“What the hell are you talking about? Kane didn’t kidnap Lucy. You’re insane, Liam. Tell me where she is or I will break you.”
“Testy, aren’t we?”
Sean’s stomach twisted and turned into a knotted mess. “What do you want from me? I will do anything, Liam—just … Please. Tell me where Lucy is.”
“Please. That’s a nice touch. Kane would never say please for anything. Just so you know, this is all Kane’s fault. He lied to me, disowned me, replaced me with an outsider, and kept those bonds hidden from me. I’m not done with him. But if you promise to retrieve your sweet little girlfriend and stay out of my business, I’ll tell you where she is.”
“I want nothing to do with your business, Liam.”
“Do you have a pen?”
Sean did.
Liam gave him a longitude and latitude. “That’s a small airstrip—you’re flying, right? You should, anyway. The house she’s staying at is only three miles from the airstrip. I left a jeep at the end of the runway. In the glove compartment is a map. There are no street names, so you’ll have to follow my directions.”
“This isn’t over. You’ve made an enemy.”
“So your word means nothing? You promised me you’d stay out of my way.”
“I don’t care about your business, but you fucked with me.”
“Don’t be that way. Sean, I did this as much for you as for me.”
Sean lost it. “You kidnapped the woman I love for me? You bastard! You are a selfish prick, and I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth—”
The phone was dead.
Sean threw the burner phone against the wall. It shattered.
“Lucy isn’t with them,” Sean managed to say. “She’s in the middle of nowhere.”
He pulled out his tablet and launched his navigational mapping system. He plugged in the coordinates that Liam had given him. If Liam was telling the truth, Lucy was nearly seventy miles southwest from where Kane was heading. Sean slammed his fist against the worktable.
Ezra was talking on his radio. Sean didn’t hear what he said until Ezra came over to him. “Sergeant Kincaid is landing. I’ll have his plane fueled and ready in ten minutes.”
Noah came over to him. “Sean, it makes sense that Liam wouldn’t bring Lucy on this excursion. She would only slow him down. There’s no reason he would lie about where she is.”
“I don’t know anymore—he was so angry. He almost didn’t tell me. I mean, I don’t think he even wanted to tell me where Lucy was.” Sean paced. “He hates Kane. I don’t care what Kane did, I trust he did it for the right reasons. And Liam is … He sounded crazy.”
Sean didn’t understand what Liam and Eden were doing, but he was going to find Lucy, take her home.
Then he’d hunt down his brother and sister to the ends of the earth and make them pay for everything they’d done.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gabriella Romero almost left the Flores compound in the middle of the night. Almost.
Three things stopped her.
First, she wasn’t positive Jasmine Flores didn’t have someone assigned to follow her if she left the estate. She had had a few odd encounters with some of Dominick’s people, people who now answered to Jasmine. Gabriella had thought she’d made alliances with some of them; now she wasn’t certain.
Second, Jasmine was up to something. She’d been secretive last night, spending a lot of time in her office and sending a team out of the compound on God knew what errands.
And third, Gabriella’s need for revenge.
She’d thought that killing Samuel, the man who had tortured and killed her fiancée, would have been enough. But Jasmine was just as evil as he was, and the more she learned about the witch, the more Gabriella knew she needed intelligence to either stop Jasmine herself or give to Jack Kincaid so he and his people could take her out.
Maybe, Gabriella thought, vengeance had driven her for so long that she didn’t know what to do without it in her heart.
But the how was the crux of the problem. She was still working through it.
Gabriella walked in from her early morning swim, the one time in the day when she was mostly alone and could think without distractions. She wrapped her robe around her lithe body and sauntered over to Jose, who was drinking coffee in the large atrium. Though RCK had damaged much of the exterior of the Flores compound, the interior was mostly preserved. Nothing a bit of paint and a few plaster repair jobs couldn’t fix. Jasmine had hired local crews to rebuild the exterior walls, plus they were in the process of building a tower in each corner to prevent future attacks—from RCK or any of their other enemies.
