"No, I don't agree." Randal hated not agreeing with the alpha, but he knew his father. "He doesn't like to get his hands dirty, remember? He won't be caught anywhere around her. He wouldn't want anyone to accuse him of kidnapping her."
"But he called you and said he'd hurt her if you didn't—"
"My word against his," Randal pointed out. "And he could raise the case that I'm a disgruntled son because he got banished and didn't take me with him."
Rob's eyes narrowed. "You were given the choice to go with him. You chose to stay. How does that make you disgruntled?"
"My father may not think much of me, but he does think a lot of himself. He couldn't even begin to fathom me wanting to stay here without him."
"How?" Rob asked. "He tried to kill you. He ordered your brother to beat the crap out of you."
"In his mind, he was merely disciplining me, as any good father would do."
"Is he insane?"
Randal snorted. "You have to ask?"
He thought it was pretty obvious.
Chapter Fifteen
Luca kept a tight hold of Randal's hand as they walked through the mansion. They were going floor to floor, searching every room, and they weren't the only ones searching. There were a couple of different groups. Once the mansion and surrounding grounds had been searched, they would move on to the hotel and surrounding areas in the city before moving to Silver Lake.
As scared as he was that his nana would get hurt, there was a kernel of hope blossoming in Luca's chest they would find her before that happened. After watching how the alpha's mind worked, and the loyal men he had around him, Luca was starting to realize that they might actually have a chance at beating Ralph.
"Do you really think he could be hiding Nana right here under our noses?"
Randal shrugged. "My father would enjoy the irony of it."
Luca just bet he would. He just couldn't figure out how Ralph could have snuck his nana into the mansion without anyone seeing it. Granted, there seemed to be a lot of people coming and going that they didn't know or who didn't know that Rob was the alpha, but that still didn't mean someone could sneak a kidnapped woman into the place. Luca doubted his nana would have gone easily. She would have fought the entire way.
Surely someone would have noticed?
When they reached the next room, Luca tugged on Randal's hand and pulled him to a stop. He reached out and grabbed Randal's other hand so he was holding both of them before looking up into his eyes.
"I want you to know, no matter what happens, I don't regret one second of us. It took us two years to get to this point and I'd go through it all over again if it meant you were mine."
Randal brought one of Luca's hands up to his lips. "I'd go through it all over again, too, mate, every second."
Luca leaned up on his toes and brushed a kiss across Randal's lips before looking intently into his eyes. "You're mine now. Don't ever forget that."
A smile tugged at Randal's lips. "Never."
Luca was glad they had that settled. He needed Randal to know how much he meant to him. Life was not always fair, but it was damn time that they had a chance at something special. The rest of the world—mostly Ralph—could go screw themselves.
"Come on, we only have a few rooms left to check on this floor."
Luca glanced around the long hallway. "How can you tell?"
This place was huge.
"Rob told me how many rooms were on this floor," Randal replied. "We've already checked most of them."
"Oh, that makes sense."
Luca stayed next to the wall when Randal opened the next door. He would have preferred going in before his mate, but Randal was better equipped to handle any trouble that might be waiting for them. He had fur and claws and stuff. Luca just had a desire to keep his mate safe.
Of course, if there was trouble, Luca would run in as fast as he could.
