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“Bishop, slow down!” He doesn’t, instead he turns and lifts me in his arms. I cling to him like a monkey and lock my legs around his waist as he heads for the stairwell. He takes the stairs two at a time and I close my eyes in fear, if he slips I’m going to be squished beneath his weight! When he reaches the bottom floor, he kicks the door open and runs through the foyer. I peer over my shoulder and see it’s still dark out, it must be early hours of the morning now. He kicks open the outside door, races down the stairs of the dorm building and heads for the carpark. “What’s going on?” I ask, my adrenaline is finally giving way to panic now that we are outside in the middle of the fucking night running away from something. I spot four figures running toward us from the boy’s dorms and tense, until they pass by a lantern and I see Mav, Gage and the twins hurrying toward us. Bishop stops, then places me on my feet next to his car. He spins around and waits for the others.
“What’s going on?” Knight demands. Bishop reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key that he hands to Knight.
“You and Rook take Kiara and go to the safe house.”
“What the fuck?”
“Shut the fuck up, Knight, do as I say and go now!” Knight rushes around to the driver side and pops the lock. Rook stands beside Bishop and waits. “What?”
“Anthony is here, isn’t he?” Bishop reaches out and lays a hand on his baby brother’s shoulder—Rook is a few inches shorter than Bishop.
“Take Knight and Kiara and go, brother. I’ll catch up to you soon.” Rook nods as Bishop turns to face me, the look of regret in his eyes has me wanting to hold him close and ease his worries but I know right now, he needs to be the Mafia boss and not my lover. He reaches out, grips my face, then kisses me. I feel all his love and devotion in this kiss. I cling to his jacket wanting to keep him here with me. He breaks the kiss and pulls back stepping out of my hold, turns his back to me without a glance and heads back toward the school with Mav following after him. Gage comes to me and rests his hands atop my shoulders, trying to smile reassuringly.
“Go with the twins and let him focus on ending this. Once this is done you can live out your fantasies or whatever that is.”
“Gage?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t let him die… I can’t––” He cuts me off by pulling me to him and hugging me.
“I’ll bring him back to you, doll. I promise.” With that said, he places a quick kiss to the top of my head and turns, chasing after Bishop and Mav. Rook clears his throat and holds the door open for me to climb in. I do as he says and buckle myself in as Knight starts the car. Once Rook is inside, Knight peels out of the car park so fast, I sling back against the seat. The tension in the car is high. I know both of them are worried about their brother, I just hope King and the others can get here in time to help. I don’t know if my… father is alone or not, I don’t know the guy yet a pang of regret shoots through me at the thought of him dying by the hands of the man I love. I may not know him but hearing that he tried to come for me and has an actual good reason why he didn’t, has me softening toward him.
* * *
Dawn is breaking by the time we pull into a driveaway of a secluded cabin. I dozed on and off most of the way, not taking in where we were going. I don’t need to know, the fact that Bishop knows where I am settles me. All I care about is him coming back to me unharmed, we can sort everything else out later. I know I sound like a selfish bitch for worrying about myself and not Carlina—I mean I am worried about her and how she is and if she is okay—but I’m more worried about her brother. I don’t care if that makes me the worst friend ever, but I love Bishop and I fucking deserve to have him. After everything we both have gone through in our lives, we should get to have what we want.
“Come on, princess.” I follow the twins out of the car. Rook wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side as we approach a log cabin. I shiver when a cold breeze strikes. “Welcome to the cold. New England is a bitch in winter so be thankful it isn’t here yet.” We’re in New England? Fuck, how long were we driving for? Rook ushers me through the door after Knight who flicks a couple switches and the room is bathed in light. It’s exactly as you would think a cabin would look like on the inside. Animal trophies on the wall, plaid couches, open fire place, high ceilings, antler chandeliers, and I see a staircase to the left.
“Let’s get some sleep.” Knight’s voice sounds gruff from hours of not using it. I’m tired but I know I’ll never be able to sleep until I know if Bishop is okay. I also don’t want the twins staying up because of me, so I sigh and nod my head as Knight leads the way up the stairs. Rook bids us good night as he claims the first room on the right. We pass three more doors before stopping in front of the last one at the end. “This is Bishop’s room. I figured he’d want you in here.” I smile up at Knight, wishing I knew what caused him to change from the smiley happy kid he was to this closed off angry guy.
“Thanks, are you okay?” He sighs and runs a hand through his brown hair.
“I will be, get some sleep,” is all he says before he turns and claims the second room on the right. I open the door and flick the light on. Bishop’s room has massive bay windows on one side, his own bathroom and closet… of course it’s fucking neat and tidy. A big king bed decorated in black sheets and pillows sits in the middle. I’m too tired to even look around and be nosey. I crawl on the bed and rest back against the pillows, before I know it I’m drifting off to sleep with Bishop being the last thought in my mind.
* * *
The sound of an alarm blaring through the house has me sitting up in bed in fright. The door flings open and I scream, until I see a shirtless Rook standing there with fear etched all over his face.
“What happened?” I demand.
“We have to go, now!” I leap from the bed like it’s on fire and race toward Rook. He grips my hand in his and we race down the hall, then down the stairs. Knight burst through the front door, slamming it closed and locking it. Beside the door he enters a code in the keypad and the alarm shuts off. The ringing in my ears continues for a few more seconds until I spot a gun in Knight’s hand, I turn to Rook and spot one in his free hand as well. Dread pools inside me. They exchange a look and I know they are doing their weird twin communication thing.
“Take her to the basement and keep her down there.” I try to yank free of his hold but Rook holds firm, nods to Knight, then he’s dragging me through the cabin past the living room and into the kitchen, where he rips open the door to the pantry and puts a code in on the side of the wall. The back wall opens revealing a staircase. I fight hard to get free but he yanks me forward and pulls me down the stairs after him. The lights in here must be motion activated as they turn on as we pass. I stub my toe on the bottom step and curse but Rook doesn’t pay me any mind as he drags me into a room and pushes me inside. I stumble a couple steps before whirling around to face him, ready to fight my way out of here if I have to.
“Stay here, Kiara!” He attempts to close the door but I dart forward and grip it topping him.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“He followed us, your father is here and Bishop and the others are fucking hours away so I need you to stay here so Knight and I can handle this.”
“I can help.” I try to reason with him, I won’t just stay in a fucking room while they risk their lives.
“You can’t and Bishop would kill us if anything happened to you.”
“Rook, please.” He pulls out his phone and chucks it to me, I release the door to catch it.
“He has men surrounding the fucking place and my sister on her knees out front with a gun to her fucking head, stay here Kiara and shut up!” I don’t fight him when he yanks the door closed. I stare at it for a moment stunned silent as I think about the fear that must be coursing through Carlina at the moment. I turn away from the door and take in my surroundings. A single bed on one side and a chair on the other, that’s it. I grip my hair and tug on the strands. He set Bishop up knowing he would send me away to keep me safe. He fucking knew Bishop would send all his men to the school, which left me, Rook and Knight defenseless. The sound of Rook’s phone ringing has me nearly jumping out of my skin. When I see Bishop’s name flashing, I hit the button.
