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I grab a t-shirt and shorts and pull them on. Sinking onto the edge of the bed, I watch Quinn pace the room, his hand fisting his hair.
“Are they okay?” He kicks over a chair. “Fuck!”
I wring my hands together, my pulse exploding against my throat. Is it his brother Patty?
“I’m going to the airport right now. I’ll catch the first flight out.” He pauses, then slams his hand against the window. “I’m not fucking waiting here and holding my dick, okay? Those motherfuckers are gonna pay. To-fucking-night.”
I can’t hear what that Massimo person is saying, but none of it calms Quinn down. His face is beet red and his eyes glitter with murderous rage.
Nothing will keep him here if his family is in jeopardy.
I clench and unclench my fists, knowing I’d want to do the exact same thing if it was my family.
But I also know I couldn’t, as much as it would kill me to hold back.
Because I know there’s a longer end game, and one rash step can make every well-crafted plan collapse like a row of dominoes.
“Mas, I can’t stay and let them do this to my family. Yes, I know it was a fucking warning. Next time, there won’t be a warning. There will only be a revenge play. Period.”
His chest heaves, the tips of his ears practically purple. I’ve never seen him so rattled. Rage rises like steam from his skin.
There’s a long pause before he speaks again.
“You call me the second you know anything, okay? I’m serious. The absolute second.” He turns and his eyes narrow at me.
My spine stiffens, the hairs along my nape springing up.
“I’ll talk to you later.” He clicks to end the call and tosses the phone onto the bed next to me.
“What happened?”
“Patty and my sister-in-law Kyla were hit on their way to pick up my nephew Aidan from a birthday party.” His lips pull tight together. “Thank fuck he wasn’t in the car, too.”
“Oh my God, are they okay?” I jump up from the bed and put a tentative hand on his arm. His neck is tense, muscles tight. He pulls away from me.
“For now.” His eyes flash with anger. “I should have never agreed to come out here. Those cartel fuckers are trying to lure me back and they figured they could use Patty and Kyla to do it.”
“I know it’s hard, but you have to calm down. Losing your head won’t help anyone. We have a plan. We can get to the people who—”
“Can we?” he yells. “Because they can get to anyone anywhere, Val. You know that as well as I do.”
“They haven’t found you out here.”
“Yet. We both know it. I’ve told you that I’m on borrowed time. These guys know we have something planned and they’re trying to scare me away from that fucking club.” He holds his side, storming for the bedroom door. “For all we know, that asshole Mercer whatever the hell his name is, could have given us up. Alek is ready to suck his cock, but he could be one of them.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about Mercer. You’re upset and looking to point fingers, but we know who the real villain is.” I move toward him. “You know what has to be done to stop him.”
“Yeah, except what if we can’t? You don’t know what you’re walking into, and I’m sure as hell not letting you go by yourself, especially after what just happened back East. And I’m going back there to finish what I started.” He runs a hand through the back of my hair. “If those motherfuckers want to play with fire, they’re gonna get their asses blown up. Byme.”
He struggles to pull on a pair of shorts, shrugging off my hand. Then he walks into the living room just as a lock clicks. The front door opens and Alek walks into the foyer with Boris, Katarina, and a pile of shopping bags.
“Who are you blowing up now?” Alek asks in a bored voice.
Something snaps inside Quinn. He barrels toward Alek and backs him against the door.
“Patty and Kyla were ambushed. Someone plowed into their car in the city a little while ago. Isn’t it a coincidence that your pal Mercer was just here yesterday trying to ‘help’ us get to our target, and now my family has been hit?”
Alek pulls his gun on Quinn. “Stand the fuck down or I’ll shoot you in the fucking face right now without blinking an eye.”
