“I’m not going to do this with you. Someone took Arloe, and I plan to kill them. So, either I go alone and make a mess, or he comes and helps me.”
“Killing for the girl now?” He shakes his head. “I didn’t realize how deep your feelings were.”
“Don’t insult me by lying. You knew exactly how I felt. That’s why you made me the one to handle shit with Barron.”
He shrugs. “Sometimes I have to remind you boys who holds the power in this family.”
“Is that it? You fuck with us so we don’t stray? You realize in that process you pit half of us against each other.”
He stands from his seat and steps closer to me, letting his chest brush against mine. It’s an intimidation tactic that would work better if he was taller. As of now, I can see the top of his head, and all it makes me want to do is laugh.
“Hate makes you stronger, Easton. If hating me teaches you anything, I hope it’s to not take anyone’s shit.”
I hunch down so my eyes are level with his. “I don’t and I never will. Now, you can either help me by ordering Jude on what to do or not. Regardless, I’m gettingmygirl and bringing hell with me.”
Something flashes in his eyes. I’m not sure what it is exactly because I’ve never seen it before, but I don’t question it.
“You remind me of myself when I was younger.” He shakes his head with a grin then turns away from me and toward the door. “Jude!”
After a moment, Jude appears. “What’s up?” He seems light on his feet and relaxed until his eyes catch sight of me. “Really? Are we doing this again?”
“I’m not here to fight, asshole. I need help.” The words sting coming out because I don’t want to ask him for help any more than he probably wants to help me.
“You basically said fuck us and now you want help?” He raises a brow, a smirk hanging from his lips.
“I’m not apologizing if that’s what you want. I mean, I thought about it, but I refuse because I stand by what I said.”
My dad slips out of the room silently, leaving Jude and me to have this discussion alone.
“What is it then?”
“Someone has Arloe, and I need help handling it.”
That piques his interest. “Handling it how?”
“Bloody.”
His lips curl into a smile, showing off all of his perfectly white teeth. “Ah. My favorite kind of solution.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and leans onto the doorjamb. “So, what happened? What kind of situation are we walking into? We can’t go in there guns blazing. We need a plan.”
“Barron. Barron fucking happened. He tried to get someone to come after us, and it backfired. Considering they know who we are.” I pull Barron’s phone from my pocket and show Jude the message. “I’m sure they won’t object to us taking her back.”
He shakes his head. “What a fucking idiot.”
I nod in agreement. “We need to know where they’re keeping her.”
“How are you going to figure out where they are?”
I tip my head toward the kitchen entrance and start walking, urging him to follow me. We make our way down the hall and up the flight of stairs until we’re at Baby’s door. I knock once before opening it. Luckily, no girl is choking over his dick this time, which means he won’t be distracted.
I walk to where he is sitting in his chair and push the headphones off his ears. “We need some help, Baby.”
Chapter Nineteen
Easton
Baby twirls in his chair and smiles when he sees me and Jude behind him. “Aw! Are you two getting along now? How…wholesome.”
Jude scrunches up his face. “Shut the fuck up.”
