"Fuck!" Jeb tilted his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "Now, I really feel like an ass."
"Yeah, well..." Luca couldn't exactly disagree with him. The man was an ass, but he understood where Jeb was coming from. If someone had kidnapped Randal, he'd want some measure of revenge, too.
"Come on," Rob said. "Let's go get Randal so you can sleep in your own bed tonight."
"Yeah, that'd be good," Jeb replied. "I hate sleeping on the couch."
Luca had the distinct impression that it happened a lot.
He slipped on his shoes and then walked to the door. Rob smirked before turning and walking out of the room. Luca hurried to catch up. He could hear Jeb's heavy steps behind him. He wasn't sure if they were escorting him or guarding him to keep him from running. He didn't really care as long as they took him to his mate.
"Randal's house isn't too far away," Rob said, "but it'll take us a little bit to get there. There's a lot of winding roads between here and there."
Luca was well aware of that. "There's a shortcut."
Rob's eyebrows were raised when he turned to look at Luca. "What shortcut?"
"Like I said, I grew up here. I know all the back roads." He'd also mapped all the ones between his place and Randal's place out so they could find spots to meet in private, even if they were only able to meet for a few minutes here and there. "I especially know the ones that will keep us from being seen by anyone."
Rob stared for a moment before chuckling. "That makes sense."
When they got outside, Erik and Casey were already inside the truck.
"No, no, no," Rob said. "You're not going."
Both men in the truck laughed.
Luca thought it was hilarious, but he kept his amusement to himself. It was clear to him that Erik and Casey were going and there wasn't much Rob could do to convince them otherwise.
"Casey, come on," Rob tried to reason. "It's not safe. You know that."
"Then make it safe because I'm going."
Rob groaned when Casey crossed his arms and stuck out his lip. "Baby—"
Casey's eyebrow went up.
Rob sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm supposed to be the alpha, you know."
"Oh, you are," Casey said.
"Then you're supposed to follow my orders."
"Give me orders that make sense and I will."
Rob's jaw dropped open for a moment as he stared at Casey before he narrowed his eyes, his gaze switching to Erik. "I blame you for this."
Erik's brows snapped together. "For what?"
Rob shook his head and grumbled too low for Luca to hear as he stormed around the truck and climbed inside. Luca hurried to climb into the backseat, knowing Jeb would take the front passenger seat.
Rob stopped Jeb before he could climb in. "Go tell Harvey and Dwayne to follow us."
"Thank you, Rob," Casey whispered.
"You're welcome, cub," Rob replied as he started the truck.
Luca glanced out the window so no one would see the smile on his face.
