to keep looking for Cato. I’ve got to keep you hidden. And I’ve got to stay here and protect Cato.” He must have seen the concerned look on my face because he added, “You’ve done everything you can. Now you need to take care of Martina. Let me handle Cato.”
I felt wrong leaving Cato there. I wanted to be there when he woke up, for him to see my face and know everything was okay. “Call me when any little thing comes up. I mean it. I want to know everything.”
“I know. Now let’s get off this roof.”
Bates had a nice apartment in north London, an apartment that was bigger than a lot of houses. It had bulletproof windows, a large kitchen, a big living room, and plenty of space for the three of us. “I bought this place under one of my shell corporations. It’s possible to trace it back to me, but it would take some time. You should be safe here. There are guns on the top shelves of all the closets if you need any.” He turned to Giovanni. “Get some groceries, baby food, diapers, and whatever else Siena needs. I’ll check in when there’s something to report.”
Giovanni nodded then left the apartment.
I stood in the room alone, holding my daughter as the darkness started to overtake me.
Bates stepped closer to me, looking at me with new eyes. “Are you okay?”
“We don’t need to worry about me right now…” All I could think about was Cato, the strongest man in the world reduced to a pile of broken bones. “When I walked into the cell, he was on the ground…covered in blood. There was a bloody hammer on the table.” My eyes watered at the memory. “If I’d gotten there any later…he probably wouldn’t have hands.” A tear escaped and rolled down my cheek.
Bates wore an agonized expression, the idea of his brother in pain hurting him too.
“When they took Cato away, Damien wanted me to suck his dick. I started jerking him off, and when he closed his eyes, I cut off his dick.”
Bates’s eyes widened, his mouth gaping open in shock.
“I smothered him with a pillow until he died.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“I shot a few men on the way out. I’m not even sure how I escaped… I just got lucky.”
“No. You’re a determined badass. That’s how you got out, Siena. You saved my brother’s life.”
“I don’t feel bad for what I did. But that memory of Cato on the ground will haunt me forever.”
“I know…”
“So, no, I’m not okay. I won’t be okay until Cato is okay.”
“He’ll pull through this. I know he will.”
“He better.” Tears broke the surface of my eyes and streamed down my cheeks.
Bates moved in to hug me, but then he stepped back like he thought that was a bad idea. “This is a nightmare for all of us…a memory that won’t fade easily. But Cato will be alright. Micah will be pissed and try to annihilate us, but that’s a good thing because they’ll be easy to take out in the open. We’ll gather all our allies and destroy them once and for all.”
