They made it outside the ballroom, where a car was waiting but not the team he expected. “Are the agents already at the location? Who’s helping Anda?”
“Family is priority. We’re too short-staffed—”
“Bullshit. You realize the men behind it might have been the ones to kidnap her? Don’t tell me you can’t spare anyone to get her out and take those motherfuckers down.”
“I’m not convinced the perpetrators were the ones who took her. I think it could be made to seem like it was.”
“You’re wrong. The one who cornered me in the ballroom earlier saw Anda and me underneath the stage and likely assumed we know each other. They could use her to get to me. They mentioned they had two tricks up there sleeve—one was to kill you, but the other could be to use Anda to get to me or another royal. Besides, even if what you say were true and that’s not the case, you still need to help her.”
Marcello just stood there, still as a statue. “Why do you care? How do you even know that she works for me? Let’s talk about that.”
He dragged both hands through his hair in an effort not to punch his brother in his mustached fucking face. “You don’t want to help, then I’ll get her myself. Tell me where she is.”
“Don’t be an idiot. She’s a trained agent. She can handle herself.”
“Of course she can handle things by herself, but that doesn’t mean she should have to. If you don’t want to tell me where she is, I’ll just go look for her on my own.”
“The fuck you are. You’re going straight to the bunker and staying there.”
Marcello grabbed his arm, but Ethan shoved it off. “Fuck that. I’m not going in the bunker without her. You can either help me or get out of my way. Which is it going to be?”
Marcello’s mouth tightened. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. As if you’d know what to do in a situation like that.”
Ethan just shook his head. It was the same old shit, over and over again. There it was again, the assumption that he wouldn’t know what to do about anything or anyone. It was true that Marcello didn’t know he was an agent, but that didn’t mean Ethan was incapable of helping anybody. He was being treated like a child, and he wasn’t going to put up with it, not while Anda needed him. He had to direct all this energy to helping her now.
Fuck! How long had she been gone now? Who knew what those motherfuckers were doing to her.
Instead of dealing with his brother, he looked around. Marcello had said they were nearby, likely within several blocks. He turned in a circle, taking in the buildings in each direction, finally stopping when his view fell on a more rundown part of the city.
One of those abandoned buildings would make a good hideout.
He started walking in that direction, but Marcello halted him.
“Stop.”
“Fuck off. I gave you a choice; you chose incorrectly. I’m helping her.”
“I’m not going to let you go after these people alone.”
“So get a couple agents to go with me. You can spare a few people.”
“Goddamn it. Fine. I’ll see if anyone’s free. Wait here. And I mean fucking waithere. You go off half-cocked, I’m not going to be responsible for what I do, which will be to bash you over the head and drag you by the balls back to the bunker.”
He pursed his lips but stayed quiet. Now was not the time to tell his brother that he could bashhimover the head and drag him by the balls back to the bunker. That kind of fighting wouldn’t help Anda, and that’s what they should be focusing on right now.
He only hoped they weren’t too late.
12
Then
ANDA
Three months ago…
VRS Overseer, After Operation Brushstroke
Location: Need to Know
