38. Royce
The moment I stepped on the deck, beignets in hand, my gut screamed that something was wrong.
I was met with silence, and when I entered our room, something felt amiss. I went searching for Willow, but she was nowhere to be found. With each passing second, my panic rose and I rushed through the boat, inspecting every corner.
The blood in my veins turned to ice as I rushed to the surveillance and sped through the security footage from the past two hours.
My heart raced in my chest as I watched the scenes play out on the monitor. The two of us this morning, fucking her mouth and eating her out, and then her falling back asleep and me slipping out of bed. It was the next scene that had my hands shaking.
Stuart.
Before Willow even stirred, he was pricking her with a needle. When she opened her eyes, her face paled and she looked like she was having trouble breathing.
My knuckles turned white watching Stuart manhandle her naked body when she eventually passed out.
My senses went on high alert when Stuart’s parents came in next, and together, they dragged Willow out of the room and off the boat.
The sound of footsteps reached me and I reached for my knife. When the door to the surveillance room swung open, I found Asher standing there. And Kian Cortes.
“Willow’s been kidnapped,” was Asher’s greeting.
“How do you know that?” My hand tightened around the handle of my knife, distrust building. “Are you in on it? First Stuart’s parents on your island, and now this.”
Asher’s anger was a pulsing force, filling the small cabin.
When he remained silent, my gaze darted to his companion. “And what are you doing here, Kian? Are you in on it?”
“No.”
“You’ve run into Willow back in Lisbon and put her in the cab,” I pointed out. “You’re telling me it’s a coincidence you’re around twice now when she’s in trouble.”
Kian seemed unperturbed.
“I happened to be in the room when Asher was alerted, and I offered my help, but if you’d rather not have reinforcements, by all means, I’ll go.”
Having backup was smarter. I didn’t know what I’d be going up against. Willow’s safety was a priority.
“Thank you.” Then a realization sunk in as surprise coasted through me. “Alert?”
“Yes. When Stuart and his parents breached security, I got an alert.” Asher’s answer sent fury through me and I narrowed my eyes on him.
“You’ve been spying on me.” Not that it mattered now, but once I got Willow back, I’d beat his ass to a pulp.
“I still have the security system connected to my phone—don’t worry though, I disabled the cameras in the bedrooms.” He winked at me. As if I should be grateful.
“How could you let them take her?” I roared.
“What the fuck did you want me to do?” Irritation flared on his face. “Fly on my magic carpet and appear out of thin air? I tried calling you. I thought they got to you too.”
“Which is why we’re here now,” Kian added. “About to save the day.”
I tabled my fury at the intrusion because they were right, I needed help. And there was nobody more competent than these two.
“They took her,” I whispered, putting my knife away.
My wife. My everything.
“You got a plan?” Kian asked, clearly seeing my helplessness stamped on my face. “Because we do. I was able to make a few calls on the way here.”
“They’ll regret ever fucking with her,” Asher comforted.
“I’ll make sure of it,” I gritted. Their last moments on this earth would be painful. “And if there’s one scratch on her?—”
I couldn’t even think about it. She and the baby better be safe.
“We’ll find her,” Asher assured.
I only hoped that when we did, it wasn’t too late. Because without her, this life wasn’t worth living. Willow was all that mattered to me.
We pulled up surveillance footage from the streets and buildings in Caracas, thanks to Asher’s and Kian’s connections to the mafia. We’d followed their tracks all the way to the remote location outside the city.
The temperatures were warm, but I wore a leather jacket kitted with weapons—handguns, revolvers, knives. Asher was dressed similarly, both of us gripping handguns, while Kian opted for a single handgun.
Asher’s phone buzzed again, and my nerves teetered on the edge. The constant chiming of his phone wasn’t helping my current state.
“For fuck’s sake, would you turn that fucking thing off.”
Willow and I had turned our own phones off mere days ago to ensure we weren’t being tailed.
“She’ll be okay, Royce,” he said, seeing through my misplaced frustration.
“Asher’s got some heat to deal with,” Kian chimed, amused.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “And you’re here because…?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? This is more exciting.”
Everything aside, the fact he chose to help me spoke volumes.
“Thank you.” My voice was brimming with emotion. Maybe Willow’s pregnancy hormones were transferring to me.
A terse nod and we returned our attention to the task at hand.