She leaned over and kissed Jose, but he was distracted. She sat down, sipped his coffee. “What’s wrong, handsome?” she said.
“Something’s going on, and Jasmine isn’t talking to me.”
Gabriella leaned forward. “Honey, she wants to be in charge. She’s already taken over.”
“That’s fine, I don’t want to be in charge, but Dom always talked to me.”
“Because you are a reasoned planner. If Dom had listened to you, he would still be alive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Because you cared about your brothers and you understood the value of negotiation over revenge.”
Jose leaned forward and said quietly, “Jasmine is bringing in a new lawyer. She wouldn’t tell me who, but someone who’s supposedly as good as Carson Spade.”
“That would be a feat,” she said. “Spade was the best money could buy.”
“That’s what I told her and she got all defensive. Talked about leverage and how she wasn’t going to make the same mistakes.”
“Rewriting history, I’d think.”
“Shh. She’s very angry with you.”
Gabriella took his hand. “Let’s go away. Anywhere. A real vacation.” She smiled and kissed his palm. “Let Jasmine get her affairs in order, do what she needs to do, we don’t have to be part of it.”
He brought her hand to his lips, kissed it. “There’s nothing I would rather do than take a week … a month even … and relax with you. But right now it’s too dangerous.”
Jose was right about that—he was the last Flores male still alive. There was Alberto’s infant son, who was back in the States, but the word Gabriella had was that his identity was a carefully guarded secret, in case someone wanted to grab him.
Jasmine was an American, distrusted even though she was Don Flores’s illegitimate daughter. That she was just as ruthless as her father and three older brothers wasn’t a factor to most of the Flores enemies.
“We can go to Spain,” she whispered. “My family has a villa there, you would be safe.”
She feared she had too much affection for Jose. She didn’t love him—she would never love another man after Greg—but she cared for him, as much as a woman like her could care for anyone. Spain would be safe for both of them, until things settled down here.
“You tempt me,” he said with a sigh. “I can’t. Not now.”
She pouted but considered that this was a possible out from this situation without Jose suspecting she’d been with him for reasons other than sexual attraction.
“We’d both be safe there,” she whispered.
He squeezed her hands. “I know this last month has been especially hard on you.”
“I’m worried. I’m not a shrinking violet, but this whole thing has the potential for war. One reason Dante and I have survived in our business for so long is that we’ve avoided these kind of conflicts.”
“I want to fix this. If you need to go, I understand.”
“I don’t want to.” But she said it in such a way that Jose would be thinking that she might leave out of fear.
Jose tensed. “Someone’s here.”
Gabriella turned toward the door at the opposite end of the atrium. She hadn’t heard the car approach, but she heard doors slam shut. Jasmine stepped out of her office flanked by two men. The
y walked immediately to the front doors.
A moment later the doors opened and a man and woman stepped in flanked by two bodyguards whom Gabriella recognized as Jasmine’s most trusted men. The woman carried an infant. The couple looked exhausted, but the man was angry. Or possibly annoyed. He glanced around, suspicious and not a little worried.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Jasmine said.
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Jasmine said coolly. She turned to one of her men. “Please show Mrs. Morrison to her suite. I’m sure you’ll like the accommodations—two bedrooms, a private kitchen, a spacious living room. We’ve been remodeling this past month, but I had my men working overtime to get the suite finished.” She stepped close to Mrs. Morrison. “He’s so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Mrs. Morrison said, holding the baby close to her.
“What’s going on?” Gabriella whispered.
Jose hesitated, then said, “The lawyer I told you about.”
Her stomach fell. The man brought his wife and newborn to Mexico?
You didn’t give me a choice.
Sounded like a Flores family plot. Morrison had taken the job, but with it came his complete loyalty because he’d been forced to put his wife and child under Jasmine’s protection.
