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Kas places a hand on my arm and looks me dead in the eye. “He had to, Alec. I’m so fucking sorry, and if you want revenge, I’ll hold him down for you, but hear us out first.”
I begrudgingly agree, deciding to take my anger out on the chocolate bar CJ just handed me.
“Luis doesn’t know we’re here. Steve somehow convinced him we got away, and since Luis took off the second he had Mia in his grasp, he couldn’t verify it. I think he had his suspicions, though. That’s probably why Steve had to be extra brutal, and if he didn’t, Luis threatened he’d take it out on Mia—”
I hold my hand up to make Kas shut up for a minute, and as soon as he does, I close my eyes. Needing the darkness behind my lids to digest all of this. If what they’re saying is true, I have nothing against Steve. If the choice was between Baby and me, then yeah, the poor sucker did the right thing.
“What now?” I ask, wanting to get to the plan of it all rather than dwelling on what has already happened.
“We’re waiting for Steve to return and take us to Luis—”
CJ interrupts Kas. “And then we fucking end this,” he says in a tone that doesn’t bode well for Luis’ health.
Silence descends around us, and I have nothing to say even though I want to break it. My mind is reeling with all this new information, my body is fucking aching, and despite CJ and Kas sounding confident, I’m not. There are too many unknowns, too many things that can still go wrong between now and us reuniting with Baby. To say I feel on edge is a fucking understatement.
“We should get you patched up,” Kas says. I’m just about to tell him to leave me alone when he continues. “We don’t know how all of this will go down, and since I know you won’t stay behind, you need to be able to fucking move without looking like death warmed over.”
Yeah, okay, he has a point there. “Fine,” I grind out as I push myself off the bed and hobble to the bathroom, with my brothers following close behind me.
While CJ cleans all my wounds again and places bandages where needed, they fill me in on how much time has passed. Three days. That’s how long Baby has been at Luis’ mercy.
“Fuck!” I roar in frustration. “Why haven’t you made a move yet?”
Clasping my arm, CJ spins me around until I’m looking at him. “We couldn’t. Steve didn’t find out until tonight where Mia is being kept. Luis kept him busy with you, and it’s not like we know this property well enough to just wander off on our own. We stayed in a shed outside until Steve came and led us to you.”
“But that long…” I huff in irritation. I know it’s not my brothers’ fault, probably not even Steve’s. But fuck, that’s too long. Even the plane ride from New York to Atlanta was too long for Luis to be alone with Baby.
“We used Martin’s jet to return, and one of his cars was at the airport, ready to pick us up as soon as we landed. The driver took us into the woods where Steve was waiting, and we hid in the trunk. You were knocked out, sprawled across the backseats. Maybe that was for the best, though. If we’d talked, Luis might not have bought that Steve couldn’t find us.”
I know what Kas means, and he’s probably right. Doesn’t mean I have to like it—in fact, I fucking loathe it even if I can see the logic.
“Steve thinks Luis has done something to Mia,” CJ casually says while wrapping a bandage around my chest, making me hiss when he touches my left side.
“Motherfucker!”
Giving me an apologetic look, CJ says, “Sorry, I think you have at least one broken rib. Although this won’t do much, I suppose it’s better than nothing. At least until we can get you to the hospital.”
“Why does Steve think Luis did anything to Baby?” I ask. I know my body is fucked, but as long as I take shallow breaths, I’m fine. Besides, this is much more pressing.
Kas rummages through my duffel bag, pulling clean clothes out, and hands them to me. “A doctor has been here twice, and the only info Luis’ team received was to let him through the gates. No one else has seen the good doctor or Mia. Well, Steve saw her when he served their food tonight. He informed us she looked bruised and had a bandage wrapped around her chest. That’s all he knew.”
Fuck me, this just keeps getting better and better.
I limp out of the bathroom and lie down on the bed again, immediately feeling better as soon as I’m not on my feet. I move around until I’m comfortable on my side before asking, “Is it just us? Or is Martin sending backup?” I don’t need either of them to say anything, the answer is clearly written on their faces.
There won’t be any backup or help. We’re on our own, and maybe it’s for the best. With no one else around, there’s no risk of us not getting our hands on Luis. The thought lifts my mood slightly as I consider all the things I’d like to do to the sick son of a bitch. Forget everything he’s done to me, he’s touched Baby—something that in my eyes equates to him signing his death warrant.
“One more thing, Alec,” Kas says, and I look at him. “There’s an elaborate party tomorrow afternoon. According to Steve, Luis is going all out, making sure it’s going to be a big and fancy afternoon affair to celebrate his wedding.”
“What?” I shout, hoping I heard him wrong. “What the fuck does that even mean?”
CJ looks at me with sorrow and anger in his eyes. “Take a wild guess. What do you think it means?”
“Well, we just have to hope Baby doesn’t mind becoming a widow then,” I say as an unpleasant smile spreads across my lips.