We stood at the forest’s tree line, watching a concrete building and parking lot surrounding it as we waited for the sun to set. We’d use the cover to sneak up on the Harris family and the group of mercenaries they’d brought along. They were positioned around the building, some even lingering on the roof, as they scouted the area.
To prevent being spotted, we came through the forest, parking our vehicles on the street that was on the other side of the woods.
There wasn’t much telling us what was happening inside, but that didn’t stop my imagination from running wild. The need to swoop in this instant was overwhelming.
Asher must have picked up on my tension because his next words snapped my attention back to him.
“So should I play it safe and delete all the surveillance except for the kidnapping?”
Tension in my muscles was pulled taut.
“So you watched the surveillance?”
He snickered. “I never said that.”
“Did you enjoy the show, your sick voyeur?” I had to taunt him or risk losing my mind. I was itching for a fight, and sitting here in the bushes of the tree line wasn’t helping. “Maybe I should beat you up and ensure your amnesia.”
His lip twitched. “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure. That’s why you never turned off your phone connection to the surveillance on that boat.”
He shrugged. “Kinky is your jam, not mine.”
I snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“Okay, maybe I have my versions of kinky, but watching my half-sibling fucking his wife isn’t one of them.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I retorted wryly. “It’s good to have boundaries.”
“Is it?” My eyes darted to him for a second before he continued, “If you need to have a round of boxing or a physical activity to release some tension, just say so. I can practically see steam coming off you in waves.”
“Physical activity?”
“I’m not your wife, you perv. I meant if you want me to beat your fucking ass.”
“As if you ever could?—”
“Jesus, you two,” Kian cut both of us off. “Would you cut the shit? It’s like listening to an old married couple.”
“How would you know? It’s not like you’re married.” Tension released from my muscles with each word, but worry and the itch to fight remained. “Unless you partake in some kinky stuff and role play.” He flipped me off, although the amusement on his face didn’t escape me. Kian was a bit of a mystery. Nobody knew why he left the Cortes cartel, nor had he ever been spotted with a woman on his arm. He took privacy to a whole new level. Suddenly I got somber, and added, “Thank you both for all your help.”
Surprise flashed in their gazes, but they quickly got themselves together and titled their heads in acknowledgement.
Returning my attention to the building and its surrounding concrete parking lot, I scanned the area.
“I count twenty, plus the Harris family,” I muttered.
“Same,” Kian noted.
“There’s a vehicle with two more,” Asher added.
My gaze followed his line of sight. Indeed, there was a shadow of two figures seated in a white sedan. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on their outline, when a realization sunk in.
“Stuart’s parents.”
I wanted to rip out every limb from their bodies and hear their screams. Instead, I forced myself to breathe through my fury. I had to fight the urge not to march through and start firing blindly.
But I couldn’t risk letting my temper hurt Willow and the baby. My hand tightened around my handgun. Once Willow was safe, I would deal with Stuart and his parents.
Everyone I’d served with had the capacity for violence—obviously—but I would never have imagined him capable of this. Nor had I realized that Stuart joined the service already sick in the head.
Rage rolled over me in an icy, wrathful wave.
“Do you have the blueprint for the building?” I asked Asher.
“Yeah, there isn’t much to it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “One big space.”
There was something in his expression, a scowl that didn’t sit well with me. His eyes darted to Kian, who gave his head a subtle shake.
“What is it?” I asked.
Tense silence stretched for a long second that was heavier than a fully loaded cargo ship.
“There’s only one thing in the entire space,” Asher stated as his tone darkened. “A bed.”
Rage sliced through my chest and my self-control, images flashing in my mind.
Before I knew it, I was making a beeline for the target, my footsteps silent against the ground.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Asher hissed behind me, but he followed.
“Keep your cool.” Kian came up on my rear.
“I’m not waiting in the shadows for Stuart to rape my wife.”
An exasperated breath sounded behind me. “She might hold it against you if you, or all of us, get killed.”
“If I get killed, make sure she’s safe,” I said, my calm tone a total contrast to how I was feeling.
“If I get killed, I’m coming back to life and killing you,” Asher deadpanned.
“As long as my wife’s safe.”
Asher froze for a second before he recovered. “Fuck, you are pussy-whipped.”
“Ten years in the making,” I admitted unashamedly. “Now, let’s kick some ass.”
“I might come back from the dead and kill you both,” Kian muttered.
After that, I tuned them out and let loose, crimson pooling my vision as we started shooting.
Asher’s smile iced over, and for the first time, I saw the Ashford in him. “Let’s kick some ass.”