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“Honey, your dad would kill every motherfucking person in here, including me, if he knew you were here. I’ve got to tell my president so he can take the appropriate action to protect our club, but it’s not going to make much difference. Once Alexi finds out you’re here, it’s over.”
“Then don’t tell him.”
I had to really concentrate and replay her words in my head to believe she’d just suggested we not tell Alexi she was here. “Sting won’t go for that. It’d bring the Shadow Demons down on our club like a plague. They’d kill everyone in the compound if something happened to you and we could have prevented it. Keepin’ you here one fuckin’ second longer than strictly necessary is not preventing it fast enough.”
“Then I’ll tell him myself. He’ll send you anything you need to make this work as safely as possible.”
OK, that got my attention. And sent my brain into overdrive. We’d never asked Shadow Demons for an assist. Yes, we worked for them so we could keep getting tech and weaponry from them, but we didn’t work together. They gave us a task and we completed it. If they came in on this with us now, we might shut down the whole fucking outfit in this region.
What the fuck was I thinking?
“No. Out of the question. I should have already gotten you out of here, and that’s what I’m gonna do now.” I went to the water heater and got the sat phone. When I turned around, Rose was right behind me. She put her hand on my arm and reached for the phone, gently plucking it from me.
“This is Giovanni’s.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I have one just like it. I left it turned off in my bedroom because I didn’t want him and my dad monitoring every move I made. I wanted to live life on my own for a while. See what it was like outside that big mansion and the long arm of their protection.”
“This isn’t what you signed up for, Rose. It’s the worst situation you could possibly be in.”
“No, it’s not. Though I won’t deny it’s close. I remember life before Mom and Alexi got together. We stayed in some pretty questionable places. Just the two of us. We had no one to turn to back then. Now, I have Alexi, Azriel, and Giovanni along with my mom and every single member of that household. The women here are in a much worse situation than I am. I have you to protect me. They have no one.”
Without waiting for my consent, Rose punched in a number on the phone and put it on speaker.
“Atlas?” The man on the other end of the phone bit out my name, irritation in his voice.
“Gio?”
There was a pause. “Bella?”
“Yeah. It’s me. Can you get Dad?”
“What are you doing calling from this number?” The anger and fear in Giovanni’s voice told me the man knew exactly what was going on. He might not know the particulars, but the fact that Rose was anywhere near this fucking phone told him all he needed to know about the situation she was in.
“It’s a long story, and we don’t have that kind of time. I need you, Dad and Azriel to help the Iron Tzars. Right now.”
I heard computer keys clicking in the background. “We’re coming, sweetheart.”
“Wait! No, Gio! They’re trying to get a meet with --”
“I know who that fucker Dutch is trying to contact. I’ve been monitoring them since Sting put Atlas in there in the first place. You’re not going to be in the same fucking state as the Swede, Bella. We’re coming to get you.”
“Gio, you have to let them do this.” Her voice wavered. Rose was on the verge of tears again. “Please. Use all those things you make to figure out a way to keep me safe until they catch this guy. I don’t want to die or be r-raped,” she stumbled over the word and more tears overflowed her eyes, “but my life is not worth the lives of dozens of women and children. More if he’s allowed to continue.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Gio, I could never live with myself --”
There was a scuffle in the background, then another voice interrupted me. “Bella? What’s going on? Why are you in that fucking hell hole?”
“Daddy.” Rose did let out a little sob then. “Please, Daddy. They have to catch the Swede. I couldn’t live with myself if he hurt so many others because they pulled me out and blew the chance.”
“I’m not even entertaining the thought of you staying there, Bella. I don’t give a fuck who else is in danger, you’re my first priority.”
Her voice changed from terrified girl to hardened warrior. Or, at least, a hardened warrior who was still scared of the battle to come. “I called to ask you to join the Iron Tzars in doing this. To help them catch this guy and kill the shit out of him. I swear I’ll never ask you for anything else again as long as I live, but I need you to do this.”
