“I’ll meet you at the airfield,” Sawyer says, grabbing stuff from his desk drawer.
“Don’t be late or we’ll leave without you,” I say, making my goodbyes and hightailing it out of there.
* * *
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Anger explodes from my head as I charge across the asphalt toward the private plane I’ve hired to take us to Europe, scowling at my brother-in-law as he stands chatting to Sawyer Hunt looking relaxed and chill like we’re going on vacation instead of infiltrating a dangerous criminal gang.
Dropping my bag at my feet, I yank my gun from the back of my pants and jab it in Hunt’s skull. He stops talking mid-sentence, looking sideways at me. “What the fuck have you done?” I hiss, pressing the muzzle in tighter to his head.
“Whoops, he’s angry,” Kaiden says, and I swing the gun in his direction, pointing it at his head.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“Keep smirking, asshole, and we’ll be testing that theory.”
“If anyone has the right to be angry, it’s us.” Kaiden loses the smirk, wrapping his wrist around the gun and pushing it away. His nostrils flare as he waves his finger in my face. “You’re a fucking selfish prick, Drew Manning. Did you even stop to consider your twin before you went running off to South America and Europe and who the fuck knows where without fucking backup?”
I glare at Hunt because he clearly told Anderson everything I divulged earlier when I specifically said I didn’t want anyone else to know.
“Did you ever contemplate what it would do to my wife if you died hunting these pricks?” Kai continues, shoving me in the shoulders as the gun hangs listlessly in my hand. “Have you any idea how much she worries about you? How much it hurts her that you’ve shut her out and you refuse to tell her anything? She can’t even ask you about Jane because you get all huffy and she feels like shit if she causes you pain.” He shoves me again, and I stumble back a few feet.
I wouldn’t let anyone else push me around like this.
Only Anderson gets a free pass.
Kaiden’s love for my sister is this giant, shining, glorious, wonderful thing. I don’t have to worry about Abby anymore because I know her husband would kill for her without a second’s hesitation. He’s beaten guys up before for daring to even look at her. No man has ever loved a woman as much as Kaiden Anderson loves my sister, and I love the guy for it. Which is why I’m letting him have his say. Plus, I know I deserve it.
“And have you thought about what it would do to the rest of us, you dick?” he adds, grabbing the back of my head and pressing his brow to mine. “You’re not my blood, but you’re still my brother, Drew, in all the ways that count.” He thumps his closed fist on his chest. “Like Hunt and Lauder and Daniels and Barron.” He grips my shoulders hard. “Brothers stick together. They don’t shut one another out.”
“It’s time to stop being a martyr,” Hunt says just as Charlie arrives wearing a grin.
“When’s Lauder arriving?” he asks, chuckling at the expression on my face.
“He’s not,” Hunt says, the same time Kai says, “He’s in Abu Dhabi for a race.”
“Good. That guy still gets on my nerves,” I lie because I’m grumpy and he’s an easy target when he’s not here to defend himself.
“You’re so full of shit.” Kai grabs me into a headlock. “I hope there are plenty of motherfuckers to beat the shit out of in Bulgaria. Otherwise, your ass is mine, Manning. You deserve a good beating for pushing us away for so long.”
“I was trying to protect you, fuckface.” I ram my fist in his ribs, and he stumbles back with an oomph.
“Gentlemen, the pilot would like to inform you of our imminent departure,” the air steward says, poking his head out through the door of the plane. “You need to take your seats.”
“We’re coming.” I grab my bag and follow the others on board.
* * *
“Where does my sister think you are?” I ask Kaiden a few minutes later when we’re in the air and all nursing whiskeys. The planned attack isn’t happening until tomorrow night, so we can drop our guard a little tonight. I wanted to get to town early, to scope out the place, meet the men I’ve hired on the ground, and be there to greet the crew of ex-military men on my permanent payroll when they land in Bulgaria tomorrow.
He looks sideways at me as he speaks. “She knows where I am. She knows it’s a mission, but I didn’t give her any specifics. I figured you’d want to be the one to tell her.”
I didn’t want Abby to know, but there’s no point fighting the inevitable. “I’ll tell her when we get back.”
He clamps his hand on my shoulder. “I’m so fucking sorry about Jane. What happened should never have happened, but it’s not your fault, Drew.”
Everyone is starting to sound like a broken record, and I’m getting sick of hearing it.
Thankfully, he doesn’t push it any further.
