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“Damn straight. And I’m not calling it in.”
I’ve killed men for far less, and I haven’t regretted a single hit. Had I gotten my hands on either Jacob Klein or Bianchi, men who had hurt my wife, before anyone else, without a doubt, I would have squeezed the life right out of them with no remorse.
Chase isn’t fucking around with this. He won’t hand Luca over to authorities and risk having him slip through the cracks only to come back at Simone or one of us. Simone is Jo’s older sister; therefore, she’s a member of the Mercy Ravens. No one disrespects our family.
“Be smart,” I say. “I don’t want any of this blowing back on you or Butch. Treat it like every other gun for hire government hit.”
“Understood,” Chase says. “Two-man show—me and Butch. No cuts. No bikes. Nothing to connect it back to us. We’re leaving tonight.”
“Call me on my burner when it’s done. And Chase…”
“Yeah?”
“God speed, brother,” I say before disconnecting.
I take a moment to collect myself and settle the hurricane of anger swirling around inside of me. I’m livid with Esteban popping back up, for being away from home when shit is going down, and with myself for not being able to do more.
In hindsight, I should have predicted Esteban appearing at our wedding. The fucker has been at every milestone in my life—from the day of my birth to my graduation from SEAL Qualification Training. He was always there, tormenting me, reminding me he took out my parents, and he could take me out too. Esteban emerging right as I marry the woman of my dreams and starting my family is no coincidence. It’s a threat—pure and simple.
I hate to admit it, but there’s a sliver of me that’s scared. If he hurt Josephine…
The backs of my eyes sting, and I press the heels of my palms against the lids of my eyes to stop my tears.Fuck,I can’t lose the one person who has made me feel alive. Without her, my world would end, and I would fade into the darkness ‘till I ceased to exist.
Chase said not to come home, but maybe we should. We’re across the globe with a hired security team on a remote island with limited ports of escape. I have no personal ties to the men I’ve hired. The guards could be paid off for all I know.
Vulnerability is not something I’m accustomed to, and I hate it. I hate feeling powerless—me, Captain Maceo ‘Atlas’ Tabares, am afraid of failing to protect the love of my life. This is my job; protecting people is what I do for a living. But I’m starting to see how little control I have over this situation.
For years, I’ve been on the defense, never having the upper hand with Esteban. He’s been pulling the strings, and I’ve been too proud to admit I was his puppet following the wrong leads because he set it up that way. The few times I’ve come close to him were pure luck, oversights on his part, which he wouldn’t make again.
Esteban showing up at our wedding under the radar had to be a power play. The fucker wanted to show me he could get to me whenever he wanted, taunting me like a cat with a mouse. All the security, soldiers, and weapons I’d ever need right at my fingertips, and he still could sneak up on me.
It’s frustrating and unnerving as hell. I could do everything right and he still could reach me.
I desperately want to tell Josephine what I’ve learned, but I stop myself. Esteban took my first family, and he wouldn’t hesitate to take my current. I may be convinced Josephine is pregnant, but we don’t have definitive proof. If I tell her, and she is pregnant, could she risk miscarrying? What would the news do to her, physically or emotionally?
Josephine is strong and has survived so much in such a short period. I can’t chance it. It would be better if we were at home before revealing everything to her, having her near her doctor, near our support system.
I can’t even process all the other things happening back home. There’s too much to sort through at once. My sanity is stretching to its max. The anger and anxiety growing inside of me are too tangible to refute. Something has to give before I snap.
“Maceo?” Josephine calls from outside the villa. I left her alone for too long. She’s undoubtedly wondering what’s been keeping me.
I swallow my emotions and quickly school my features. Josephine can’t see me upset before I tell her everything. And I’m not ready to. This is our honeymoon, and I want Josephine to enjoy it stress-free—she deserves this much. She may have entered this life with me knowing the dangers attached to it, but for now, I want to shelter her from it all. The time will come where she’ll have to face them head-on with me.
“Coming, Pixie.”
With a blanket in hand, I meet her out on the beach. With her ash brown hair and aqua eyes, my elfin wife smiles up at me, beckoning me to join her. I throw the blanket around us and pull her between my legs to watch the sun fade into the depths of the Mediterranean, cherishing the calm moment when I know our world will soon be rocked.
