Page 55 of Blissful Devotion

“Fuck, why is this house so damn big?” Desmond’s annoyance is clear over the comm in my ear, and I grunt my agreement.

“Someone’s overcompensating,” Zander says with a laugh, and I can’t say I disagree, which is almost concerning given who said it. After spending all this time with them, I feel like we not only know each other but also understand each other.

Zander might have a few screws missing, but he isn’t a bad person, far from it, actually. He and Desmond actually seem to have a lot in common, minus the pinkie collection and body count.

Spencer found blueprints of the house; we’d spent the last two days poring over them, planning and running through every possibility.

What we hadn’t expected was Lorenzo trying to leave. Or at least I hadn’t; Jade always seemed a step ahead, though.

She grabbed him as he tried to slip into his helicopter… alone.

So the question was, where is Kat?

A question he’s very reluctant to answer, and while I have no doubt they can pry it from him, I don’t have the patience, and I fear we might not have the time.

Nobody has seen or heard from her in town, and other than Lorenzo himself, nobody comes and goes.

She could be—

No!

She’s here; we're going to find her, kill this sick son of a bitch, and take her home. Her and the baby are back where they belong.

“Where the fuck was that cellar entrance, Spencer?”

“Looks like you have to go through the main dining room to the kitchen. I don’t see the stairs, but it’s the only spot in the house that could house it, with the dungeon under the rest of the house.”

I don’t bother responding, instead moving through the house in the way he’d instructed.

Most houses in Mexico don’t have basements, let alone on the islands; Cozumel is no different.

It was actually one of the things that helped Spencer pinpoint his exact location. Trigger said he’d purchased an estate on Cozumel but didn’t have an exact location; before now, he hadn’t needed it.

Jade killed him before he could really dig deep and try for more information, anyway.

But a house with not one, but two underground structures set us off like a beacon. Less than twenty-four hours of surveillance and we knew; what we didn’t know was whether she was still here.

Fuck, I hope she is.

I make it into the kitchen to find the cook hiding behind one of the large stoves.

“Please don’t shoot!” he begs, hands in the air and face pinched in fear.

“Where is she?” I move closer, my gun aimed at his head, finger on the trigger. I don’t want to shoot this man; as far as I know, his only crime is having a terrible boss, but I don’t dare underestimate him, not when Kat needs us, needs me.

He cowers further, shrinking into himself, his hands shaking as he slowly moves to point behind him.

“The cellar doors are in the back of the pantry.” His voice quivers and his lip wobbles; the fear in his eyes is real and all-consuming.

Without moving my aim from him, I walk around him, backing up until I reach the doors.

“Stay there. If I come back up with her, I’ll bring you out with me, but if she’s not down there or you try to run…”

I don’t need to finish my sentence; he knows damn well what will happen, which is just as well because I don’t have the patience to spell it out for him, not when Kat might be just down these stairs.

“Kat!” I call as I fly down the stairs. The hall is long, with doors on each side, about eight in total lining both sides. I have to push away thoughts of what she might have been subjected to if she’s been kept down here; I don’t know that for sure.

Don’t know anything but that she might be here, that she needs us.