Mrs. Morrison looked at her husband. He kissed her lightly, then said, “Go ahead, you need to sleep.”
“Christopher can watch Joshua for you if you’d like to rest,” Jasmine said.
“No, thank you,” Mrs. Morrison said sharply. But she followed Christopher across the atrium and up the stairs. She didn’t give Jose and Gabriella more than a passing glance.
“Danielle understands the situation, correct?” Jasmine asked. When Mr. Morrison didn’t answer immediately, she pushed. “Thomas, you explained the situation to your wife.”
“As much as I could,” he said. He was definitely more focused on Gabriella and Jose than his wife.
Jasmine led him across the atrium. “Thomas, my half brother, Jose, and his girlfriend, Gabriella. They live here, at least for now.” She stared at Gabriella.
“I need to make sure my wife is settled.”
“Of course. Upstairs, down the hall, turn left. The only set of double doors leads to your suite. But don’t take long, we have work to do. Meet me in my office in thirty minutes.”
Thomas nodded to the group, then went upstairs.
“He’s not on board,” Jose said when Thomas Morrison was out of earshot.
“He is.”
“He doesn’t seem happy about whatever arrangement you have with him,” Gabriella said.
“This is not your affair.”
“I’ve been here longer than you.” Gabriella had learned early on that she had to maintain the upper hand with bullies like Jasmine. If Jasmine thought she was scared, Gabriella was in trouble.
“Where’s your brother?”
She wasn’t expecting that question, but she shrugged. “Dante does what Dante does.”
“He closed down his house and didn’t tell you?”
“I’m not my brother’s keeper.”
“Maybe you should be. I don’t trust him—and I don’t trust you.”
“Jasmine, please don’t do this,” Jose said.
“Isn’t it just convenient that she was here when those bastards from Rogan-Caruso swooped in?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play ignorant, Jose,” Jasmine snapped. “She was here, and they had inside information.”
“Gabriella saved my life. She tried to save Alberto, but he panicked. I was there, I saw her risk herself for my brother.”
That was partly true. Gabriella had gone to make sure Alberto’s girlfriend and kid were safe and out of harm’s way. Alberto was there and she tried to make him listen to her, but Alberto was a pig. He wouldn’t listen to any woman, actually called her Jose’s whore. It was Alberto’s own fault he got himself killed. Gabriella didn’t like him, but her goal was to kill Samuel—a goal she achieved without a moment of regret.
Samuel had killed the man she loved. The man she would have married. And eight years later she had her revenge.
She could sit here and gloat while also protecting her own ass. But Jasmine was becoming a bigger problem than Dominick. Dom had been violent and ruthless, but he always had a plan … he rarely acted out of anger, and he was never stupid.
Jasmine wasn’t stupid, but her ideas were dangerous. She had a need for people to worship her—she wanted to be adored, feared, loved. Sometimes her decisions—like to bring in a new lawyer, with a family—bordered on insane. They should be laying low, taking care of local business to ensure no one went after it, then rebuilding. Inside out. It’s what Dom would have done—it’s what Dante would have recommended if he’d been consulted, as he often was about these sorts of things.
Gabriella was going to have to leave. She’d set it up with Jose—she would have to leave sooner rather than later. Jasmine was a wild card, and one she didn’t care to test.
But could she leave Danielle Morrison and an innocent infant under this roof?
Not your problem, Gabriella.
She’d get out, then alert Jack Kincaid. Let him deal with the situation. Or not. She didn’t owe anyone anything.
Jose cleared his throat. That was when Gabriella realized that she and Jasmine were in a staring match.
Gabriella stood. She didn’t take her eyes off Jasmine. The woman would shoot her in the back if she thought she could get away with it. And someday she might be able to. But she needed Jose to solidify her power; if Jose put the word out he wasn’t supporting Jasmine, she’d be dead in a week. Gabriella wanted to make that happen. She thought she might have an opportunity, if she could stick it out.
