Chapter 26 - Ignacio
Itry to get comfortable in my seat. Being somewhere other than my room is strange. I’m no longer used to sitting on anything other than a hospital bed, but being around everyone else is nice, even if it’s for something as fucked as what’s currently going on.
Fucking Leandro.
I don’t know if I admire the guts he has for the level of manipulation he’s been doing in the background, or fear that my family’s been caught up in his game.
Knowing he allowed Cristian and Il Padrone to be kidnapped…
My feelings for Allesandro have shifted.
I care about him because he saved me, but I also know what he did to me and the other Boys, what he put Benjamin through in his last punishment, wasn’t right.
I can’t hate him. What he did wasn’t okay, but at the same time, I know I wouldn’t be here without him.
It’s a good thing his fate isn’t up to me, because I am not the right person to make those types of decisions.
That makes me think of Roman, and how I have no idea what he’s doing with me.
I’m not polished like his other lovers, but I won’t insult him and his choices by questioning him.
All I can do is try to be what he deserves, and even if I fall short, I know it won’t make him love me any less.
Which is why, despite my wound aching from being forced to sit up for longer than I’m used to, and the tenseness that comes with learning all we have today, I stay where I am. Roman believes in me, and I refuse to let him down.
Hollis comes back into the sitting room, after escorting Leandro to their office. He’s now armed with a laptop, two tablets, and a cellphone. He sets everything up on the coffee table and takes a seat next to me.
“How’d you convince Doc to give you your phone back?” Tennant asks.
“I didn’t give him a choice,” Hollis responds carefully. “I promised to hand it back over once the meeting is done.”
Tennant watches his lover for a long moment before finally nodding.
“I’m going to walk Carter back to his room, but you can get started without me,” Keegan says to the room at large, before he tugs Marcus close and whispers something in his ear.
The pain and anger on Marcus’s face ignites my own.
Antonio being gone…it’s a kick to the gut, in an already volatile time, where we’re missing part of us.
We might not be Boys anymore, but the bonds between us will always be there.
And losing not only Lio, but now Antonio, has a burning need igniting within me, one that calls for us to destroy everything in our path, and save what’s ours.
I watch as Keegan and Marcus help Carter out of his chair.
Carter sets a hand on Marcus’s cheek, and leans in to kiss him softly.
Surprise washes over me at the action, but I can’t say I’m not happy for them all.
I just hope those two are prepared to face Roman.
He might be an adult, with his own life and lovers, but I know how protective he is of Carter.
Fuck, we need to get him back. Every day that he’s missing is an arrow in my heart. I know he’s strong enough to handle whatever’s thrown at him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect him all the same.
He is…everything to me. My heart and soul, and being without him weighs heavily on my shoulders. Especially since there isn’t shit I can do to help find him.
Carter and Keegan finally leave, and Marcus wanders over, a look of sheer determination on his face. War is in play, and I can’t say some of my tension doesn’t ease at that.
“I’m surprised Jude didn’t want to stay,” Marcus says, as he sits on the couch opposite the one Hollis and I are on.
“He knows his strengths,” Hollis muses, focusing on his computer.
“He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself to keep the Family going with Roman gone, and now he has the twins to worry about, since Antonio has been taken.
It’s not that his input wouldn’t be insightful, but he knows we have it handled, so he can focus on other tasks. ”
“Are the trackers still online, Hol?” Tennant asks. He stands behind the couch Marcus sits on.
“They are, and from the looks of it, they’ve stopped at their destination.
” Hollis tilts his head as he studies his screen.
He types something in and says, “Looks to be a warehouse. It’s not in any of the names we were checking, so it’s gone unnoticed until now.
” He grimaces. “This means that wherever the Boys are—if they're not here—it's probably the same. It would make sense. They would know we’d be checking into their properties; it’s what we would have done in the same instance.”
“Can you do a search for other properties under whatever name they’re using for this one?”
“Already sent the information to Leandro.”
Marcus huffs. “Can we really trust him?”
Hollis looks up from what he’s doing, and I hold my breath, hoping I’m not about to witness him getting murdered. “Yes. He is many things, a pain in the ass mostly, but he doesn’t lie.”
“No, he just conveniently leaves things out!” Marcus snaps.
Hollis shrugs. “He was in the wrong. I can’t—won’t—defend his actions, but he would never hurt what he considers his. Roman and Lio? They’re his. And if what he says is true, then Antonio is too, whether he likes it or not.”
Marcus snarls, but before he can say anything, Tennant clamps a hand on his shoulder.
“Be very careful, War,” he tells him. “Leandro makes poor decisions because he can only see things in black and white. In his eyes, the benefits outweighed the risks. You don’t have to like it, but if you touch a hair on his head…
well, I suggest you think about what you’d do should anyone threaten your son. ”
“Are you able to get a layout of where they’re keeping Antonio?” I ask Hollis, hoping to change the subject.
