This is containment. Every violent thing in me has been folded down into one sharp edge, and all of it points in the same direction.
Olivia.
The lot behind the old auto building is dark. No bikes tonight. Bikes are too loud, too recognizable, too much of what men expect from us. Two vans. Quiet engines. Covered plates. No cuts visible until we decide they need to be.
Logan made that call.
Matteo agreed.
I hated it because I hate every second where I don’t get to move the way I’m built to move. I hated it more because it was right.
Shadow stands to my left, checking his weapon once even though he already checked it twice. Hammer is near the second van with Cain, both of them speaking low. Joker leans against the side panel, blade in one hand, wiping it with a cloth like he has all the time in the world.
Blaze is quiet.That says enough. He sits inside the van with one boot on the floor, elbows braced on his knees, gun held loose in his hand. No joke. No grin. No mouth running just to fill the space. He looks at me once. Doesn’t say anything.
Good. Words are useless until they tell us where to go.
Dom’s voice comes through the earpiece. “Alessandro’s linked.”
A second later, another voice joins. Smooth, accented, fast, with none of Matteo’s lazy amusement. “This is Alessandro.”
Dom answers immediately. “I’m seeing your feed. You’ve got gate camera, exterior north, exterior west, and transport tracker?”
“Yes. Nico is in position three cars back. No engagement. No exposure.”
Logan steps closer to the open van door. “Girls?”
A beat.
Then Alessandro says, “Delivered.”
Everything in me stops. Not my body. Not my breathing. Something deeper.
Delivered.
That means she reached Matteo’s house. That means the collar is off. That means she’s not in that van anymore. That means she is alive.
Alive.
I hold onto that word like it’s the only thing keeping my hands from tearing the van apart.
Alessandro continues, “A female entered matching Olivia Martin’s description. Collar visible. Ambulatory.” Ambulatory. Walking. Alive.
My jaw tightens. Logan looks at me. I give him nothing. If I let anything out now, it won’t go back in.
Dom says, “Collar status?”
“Matteo’s team is handling it. Delivery crew is exiting now.”
Silence spreads through the lot. Every man hears it. Delivery crew exiting. The men who carried her. Moved her. Spoke around her like product. Touched the van she was in. Breathed the same air as her while she wore their collar.
Joker’s smile appears slowly.
Logan points at him once. “Alive if possible.”
Joker sighs. “You’re taking the joy out of this.”
“Take it from the ones who don’t talk.”
