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And he’ll never make me betray my family.
36
RILEY
Maddoc putsDante on speaker each time he manages to reach out to us, and I crave those small moments of connections like air. But this time, I’m frozen with fear from the moment we hear Austin’s voice cut Dante’s whispered report off until the sounds of fighting turn to… torture.
“No,” I whisper, my heart in my throat and my stomach churning to acid as my brain tries to feed me a dozen different horrifying scenarios to go along with Austin’s words and the ragged breathing and harsh grunts he pulls out of Dante.
I only realize I’ve got a death grip on Logan’s arm when he covers my hand with his. It’s the only movement any of us make, all of our attention locked onto Maddoc’s phone.
Then the connection cuts off.
Maddoc slams his fist down. “Fuck.”
“We have to get him out of there,” I gasp, panic rising in my chest. “We can’t let him—”
“We won’t,” Maddoc says, yanking open one of the many drawers they’ve got around the house that they use as a weapons stash. He starts arming himself, handing over a few of the guns to Logan as he speaks. “We’re going in now. We’re gonna get him the fuck out.Fuckthe plan. Fuck the long game. We’re not letting McKenna kill Dante.”
He looks up, the drawer empty, and Logan nods, holding Maddoc’s gaze as silent resolve passes between them. Then they burst into action.
Maddoc snatches his phone back up and starts calling in reinforcements, and Logan latches onto my arm, pulling me with him as he heads to the main armory.
“I need to grab more equipment,” he mutters, moving like a man possessed.
“I’m coming too,” I blurt, racing to keep up with his long strides. “YouknowI can be an asset, Logan. You’ve taught me well. I shot at least one of the mercenaries West Point hired when we first tangled with them. I wounded him! And now I know way more about weapons and fighting than I did then!”
We reach the armory, and when he stops to unlock the door, I crash into his back.
He turns and catches me when I stumble.
“I won’t be a liability, Logan. I amnotstaying behind while Dante is in danger! I can’t.”
I feel sick, my throat closing up as the sounds Dante made while Austin tortured him reverberate through my mind.
Logan pulls me close and kisses me hard, swallowing my ragged, gasping breaths. Then he cuts me. Just a small one on my palm. I didn’t even realize he had a knife.
No, he always has weapons on him. But I didn’t realize he pulled it.
The pain centers me, pulling my panic in and giving it a focal point.
He finally releases my mouth, keeping a firm grip on the back of my head. I squeeze my hand closed around the small cut, my breath evening out as I anchor myself in his pale gaze.
“I know,” he finally says. “You’re coming with us.”
I suck in a slow breath, then let it out. “Thank you.”
I hope he knows I don’t just mean for saying yes, for not even questioning that of course I’ll be coming along. But also for how well he knows me.
I follow him into the armory, clenching my hand around the bright spot of pain again. I was spiraling, and he knew exactly what I needed.
“Strap this to your thigh,” he says, handing me a leather holster and then, once I’ve done it, a sleek gun to slip inside it. He quickly arms me with two more guns, a knife, and a garrote, then once he’s added a handful of additional weapons to his own arsenal and loaded two bags with extra firepower for the people Maddoc’s called in to meet us there, he fits a bullet proof vest on me.
“Was this…”
“Was it what?” he asks when I pause, stopping mid-zip.
I shake my head. “Never mind.”
