Page 372 of Romeo

Angel was on him before I could move.

One second, there were several yards between them. The next, Angel hit him hard enough to drive both of them into the side of a tree. The weapon fell into the leaves, and Angel pushed one forearm against the man’s throat and held him there while the bastard clawed uselessly at his arm.

“Angel,” I hissed.

His head turned slightly.

“Need him breathin’ long enough to answer questions.”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure that mattered to him. Then he released enough pressure that the man sucked in air.

I stepped closer. “How many?”

The man looked between us and said nothing.

Angel smiled.

It wasn’t friendly.

“Wrong choice,” I said, shaking my head. I caught Angel’s shoulder before he could demonstrate exactly why. “Later.”

His eyes stayed on the man for another second before he shoved him toward Braveheart. “Three.”

My phone buzzed again.

Juju: THREE.

I frowned, typing back to let him know we had number four.

Four men.

Could have been all of them?

Didn’t feel like it.

We moved closer to the cabin and finally got a clear view of the hidden boat Romeo had mentioned. Bigger than I expected. Plenty of room for several men. Whoever brought it in had known enough to keep it out of sight from the main channel.

Thore crouched beside me behind a cluster of cypress knees. “Four accounted for.”

“Yeah.”

Angel looked toward the cabin.

Nobody had fired a shot.

That bothered me.

They’d been here long enough to get men into position around Romeo. If killing everybody inside was the goal, they could have tried already.

I studied the cabin through the trees. “They’ve had plenty of time to light that place up.”

“They don’t want her dead,” Angel said.

I looked at him.

His gaze never left the cabin.

“They want her alive.” He answered a question no one asked. “St. James is running out of heirs. If she found the information Carly found—and it’s clear she found something if she sent someone after her—then she thinks Kaitlyn is her great-niece.” Angel glanced at me before turning his eyes back to cabin. “She wants to groom her to run the Society.”