Then his phone rang.
“You’ve got Alec.”
Her voice was high, breathless. “It’s Benny, Regina’s sous chef. He’s their inside guy. He left his phone in the van and almost caught me with it. I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Hold it together, baby. Come to me,” he urged, striving for calm when he felt anything but. “Pull into the 7-Eleven parking lot on Calusa Drive.” He rattled off the directions. “We’ll meet you there.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “Drive fast.”
Leland pulled into the parking lot behind Dev’s SUV. They arrived ahead of her. Alec paced the pavement, scanning every car that passed.
“She should’ve been here by now,” he called through the open van door. “Check her location.”
“She took a wrong turn,” Leland answered. “She’ll be here in about thirty seconds.”
Alec’s chest felt tight. His skin too hot. He needed to see her. Needed to touch her. The thought of her in danger—alone, afraid—was eating him alive.
Rhys leaned against the van, watching him. “You’re gonna have to settle, bud. She’ll need you calm.”
Alec didn’t look at him. “This is killing me. I need to keep her safe—and I hate I can’t do it the way I want.”
Dev exhaled. “She didn’t go in blind. We had her covered. Rhys is right—she’ll need you together when she gets here. That’s what matters to her right now.”
Alec nodded, but guilt was already climbing up his spine. Ethan’s face flashed through his mind—his best friend, his brother-in-arms. The day Ethan died, Alec had been too far away. Too late.
Now, Emily was in the crosshairs. The timing felt cruelly familiar.
Her car whipped into the lot, tires screeching. She threw the door open and ran.
Alec was already moving. She collided with him, arms locking around his neck.
“I’m okay,” she gasped. “I’m okay.”
He held her tighter, one hand cradling her head, the other splayed across her back. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
They all climbed into the van. With Leland, Devil, Rhys, and Mateo crowding in, the space felt claustrophobic—too many bodies, too much tension. Emily sat curled beside Alec, his arm around her shoulders, trembling in the aftermath.
She debriefed quickly, voice shaky but clear. When she described the man with the New York accent, Dev sat forward.
“Did you catch a name?”
“No, but he had a lisp. It was very distinctive,” she said, shuddering as she leaned into Alec’s side. “I’ll never forget how he hissed—pure rattlesnake.”
Dev cursed under his breath. “Carrying on the family business.”
“Explain,” Leland barked.
“I know who it is.” His gaze snapped up, lethal sharp. “Enzo. Fucking. Denali.”
The name hung in the air like a threat, and every man in the van went still.
Chapter 18
A slash of sunlight pierced a gap in the blackout shades and fell across the bed. Emily stirred, groaning as her muscles protested too many hours on her feet. Stretching to relieve the stiffness, her fingers brushed the space beside her and met only cold, rumpled sheets where a warm, powerful body should have been.
She sat up and listened. The house was still. No footsteps. Not even the hum of the AC. And no coffee aroma.
She slipped out of bed and tugged on Alec’s discarded T-shirt from the night before. After a quick morning pit stop, she went in search of him, padding barefoot across the hardwood.
