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And a shiver ran down my spine as soon as he said it.
I hadn’t really ever seen Teo scared, not like this.
And I hated it.
Chapter Seventeen: Victor
Iperched on the edge of the leather couch, the springs groaning under my weight as the rest of the crew huddled around the expensive coffee table that served as our war room centerpiece.
Charts, photographs, and scribbled notes littered its surface, each piece a fragment of the plan to infiltrate the Viper’s lair and extract Sam—alive and unbroken.
It had been weeks, and at this point, we were pretty confident that the Viper had him. We could only hope he was alive.
Teo walked in from the balcony, ending a call and putting his phone in his pocket. “Bash says there’s no one in their territory by that description,” he said. “The Miami Knives are keeping an eye out for us, though.”
Sofia looked up at him. “Didn’t know you guys were friends.”
“Business associates,” Teo said, a smile on his face. “Anyway, they’ll let us know if they find anything out about Sam or about your dad.”
“I think Sam might have gone down to the Everglades himself,” Sofia said, her voice practically shaking. “I…I mean, he stormed out, and this is the longest he hasn’t spoken to me.”
“We could go down there again, boss,” Grayson said. Things were still tense between them, but at least it didn’t seem like they wanted to kill each other anymore. “We’ll be more prepared this time.”
“We could, but I want more allies,” Teo said. “The Viper has nearly limitless resources, and we have money, sure, but not manpower. Plus he’s infringing on our ops and scaring my men. And obviously…”
His gaze turned to Sofia for a second.
“I won’t allow anyone to hurt Sofia, so this issue is pressing.”
“But we don’t even know if Sam is there, really, do we? That bastard plays sick games,” Sofia’s voice cracked. Every time we talked about her brother, it sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
“Listen, Sofia,” I began, pushing off the couch to close the distance between us. “We’ve been watching the Viper’s men’s movements for weeks. If he’s anywhere, he’s there.” My hand found her shoulder, firm but gentle. “And we’re going to get him back.”
She looked up, her brown eyes searching mine. “But what if—“
“Hey,” I cut her off softly, tilting her chin up with a finger. “We have this under control. We’re not going to let anything happen to Sam. You have my word.”
For a moment, she leaned into my touch, allowing herself the luxury of borrowed strength. Teo cleared his throat. We had all done our best to keep her from thinking the worst, but it was hard when we genuinely didn’t know what had happened with her brother.
“Okay,” she finally whispered, taking a deep breath as she sat back, steeling herself once more. “Let’s do this.”
“Good,” I said. “Let’s.”
“So where do we start?” she asked.
“The three of them can figure out how we get there,” I said. “In the meantime, I promised you I was going to teach you how to defend yourself and I intend to keep that promise.”
It wasn’t long before the echo of our footsteps in the empty gym was the first strike of the gavel—court was in session, and in this case, it was a matter of life or death. I’d rolled up the sleeves of my black shirt; no room for restrictions, not with what I had to teach Sofia.
Her gaze slid down my body as she drank me in. We were standing in front of each other, neither one of us doing or saying anything.
“Are you ready?” I asked after a bit.
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes,” she said. “I’m ready.”
“Good,” I said. “You can do this.”
“I know,” she replied, her jaw hardening. “I’m ready.”
