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The tires flattened as we reached the entrance to the storm drain. Alex would not like our next move, but we didn’t have a choice. Our enemies had outsmarted us once again, and they wanted to get our girl to that auction.
There was a two million dollar bounty on Alex’s head. It wasn’t just the Russians looking for her, but I kept that small detail out earlier. The less she knew, the better. I could see her slowly falling apart, her PTSD rearing its ugly head. If we weren’t careful with Alex, she could crack under all the stress.
I removed my cell phone from my pocket and checked the Salvatore Global security app for the movements of Alpha Command. My men would be here soon. But we had to get over one hurdle, like convincing Alex to crawl through a dark storm drain, before we could meet my team on the other side.
Hades, Charon, Lethe, and Morpheus stood beside Luca and Bastian, their backs to us as they discussed the new plan. None of us would bat an eyelash at crawling through sewer filth to get to safety. I glanced down at Alex, who curled her body into mine, her nails digging into my back like she was afraid to let go.
I could tell by the terrified look in her eyes that she understood we had one move to make. It was hard enough getting her into the secret passage at The Mansion, or down the ladder that reminded her of the one at my estate, only much longer and darker. By some miracle, I got her through that. I just hoped she would listen to me this time.
I bent down so my lips brushed her earlobe. “Alex, I need you to listen to me. You will not like this, but I will be there with you every step of the way.”
“I can’t,” she whimpered, clinging to me like a koala hanging on its mother. “Don’t make me get in there, Marcello.”
I hugged her, resting my chin on top of her head. “It’s this or die. We don’t have time to deliberate. There’s no other way out of here.”
A bullet grazed past my ear, missing me by a few inches. It hit the pipe with a loud bang, and Alex screamed at the top of her lungs. She unhooked herself from me and ran toward Bastian, who lifted her in his arms and slung her over his shoulder.
“Time to move, Cherry.” He raised her high enough for her to climb into the pipe. “Get your pretty ass in there before you have a bullet in it.”
“No,” she screamed, her chest rising and falling with each shallow breath she took. “No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Bastian set her at the edge of the pipe and then he climbed in after her. He tapped her ass. “Get a move on, woman, before you get us killed.”
“Marcello,” she whimpered, her pretty blue eyes aimed at me.
My brothers didn’t know how to deal with her fears, her mental illness. They had their own issues and couldn’t handle hers.
I pushed Luca and Hades out of the way and gripped the edge of the pipe. “Bash, get in front of Alex. I’ll take the rear.” Then I glanced over my shoulder at Luca. “Cover us.”
My brother nodded. “Get her out of here.”
“We’ll meet you on the other side.” I got inside the pipe that barely fit me without banging my elbows. Then I traced soothing circles on Alex’s back. “C’mon, princess. Bash is in front of you. I’m right here. Just listen to our voices, okay?”
She turned her head to the side to look at Bastian. “Okay, but…” Her top lip quivered.
“No buts,” Bastian told her. He bent down and kissed her cheek. “We have to go, baby. Follow me. There’s a reward for you on the other side. All you have to do is follow me down the rabbit hole.”
With her back to me, I grabbed her ass cheeks and pretended like I was going to bury my face between her legs, just close enough to distract her. “You can have all the rewards you want, princess. They’re waiting for you at the other end of this tunnel.”
She listened to my command and moved along with Bastian. He used his cell phone for some light, which seemed to calm Alex down. Though, I wasn’t so sure she would make it to the other side without screaming about a rat or a bug. There was a ton of nasty shit in the pipe, which stunk like rotten ass.
I heard more bullets from a distance and assumed Luca and Damian were with The Serpents, firing back at the Russians. We needed them to buy us enough time to get Alex headed toward safety before they could meet up with us.
I was going to stay behind, since it was my job as the head of security and the leader of Alpha Command. But Alex wouldn’t have budged from the edge of the pipe with how poorly Bastian handled the situation. Damian only would have terrified her more. And Luca would have just dragged her through the pipe without a second thought.
So it had to be me, and I felt guilty about it. There was a chance one of my brothers wouldn’t make it to the other side with us. We had all accepted our fates years ago.
Protect our queen at all costs.
That was our mission.
Our duty.
Bastian helped me down from the storm drain, hugging me hard against his chest. “You did good, Cherry. See, nothing to it.”
I forced a laugh, my body shaking uncontrollably. “Yeah, easy for you to say. Nothing scares you.”
“Everyone is afraid of something.” He wiped the dirt off his face. “You’ll learn to overcome your fear.”
