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Ryker shifted in his seat to get a better look at Linc. “That’s a whole hell of a lot of wondering, my friend. I wonder why you’re so interested in the Turkish beauty.”

“I think she’s impressive. You don’t meet too many impressive women like her out in the world. Someone who can work side-by-side with you, like Lark and Jada.”

Ryker thought about that. He thought about his mom and his sisters Carmen and Julie.

“What? You disagree?” Linc asked.

“No, you’re right. Lark and Jada and maybe Leila are in a different league. They’ll take up the torch and fight right along with you, but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing against any of them, I adore Lark and Jada. They’re perfect for Kostya and Gideon. But when I look at the women my brothers have married, and when I look at my mom and sisters, I know that I like a woman who I can take care of. A woman I can protect. That’s important to me.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Linc countered. “Lark and Jada both needed rescuing.”

Ryker chuckled. “The way I remember it, they were both kicking ass and taking names. Yeah, they might have needed a little help, but Lord help any bad guy who crossed them.”

Linc let out a laugh. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“What do you mean about protecting them? Do you want some kind of weak, stay-at-home woman?”

“Fuck no,” Ryker answered vehemently. He paused and considered it. “I know that the men in my family are all into the, ‘I’ll pump your gas,’ ‘I’ll open the door,’ kind of thing. Dad even says he wants to cherish Mom. For me, it’s a little different. I just want to make sure I’m there for her, that when there’s trouble, she’ll allow me to take the bullet. You know?”

Linc laughed. “I see what you’re saying. I think that Lark, Jada, and maybe even Leila would be more than willing to take the bullet.”

“Yep,” Ryker said resignedly.

“But jeez, man. Did you see her body? All that lean strength? I’m betting she does some kind of martial arts.”

“Linc, you do realize she lives here in Turkey. Here I’ve been worried about a long-distance relationship of two hundred miles, and you’re thinking of what, seven thousand miles? You’re nuts. My God man, have—”

Ryker’s phone rang. It was Kostya. He picked up.

“Yeah?” Ryker answered.

“We’re just outside of Bismil. Where are you?”

Ryker told him how to find them and hung up.

“What in the hell is taking Jase so goddamned long?” Ryker bitched.

“It’s probably Gideon. He’s parsing through the information so that he can determine exactly what we need.”

After fifteen minutes Ryker’s phone rang again. “We’re pulling in,” Kostya said just as another black SUV pulled in behind theirs. Kostya, Landon, and Nolan got out of their vehicle and squished into the backseat of Ryker’s SUV.

“Now we wait,” Kostya said. As if by magic, all five of their phones chirped with an incoming message on their group text. It was Gideon.

Kostya pulled out his satellite phone and called his second-in-command. “What does Jase have for us?”

“It’s not Jase. It’s Ayaz Polat and his family. There was an explosion at their house, but one of the neighbors swears that she saw one of the little boys dragged away in a car by an American.”

“Fuck, it’s Frank Sykes. Those Kraken motherfuckers are going to use that kid as leverage to get the Princeton boys,” Kostya bit out. “Gideon, do we have any idea what kind of relationship there is between Mehmet and Hamza and their nephew?”

“I’ve got nothing,” Gideon admitted.

“What the fuck do they think they’re going to do? How do they intend to contact those two brothers to even say they have the kid?” Ryker wanted to know.

“Those two idiots might have disappeared for the moment, but Kaan is still accessible, and he’s big on family. I say they’ll go to him,” Nolan said.