“No,” I said almost violently. “Please, Dante. You have to do something.”
My brother grabbed my face. “It’s already done, irmãozinho,” he said gently.
“What?” I asked. I felt Vaughn at my back. His hands came to rest on my shoulders.
“It’s done, Aleks. They’re safe. Come see.” Dante put his arm around my shoulders, but when Vaughn didn’t move, it became a weird stand-off.
It was Magnus who intervened. He closed his fingers aroundDante’s and said, “Come on, MawMaw. You and Vaughn can have a ‘whose is bigger’ match later.”
I swore I heard my brother mumble that his was bigger, but he gave in and followed Magnus. There was also a comment about the hated nickname Matty had given Dante two years earlier. Since he called his grandfather Pop-pop, he’d taken to calling Dante MawMaw. It had started as a joke, but Matty and his little friends had gotten a kick out of how much it had annoyed Dante, so they’d all started calling him that.
And it had stuck.
Vaughn took my hand and we followed the men out of the room. As we made our way back toward the main room, I saw that all the doors to the private rooms were open and they all had damage to them.
Like they’d been kicked in…
I felt my blood run cold when I saw that the room Brian had been in was open too.
I came to a stop and stared at the empty room.
Vaughn wrapped his arm around me from behind. “We’ll find him again, Aleks. I promise.”
I nodded and then let him tug me away. My brother and Magnus had stopped at some point to watch the exchange between me and Vaughn, but Dante didn’t ask me about it. I was still trying to deal with the fact that Brian had managed to elude punishment, so I didn’t notice what was happening in the main room until I heard Con say, “Holy fuck.”
I looked up and gasped when I took in the sight before me.
More than a dozen men with guns had formed a large circle around another group of men, all on their knees and bound and gagged.
Some of the bound men were sobbing, others looked sullen. But not one of them was making any kind of sound otherwise. I recognized Mr. Oak and Mr. Stark among the men on their knees… along with Brian and the rest of the party guests.
They were all bound and gagged.
Caught.
Helpless.
Afraid.
Like all the kids they’d hurt.
“What is this?” Vaughn asked in disbelief.
“This,” Ronan said as he came up next to us, “is Aleks’s family.” He nodded at the men forming the circle. “Every single one has suffered at the hands of another or known someone who has. And like Aleks, they had to choose to let it break them or to survive it and then fight back when they could. This is them fighting back for themselves, for the people they love, and for those who aren’t able to fight for themselves just yet.”
My eyes scanned the faces of all the men. I didn’t know any of them, but my heart swelled at knowing that they’d been willing to risk their lives to help me, Luca’s son, and most importantly, the kids who’d spent every second of tonight wishing a miracle would happen and they’d get to go home.
“Where are the kids?” I asked.
Ronan motioned to the door. Several men were ushering a line of kids out the door. A couple of the smaller children were being carried by the men and a couple of the older kids. I saw the little boy that had been with Brian in one of the men’s arms.
“Did your brother ever tell you how he and I met?” Ronan asked. “Or how he came to work for me?”
I shook my head.
“It was several years ago. We were both in Chicago looking for the same man. That man had hurt Mace and Cole’s then-boyfriend, Jonas. They’re now all married to one another,” Ronan said with a smile.
I glanced at Vaughn, who looked positively confused at the mention of three people being married. I’d been in the same boat when I’d been introduced to one of the many threesomes in our family. Dante had explained to me that none of them were legally married, but they’d said vows in front of their family and friends to show that they were going to spend their lives together just like regular couples. I took Vaughn’s hand in mine and waited until helooked at me. “I’ll explain it to you later,” I said with a wink. He laughed at that and I smiled.
