I pull her back against my chest, planting my hand on her stomach. “Details might be helpful.”
“I wasn’t going to mention the hostages, but they added another, so I’ve decided it might be pertinent to inform you that they have two individuals from Charlotte’s past.”
“What?” Charlotte gasps. “Who?”
“Two men you had some type of intimate relationship with between leaving the MC and ending up in Boston.” Moretti quirks an eyebrow. “Ringing any bells?”
“You’re saying Blade has Miles and Steve, and you just didn’t mention it?” Charlotte hisses, taking a step forward.
Well, now I really want to know who the fuck Miles and Steve are, and when Charlotte found time to have a romantic relationship with them.
MaybeI wouldn’t mind if they got caught in the crossfire. There’s also a good chance thatmaymake me a monster, but here we are.
Moretti points at Charlotte. “That would be why I failed to mention it. Blade was banking on you hearing that and willingly trading yourself for them. That would be an unintelligent choice, but he knew he could play to your guilt.” He shrugs. “You have a conscience. I, fortunately for all of us, do not.”
I’m actually really fucking grateful he kept the information about the hostages to himself, because I’m sure he’s right.
If Charlotte knew Blade had two men from her past, she would have wanted to trade herself to save their lives. She might even have tried to rush us into moving up the exchange.
“We’ll do our best to get them back in one piece, but that’s not the priority,” Moretti says. “We have a war to preventwithinthe Boston families.”
A goddamn shiver runs down my spine. “What the fuck does that mean?”
He grimaces. “I’ve been out all day, making arrangements. I had no idea Vanessa attempted to gain entrance at the front gate of my home several hours ago.”
“Why would she be at your house?” Malachy asks.
“Everyone knows the three of you won’t be honoring the marriage contract,” Moretti says calmly. “I’ve heard rumors that her brothers are making the rounds, attempting to test the waters to see who they can rope into taking her in exchange for paying the penalty your family is owed. If I had to guess? She’s scrambling to find anyone to save her from the sick old fucks Vance and Victor are busy trying to sell her to.”
“That sounds awful,” Charlotte whispers, looking over her shoulder at me. “No one deserves that. We have to find a way to help her.”
“I can see you don’t know Vanessa.” Moretti snorts. “Anyway, she was turned away at the gate, and at some point after that, she was kidnapped by the MC. They now have a high-value hostage, meaning we can’t fuck this up.”
“Miles and Steve matter too,” Charlotte snaps. “They have kids! They’re also decent human beings, if it matters to any of you.”
“Hey,” I say, patting her stomach. “He failed to tell us they had hostages. This is the first I’m hearing about it.”
“Me too,” Malachy growls.
“I was going to leave it up to you whether Charlotte joined us,” Moretti says. “I’m afraid, I’ll now have to insist that she comes to the handoff. We can’t risk them executing Vanessa if they get cagey about not spotting Charlotte.”
“That’s not happening,” I say, trying to keep myself calm. “We can tell them Charlotte is in the trunk of one of the vehicles and kill them all as soon as we see Vanessa.”
“No way,” Charlotte says, spinning in my hold. “You’re not putting the lives of three people at risk to save me.Especiallynot when I’m the reason for all of this.”
“I’ll put on a wig,” I say, shrugging. “Moretti can drag me from the trunk. I bet they won’t even notice the difference.”
“It’s not a good look if you expected her to trust you to keep yourselves safe, but you suddenly show fear about your inability to keep her safe in the same circumstances,” Moretti says, and I daydream about stabbing him in the eye.
“He has a point,” Charlotte says.
“He wants my foot up his ass,” Malachy growls.
Charlotte says goodbye to Lucky, and I pull Miriam and Seamus aside.
“You know what to do,” I tell them, looking between them. “The first hint of danger. I don’t care if you get a weird tickle in your throat. You bring him to the safe room. All three of you lock down until we get back.”
Seamus nods. “We’ll handle it.”
