Shaking my head as I struggle to come to terms with it, every instinct in me screaming to act now, I nearly drop the tablet before Ivan catches it.
“No…there’s no way…”
Roman grabs my arm, harder this time. He doesn’t do it to stabilize me.
“You promised,” he says, voice growing in volume as the words come out. “You stood in front of us all and said she’d be safe with you. You lied to my fucking face, Michaels.”
“I didn’t know,” I snarl, shoving him back before I can stop myself, not even remotely feeling like myself. “I was here, defending my goddamn turf, unless you haven’t noticed the scorched building behind us.”
Roman’s jaw tightens. “You would’ve known if you hadn’t left her.”
He’s right.
The staggering realization hits harder than he ever could, nearly knocking the breath right from my lungs.
With everything slowed to this very moment, I see her peacefully slumbering face in my mind. Alone. Completely unaware of what I’ve been dealing with. I see every choice stacking up to this catastrophic failure.
I barely catch as Patch curses under his breath. “This was the distraction.”
Snapping my attention toward him, I notice the dread that accompanies the revelation in his eyes.
“They hit the warehouse to get you out of the way. They planned this to get to Elena,” he adds grimly.
That, paired with the way they lingered, drawing us away from the building like some sort of bait, puts it all into perspective. It’s the only sound reasoning.
As easy as it would be to lose myself in thought over it, I don’t let myself. Not while thinking will kill me before it does any good.
“They could take her anywhere,” I murmur, hating the dark, oppressive feeling in my chest at the limitless possibilities. Then I look between Roman and Ivan. “Where? Tell me you’ve tracked them.”
While Roman’s rage doesn’t dissipate, it sharpens into more focus than blind fury. “From what we could glean, they didn’t take her far. They swapped vehicles, but our guys have been following them closely. They’re at a hotel on the strip. It’s one of the Grimaldis own outright.”
My heart nearly stops with both relief and barely-contained wrath. My fingers twitch down at my side. “Then why are we still here? Why aren’t you already storming the place?”
“Easy…” Roman warns, putting a hand up to stop me from moving as his eyes narrow. “One, my men are busy scouting the place and doing some recon work. We need to know how many civilians are inside, where they are, and how many Grimaldis we’re dealing with. The more we know, the better equipped we are to take them out swiftly. And two, I had to know if I needed to put a bullet in you first.”
“Do it later then, if you must,” I utter, stepping into his space, not giving any attention to the guns that could turn on me in a moment’s notice. “But not until we get Elena back.”
Silence hangs between us for a long, infuriating moment, then resolve settles over Roman. “Then we have a kingpin to kill. Get to work.”
Without another word, we take action.
Everyone piles into vehicles, peeling away from what remains of the warehouse before anyone can be asked any questions. Patch is already making calls, mobilizing every man we have left, while I sit in the back seat with him. Nikolai drives, and Roman is giving his own orders in the passenger seat.
My knuckles clench so tightly against the interior that they burn, and I hardly notice anything else around us.
I should feel afraid for Elena and everything on the line right now, but I don’t. There’s only rage condensed into cold, absolute focus.
Without any prompting, I see her face in my mind. I hear her laugh at the club and feel the way she curled into me this morning before I left. She looked so at ease. So trusting.
The memory sours at the thought of them taking her. Taking what’s mine.
Just as he ends the call, Roman glances back at me, returning that tension tenfold. But rather than pure hatred for me, there’s a sort of alignment in it too, even if it’s fragile.
“You find her alive, and this truce holds,” he says, quiet yet still full of intent.
Meeting his gaze, I let him know I’m serious about everything I have. “I’ll get her out even if it kills me.”
“Don’t let it kill either of you, or else I’ll kill you again,” Roman utters. “Right after the damn Grimaldis.”