“Yes. The aerial views show not much in the way of cover.” He moves his laptop across, so I don’t have to lean over on my wound in order to see the screen.
He zooms out and shows me what he means.
“Our men would have to use one of these buildings as their cover, and there’s nothing to say that Cecily’s team aren’t already there to prevent that from happening.
They’d know the area better, and would have chosen this location specifically because it’s so hard to sneak around. ”
I hum in contemplation. “So we’d have to go in guns blazing.”
“There’s too many variables with that plan,” Marcus says.
“We run the risk of losing too many people.” He gets up and moves around the back of the couch, so he can see what we do on Hollis’s screen.
“We’d be risking a lot, because there’s nowhere to hide.
What’s the closest staging ground that probably isn’t under enemy control? ”
Hollis zooms his map out further. “Here.”
I grimace. It leaves a lot of open ground, where the enemy can hide and pick us off one by one as we try to get close to our target. Unless… “We need a distraction,” I muse.
“What are you thinking, Chaos?”
Ten’s question is almost innocent, but it has the right edge of curiosity and mayhem in the tone to further fan the flames of destruction in me, and has a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
“Someone, or someones—a small team of two, maybe three—go in and set a few of these buildings,” I gesture to the ones that may or may not be held by the enemy, “to go boom. It’ll let them know we’re there, yes, but should be a big enough distraction that the teams we have on standby can swoop in and storm them. ”
“That could lead to pandemonium,” Marcus cautions. “They’ll be on guard from the explosions, and keyed up to shoot first, ask questions never.”
“Are you disagreeing with me?”
He’s silent for a long moment, weighing the options, while looking at the problem from as many angles as possible. “No,” he finally sighs. “The people going in to set the distractions will need to be fast and accurate, there will be no second chances. If they get caught…”
He doesn’t need to finish. Death wouldn’t just come for those caught with the explosives, but to Antonio, Roman, and Lio as well, if they’re all on-site.
“I’m not against it,” Tennant says. “And I’d be one of the ones on the ground setting up said distractions.”
“The fuck you will be,” Hollis snaps. “Did you forget you were shot mere days ago?”
Tennant rolls his eyes. “The bullet didn’t damage anything. Jayden said I have good movement, and Dr. Ranlen did a good job of patching me up. I’m fine.”
“I should kill you myself, since you seem to have a fucking death wish.”
“I won’t sit this one out, Hol. I can’t.” The stress in Tennant’s voice is obvious, and I’m surprised he’s letting Marcus and I hear his vulnerability.
Tension snaps between the two of them, before Hollis sighs. “If you die, I swear to fuck, I will never forgive you.”
Tennant smiles indulgently. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Keegan walks back into the room at that moment. “Do I want to know how it’s going?”
“We have the start of a plan,” Marcus answers carefully, watching his Dom. “How’s Carter?”
“Doc gave him some meds because he’s in pain. All the standing and tension from the meeting aggravated his wounds. He’ll be fine, though.”
Keegan moves to stand next to Marcus, and I can’t see them unless I want to aggravate my own wound, but I imagine Keegan pulls Marcus close in comfort. “What’s this plan then?”
We tell him, and I suddenly don’t want him at my back any longer when he takes a while to respond. Every nerve-ending itches with the need to do something, and I hate the limitations placed on me while I'm in recovery.
“What are our other options?” Keegan asks.
Hollis shows him the maps and aerial view of the area.
“We don’t have many, at least, not good ones that won’t end with too many of us dead.
If we want to mitigate the risks to our people…
this might be the only way. Ten volunteered to set one of the blasts, but we’d need one, ideally two, more to do the others.
“We can have our people gather here and here.” He points to two smaller outposts further out.
“It’ll protect them from the blast radius, while also being close enough to move in as soon as possible.
The scramble should allow our people to slip in and get up close and personal with the enemy, to take them out before anyone knows it’s happening. ”
“Marcus?” Keegan asks.
“It’s solid enough that it might be the only option we have. The other ones…there’s too much risk involved.”
“Okay. Then let’s get to work on making sure we’re as safe as possible, and come up with a backup plan.” Keegan leads Marcus back over to the couch opposite Hollis and me.
I’m pissed that I can’t join my Family on the ground for this.
It goes against my very nature to sit back and let others put themselves in danger without me, but if this means I may get my Little One back…
then I’ll support them however I can, to make sure they’re able to deliver him to me in one piece.
As soon as I get my arms around Roman again, I’m not letting him go. We settle in to fine-tune our plan, victory and vengeance so close I can almost taste it.