“Rex never panics, nor does he run, not unless something is very wrong,” Max said shortly.
“If it was Xia...it means Dominic Drake finally made his move,” Axel grabbed hold of the door handle as Max took a sharp turn.
“Then what Rex is feeling isn’t just a threat.This is war.”The road blurred past as Max’s grip tightened on the wheel.His jaw clenched as his thoughts spiraled.“What I want to know is how the hell did someone get inside the resort who’s not a member?”
Pearl Paradise was a fortress.High walls, armed guards, and biometric scanners at every entrance.No one got in without clearance.No one left without it either.
Jax’s voice crackled over the radio.“Max, what the fuck is going on?”
Max didn’t answer right away.His mind was already three steps ahead.
“Security,” he snapped.“How tight is it, really?”
There was a beat of silence before Dexter responded.“You know how it is.We’ve got guards at every entrance, cameras everywhere, but...”
“But what?”Max growled.
Dexter exhaled sharply.“Look, man, this place is secure, but it’s not impenetrable.There are ways in if you know the right people...or pay them enough.”
Max’s stomach twisted.If his assumption was right, just how big was the danger?And since Drake had failed The Consortium with the banking scam that Rex had busted, just how far would he go to take his revenge?
A man like Dominic Drake would see Rex’s action as an attack.The man had been humiliated.Ruined in the eyes of those who made him what he had become.A man like that didn’t forgive.
They retaliated.They took revenge.
“For fuck’s sake.Dominic is here.”Jax’s voice was low and dangerous.
Max didn’t respond.He didn’t have to.The resort loomed ahead with its sleek, modern architecture bathed in the glow of security lights.Max’s pulse hammered as he scanned the perimeter.
“Who the hell is working with that bastard?”he growled.
The resort’s employees and the CDS members were vetted.Thoroughly.But money talked.And Drake had plenty of it.
Axel’s voice cut through his thoughts.“You can bet a rat’s ass that if he’s here, he didn’t come alone.”
Max’s fingers twitched on the wheel.“Yeah.Drake was many things—a snake, a coward, a man who preyed on weakness—but he wasn’t stupid.He wouldn’t come alone.He’d have backup.Men with guns.Men without an iota of empathy.”
Max’s blood ran cold.Because if that was true, then this wasn’t just about Xia and Rex.This was about all of them.The jeep skidded to a halt outside the resort’s main entrance.He was out before it fully stopped and his boots hitting the pavement with a sharp crack.
Axel was right behind him.His usual smirk was replaced by a far darker expression.Xia was in danger somewhere in this resort, and Rex was the only one who had felt it.
That was a foreboding Max didn’t want to decipher, but he knew one thing.Dominic Drake wasn’t just here for revenge.He was here to break all of them.Max would burn the world before he let that happen.
“We need to find Rex...before he runs headfirst into a wall of bullets.”Max gestured in three directions.“Let’s split up.Use your watches to alert us if you find something.”Max turned to go but hesitated.“Be careful.We don’t know what he has planned.”His eyes turned to his beautiful wife.“Honey, I need you to evacuate the resort.Do it quickly and quietly.”
“Do you think...”
“I don’t want to think further than keeping everyone safe.Just do it, love.”
“You'd better get back to me in one piece, Max DuPont.Our little peanut is not growing up without a father.”
Max faltered and spun to face her with an incredible look on his face.“We’re pregnant?And you choose this moment to tell me?”
In usual Willow fashion, she shrugged.“Well, I sure as hell aren’t going to let you run into danger without proper incentive to keep out of the line of fire.”
His smile was brief, but his eyes shone with love and pleasure.“We’ll talk about this once I’m back...with my crop in my hand.”
“Pfft, as if that’s supposed to make me quiver in fear.”
