“You have her?”
I try to listen to any clues in his voice that he thought there might be a chance I wouldn’t get her. Perhaps because he knew I walked into a suicide mission. “Yes.”
I hear him relay the message. “Where?”
I can’t bring them here until I know the truth. “I can’t tell you that.”
“What?” Alexey asks, his voice dropping several octaves to that tone his dad uses. If I were anyone else, it would have scared me.
“Some shit didn’t sit right with me tonight, Alexey. Meet me at six at the docks.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Alive. That’s all you need to know. Six o’clock,” I remind him and hang up.
Call me paranoid, but I feel like they set me up to walk into a death trap. Yeah, we got Nina out, which was the main goal, but something still doesn’t feel right. Was Nina in on it too? We have another hour before the sedative wears off, and she wakes up. She was just in a nightgown, so she didn’t have her phone, and Vincenzo knows the drill, so he would have taken any jewelry off her that may have a tracker in it. We may have gotten out of that house, but Viktor’s still alive. That’s a big fucking problem.
“Can I sit?” My head jerks up, startled from my thoughts. I didn’t even hear him walk up.
“Sure,” I answer, scooting over so Evander can sit on the swing.
He takes a deep breath. “It’s nice out here.”
I pull my legs up to my chest, getting comfortable. “It’s my favorite place to be when I need a break from real life.”
“I can see why.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him about Micah, but he looked hurt walking out of that room. Plus, it’s none of my business. Both of us stare out into the distance listening to the animals in the barn. I need to check on Nina and my guys, but I can’t pull myself off the swing. I’m so damn tired, and my day is still going with no end in sight.
“You have my full respect, Alessa,” Evander says, pulling my eyes toward him. “In the short time I’ve been around you, I’ve seen the way things are done in your family.” He looks over at me. “That is how I wish to run my own.”
“I appreciate that,” I say lamely, too stunned to say anything else.
“I was skeptical about you with my brother,” he chuckles. “About the relationship he’s entered into. But I’ve watched him come alive since being with you. And Gage. I fully trust him with you.”
I frown. “Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye, Evander?”
“Because I am,” he answers, looking back into the distance. “I need time away from Abbs Valley.”
“Does Leo know?”
“Not yet, but I’ll tell him.”
“What about Mateo?”
“He knows and may go with me for a few weeks. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Does this have to do with Micah?” I ask gently.
“Not entirely,” he answers honestly, turning to me with a smile. “You’re smart, so I know you’ve figured out something, but he’s your uncle. I won’t break that trust between you guys. He can tell youwhen he’s ready.” He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Take care of Leo.”
He gets up and walks back toward the house. Why is he talking like he isn’t coming back at all? How will Leo handle this? Why did he tell me first?
So many more questions are piling up with no answers in sight.
Nina wokeup almost an hour after I dosed her, screaming her head off until she saw me. She looked confused at first, then relieved, showing me she had no idea who was in that house to take her. Could I be wrong about the twins, or was she just in the dark? I asked her where Viktor was, and she said he left yesterday to go out of town on business, and that made me suspicious all over again that he left the day before all of this went down.
Dex, Ryder, and I decided we needed to meet them and leave the other guys to look after Nina and Marcella’s house. We ran home, changed, grabbed Ryder’s SUV, and now we’re sitting here waiting for them to show.
