Lucien clears his throat, and they all turn to look at him with surprised and then blank looks on their faces. "If you want out now, tell me," Lucien growls. "Because I assure you, gentlemen, I will move heaven and earth, if I have to, with my own goddamn bare hands to get her back," he says, giving each and every one of them a searing look. "Don't underestimate my obsession…or my undying love for her."
There is a calm silence that settles over the men, and several nod their head in compliance.
"I have an idea on how we can get in quickly and quietly and without detection," he announces to the entire room.
There are some disbelieving huffs and murmurs throughout the warehouse, but Lucien just ignores them. Instead, he simply says, "We're going to hit them and hit them fucking hard." Then, he grins before adding, "The good news is…they won't even see us coming."
Holy shit, Miles and Lucien must have actually hacked into the city's power grid. I guess miracles do fucking happen.
CHAPTER 36
JACKSON
ONCE WE REACH our destination, Lucien and I put a plan into place. We're sending the trained agents and Wraith's men in first. Lucien, Katya and I will bring up the tail end of the mission and go straight for Adeline once the coast is clear.
Due to Lucien's recent medical problems, it's better for him to stay out of harm's way. He's in no condition to fight, but I know he wants to be there when we find Adeline.
Lucien is communicating with Miles on his phone as his friend proficiently hacks into the city's electrical grid within the matter of several minutes.
"When I give him the signal, the whole house will be in total darkness for a total of ten minutes," Lucien tells the team of men gathered several hundred yards from the backyard of the house.
It's not much time, but it gives us one hell of an advantage.
"Your guy's gonna cut off all the electricity for ten minutes? Fuck, he's good," one agent whistles. "What did you say his name was again?" he asks slyly.
Lucien rolls his eyes. "Not a chance."
"Can't blame a guy for trying," the agent says with a grin.
It's amusing to see the good guys and the bad guys working together towards a common goal. But I'm sure that if we weren't going up against a bigger target than Lucien, these agents would have no problem gunning for my cousin instead.
Giovanni is their number one goal on a long list, and they're going to get a chance to capture him tonight.
Little do they know that they won't be catching him alive; however, because we have no intentions of letting him live to see tomorrow.
Wraith motions for everyone to get into place, and then we're donning the night vision goggles that were supplied by the FBI and making our way through the surrounding tall grass towards the mansion.
When we're within striking distance, we all stop and lie in wait as Lucien sends out a text to his hacker colleague to cut the electricity.
Seconds later, the entire property is doused in a shroud of darkness. They have no communication systems from the front gate to the house, no security cameras, no fucking lights…nothing.
The FBI agents go first, securing a portable climbing assist tool to the top of the fence. One by one, they climb up the makeshift ladder and down the other side, disappearing into the night.
Wraith motions his men ahead, and the group runs towards the tall barrier, resembling black knights storming a castle. I watch them repeat the agents' actions from just a few seconds prior. And once they fade into the veiled property of the manor as well, I look behind me for Katya.
And she's fucking gone.
"Fuck!" I hiss. I frantically search the area around us, but she's nowhere to be found.She ghosted me.
"What's wrong?" Lucien asks.
"Katya's gone!" I say in a panic. I look towards the house, and my face falls. "She must have followed Wraith." I can't even fucking believe it right now.
Lucien clasps me on the shoulder. "I'm sure Wraith will watch over her."
I hang my head and nod. "Fuck, I hope so," I mutter. The thought of her not being safe or getting hurt fucking guts me. I didn't realize how deep my feelings ran for Katya until this moment. If anything happens to her, I'll never be able to forgive myself.
We allow some time to pass before Lucien and I maneuver our way over the fence. The muffled gunshots can be heard sporadically throughout the property as Giovanni's men are taken out by weapons equipped with silencers.
