I stand my ground. “The hell I will! If they’re under attack, I need to be there.”
“They’re notallunder attack,” he grits out. “Quinn’s part of it.”
“Fuck you, you’re wron–”
My air gets cut off as I’m yanked backwards by my shirt collar. “We haven’t got time for this!” yells Mace.
As I spin towards him, his fist lands between my eyes. I drop to the floor, my gun clattering across thetiles.
“Stay the fuck down!” he yells, pointing an accusing finger at me. “This is all that bitch’s fault!”
Hunter and Mace continue to glare at me as the elevator doors start closing, but it’s Ash’s eyes I meet. He simply shakes his head.
Is this really happening?
Why are they blaming Quinn?
Do they seriously think she betrayed us?
No.
I don’t believe it.
I won’t believe it.
Scrambling to my feet, I grab my gun and race for the stairs. I go down one flight then hitch a ride on another elevator. My progress is painfully slow, and as I reach the exit, I spot my brothers dodging traffic as they race across the street. Three of our blacked-out SUVs are parked at angles in front of Ruby’s, doors left ajar. A cluster of armed men shield themselves on each side of the window front.
I look for splashes of color. Quinn was wearing a pastel pink dress and denim jacket, Maddie was in an olive green dress, and Lily wore a sapphire blue trouser suit. The only thing I can see inside the coffee shop are shadowy figures in black.
In my panic to reach Quinn, I almost step in front of a taxi cab. The driver blares his horn, but my brothers are single-focused and they don’t glance back. Hunter has extended his arm and one of our men puts an automatic rifle in his hand. A similar weapon is passed to Ash. Mace keeps his Glock, and takes the one Hunter no longer requires. They don’t stop moving.
They’re already inside when I reach the sidewalk. There are no shots ringing out.
“Reid!” Jake appears next to me. “Stay out here.”
I wipe the smear of blood from my nose. “Where’s Quinn? Where are the girls?”
“Maddie and Lily are safe,” he confirms.
I leave only a heartbeat for him to fill in the rest, but his grim expression tells me there’s nothing else to add. Quinn’s still in there.
His hand clamps around my arm as I go to move. “She spiked their drinks, Reid,” he says. “And Ilya had his men ready to collect them.”
My stomach hollows. It’s not true. Itcan’tbe true. And I won’t believe it until I hear it from Quinn. “This is my fight too,” I say, shrugging him off as I step inside the shop and join my brothers in a stand-off.
It’s eerily quiet. Ash, Hunter and Mace are lined up, weapons aimed at a target I can’t see past their broad shoulders. Levi and Simon are deeper inside, crouching amongst a sea of upturned tables with their weapons drawn. I spot a blood splatter on a table cloth that makes my heart skip a beat.
It’s only as I slip behind Hunter that I see who they’re all aiming at.
“Quinn!” I yell.
I’m only vaguely aware of the Russian rifle that swipes in my direction. Quinn is behind the counter, Mikhail’s arm around her throat in a chokehold, a gun pressed to her head. The bastard is with three others. One is holding the door open to the kitchens. He’s the asshole aiming at me.
“Let me go,” Quinn pleads.
I want to believe she’s talking to her captor, but she’s staring right at me. She puts a hand over her heart, and taps it once.
“Stay where you are, Reid, or I’ll shoot you myself,” Mace mutters.