“I’m going to our room,” she said to Jose. “I’ll meet you for lunch?”
Jose rose, kissed her cheek. “I’ll be down here.”
She smiled at him, then went upstairs without looking back at Jasmine.
“You can’t trust her,” Jasmine said in a low voice. Not low enough.
Jose said, “Leave her alone.”
Then Gabriella couldn’t hear them anymore.
Something was up.
She ran to her room and pulled out her cell phone. She had the microphone set on Jose’s phone so she could listen to his conversations if necessary. She put her earbuds in and turned up the volume.
Jose was speaking. “—it’s done.”
“You are a fool.”
“Don’t start with me. Gabriella has been loyal to me. I won’t have you threatening her.”
“I’m sure Gabriella is exactly what you think she is.” By Jasmine’s tone, she didn’t believe it. “But her brother is the one who brokered the deal with Dom for Kane Rogan, and that deal lost us our lawyer and half our money. Dom deserves to be dead for his stupidity, but Dante Romero set us up. If he didn’t do it on purpose, he’s an idiot and should still be punished. Maybe Gabriella wasn’t party to his deception, but I will find out.”
“What are you going to do?”
“It’s already done. Dante Romero skipped town, but I know where he is. I’ve sent my men to collect him, and he will answer my questions.”
“Don’t do this. The Romeros have always been neutral in Dom’s business. Dominick respected Dante.”
“Dominick this, Dominick that. He’s dead because he was stupid.”
“Jasmine—”
“It’s already done, so leave it alone.”
“You’ll be sorry.”
“Is that a threat? Whose side are you on, Jose?”
“How dare you, Jasmine. You come in and take over and start making threats? I don’t want the business. I liked how it was before, so I didn’t challenge you. But you’re reckless. You should have known that the feds would come down on you eventually! You think you’re on par with Dom? He was brilliant. He was far from perfect, but he was smart, and he told you
not to deal in the US sex trade. But you did it anyway. And then he told you not to sell that girl’s baby. You did it anyway. Then created a fucking business? You think that was smart?”
“It was fucking brilliant and even Dom admitted it was a solid plan.”
“Because he didn’t know how you’d screwed it up.”
Jasmine laughed. “Wait. Just wait. I have resources that Dom never had.”
“Leave the Romeros alone.”
“I’ll leave your little whore to you, but Dante will answer for what he did. We’ll see what he has to say, and he will prove to me that he didn’t set up the RCK raid. Because my sources tell me that Dante Romero might be playing both sides.”
There was some static then Jose said, “Show Gabriella more respect, or I’ll leave.”
“Go ahead.”
“If I leave, you will have nothing. You think you’re all-powerful, but you’ve been in the States most of your life. Everyone thinks you’re an outsider. There’s only so much loyalty you can buy.”
“You’re my only family, Jose. We’re going to make this work—together. But you have to trust me.”
There was silence for a long minute. Then Jose said, “Earn it.”
Maybe Jose was more seasoned than Gabriella gave him credit for.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lucy didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was warm. Not unbearable, but hotter than San Antonio had been lately. Was it noon? Later? Her eyesight hadn’t returned and bright light hurt her eyes, so she stayed in the kitchen, which was the darkest and coolest room in the house.
If Liam was true to his word, he would have called Sean by now. She didn’t know where she was, but Liam said it would take Sean six to seven hours to get here. He should be here before dark.
Liam, you better not have lied.
Like she was in a position to punish anyone.
She would get out of this.
She’d grown more angry and frustrated than scared while she sat waiting. She walked around multiple times, then tested herself to see if she could remember where everything was. She wasn’t half-bad, she realized, as she navigated the furniture through each room, after a half-dozen attempts. She drank water, but there were no more bags of chips to eat. If her sight returned before Sean arrived, she could check out the canned food and make herself something.
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