Zane nods. “What do you need?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. I’m always here for you, Love. When you figure it out, I’m here.” Zane pecks my lips and slides from the car. I watch as he confidently walks up to join the rest of the group. I know what he’s telling me. He wants me to seek him out when I figure it out instead of wallowing in anger like I usually do, turning me into the broody asshole I usually am. I have no idea what I need, but I’ll do what I can to figure it out.
I count to ten again before popping my door open and stepping out. Before I get to the hood of the car, Mateo’s black Porsche comes sliding to a stop beside us. To my surprise, Evander steps out of the passenger side, meeting everyone at the hood of the car.
Les fills them in on everything that’s going on. “We’re waiting on Alexey and Dmitri. They said Viktor has a couple of places they could take him.” She looks at Evander. “Thank you for coming.”
He nods. “No way I was sitting this out. They have Micah.”
Ghost pulls in. Playboy stepping out with him. Zane jerks him into a hug. “You look good, boy.”
“Thanks,” Playboy laughs, stepping back. Once he was clean, he turned out to be a damn good kid. He busted his ass, helping us look for Les and Zane. “You’re still older than dirt.”
Zane narrows his eyes. “I can still kick your ass, Playboy.”
“I go by Noah now.” He shrugs. “Playboy is in my past. And Jeffrey was a shit name.”
Zane laughs. “Playboy was a stupid fucking name.” He pulls him in for a quick hug again. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Z-Dawg.”
“Don’t call me that,” Zane mutters, shoving him back.
Once Alexey and Dmitri show up, they give us three differentplaces we can look, and Les starts giving orders. “Ghost, Alexey, and Dmitri, I want you and your crew at the Warrenton address.” Ghost nods. “Mateo and Evander use some of Ghost and Caden’s guys for the Village Green address. We’ll take the last one.”
Ghost fires off messages to tell the guys where to meet Evander and Mateo. Before he can walk away, Les grabs his arm. “How’s Caden?” she asks. Even with Micah’s life hanging in the balance and us walking into the unknown, she’s still worried about other people. It’s one of the many reasons I love that girl so damn much.
“He’s good.” Ghost smiles, running his hand through his shaggy blonde hair. “You need to know something, though. That writing on his chest? It said mine.”
I feel that anger flare up again, hotter than the last time. At the same time, Holden and Zane squeeze each arm subtly. I let it simmer because when I catch this motherfucker, he will wish he never fucking met me.
We jump into the SUV, Zane driving again while I punch the address into the GPS. I hear the clips clicking, letting me know everyone is running a weapons check. I hate that Holden has to be here, but he’s ready to join us. He’s talked nonstop about busting up Viktor’s shit, and the longer we try to hold him back, the more resentful he’ll feel. Holden is strong, stronger than me most days. He just doesn’t realize it yet, but between Zane and me, we’ll make sure he knows.
“Kill everyone,” Les declares. “No one walks out of that fucking place alive. I don’t care who they are.”
We all acknowledge that then Zane and I exchange a look. Les has that look that tells us she’s close to losing it altogether. Once she does, it’s hard to tell what she’ll do. They’ve already hurt Leo, Gage, and Holden. Now they have her uncle.
Zane pulls over when the top of the old warehouse comes into view, then turns to look at Les, waiting for her order.
She shakes her head. “I’m not on point,” she says, surprising us all. “I can’t make those decisions right now.” She looks at me. “You are.” I know the shock shows all over my face when she gives me a quick smile. “There is no one I trust more than you to get Micah outalive, Ryder. You’ve got this.” She grabs my arm. “I know you still feel guilty. You shouldn’t. I don’t blame you, and I never will.” She squeezes once, then lets her hand slide off. “Let’s go find Micah.”
She doesn’t know it yet, but she just gave me exactly what I needed. She gave me something I didn’t even know I needed.
Forgiveness.
Chapter 39
Gage
Saying Les is pissed is an understatement.
Her giving up point to Ryder didn’t even surprise me. The relief on his face when she said she didn’t blame him was. I had no clue he still blamed himself. I thought we had all moved on from that. I guess he hadn’t yet.
We meet at the hood, not even trying to hide. It’s broad daylight, and you can’t hide seven people in all black with assault rifles. Ryder looks around at us, then squares his shoulders. “We go in hot. Shoot everyone on sight. If this place is empty, we can help at one of the others. Holden stays in the middle with Les. Everyone else falls in line.” He jerks his head to follow him, and I can see the little smile playing on Les’ lips.
“How did you know?” I whisper. She knew this was what he needed, just like she always does.
