1. Maddoc
There are toomany guns pointed at us. I fucking know that, but it doesn’t stop my mind from racing through a hundred different scenarios where I rip Austin McKenna’s face off and get Riley back.
He laughs as he snatches her gun away—the one she just had pointed at me—and I almost lunge for him and do it.
My whole body hums with the need to attack, retaliate, destroy…
It’s only the pleading look in Riley’s eyes that stops me.
It also fucking guts me.
Watching McKenna shove her into the back of the car that cornered us in this alley feels like getting my heart ripped out… but watching him actually drive away with her is even worse.
I tear after them as the two West Point vehicles peel away, spraying gravel that hits my body like shrapnel.
I don’t even feel it. Pure emotion takes over, raw instinct driving me. There’s no strategic thinking, no room for the calm, clear-headed approach I’ve trained myself to use as leader of the Reapers. All I feel is the thud of my feet pounding on the pavement and the burning rage that pulses through my veins as West Point speeds out of sight.
They take a corner and disappear, and I let out a primal roar of fury.
It does fucking nothing to fix the situation, and I keep chasing after them for a few more steps anyway, but when I get to the cross street they took… they’re gone.
I finally stop running and force myself to bottle up all the savage anger inside me until I can do something useful with it.
And for that, I’ll need my brothers.
I turn back, not surprised at all that Logan and Dante are already headed toward me, Chloe in tow. Logan’s face is completely blank, which I know damn well means it’s taking everything he has to hold in his own murderous wrath at what just went down. Dante is another story. His green eyes flash with fire.
“Plan, Madd?” he bites out, his face set and grim.
“The fucking plan is we get her back,” I rasp, my lungs burning as my heart rate starts to slow from the flat-out run I was in. “Get the car. We need to catch up to McKenna. Follow his trail and figure out where the fuck they’re taking her.”
Neither of them point out how impossible that will be. It’s pavement and a car. There is no trail.
Still, Logan spins on his heel and heads back to collect the Escalade, and Dante gives me a sharp nod.
“We’ll find her.”
“Damn right, we will,” I growl.
A small sound of pure pain escapes Chloe, but she doesn’t say anything. Dante’s got an arm around her shoulders, and she looks shell shocked. Her face is streaked with tears and her eyes are glassy as she stares off in the direction West Point disappeared with her sister.
I press my lips together. I’m not used to caring, but the girl’s been through hell, and just when it was set to get better, she’s on her own again.
No, she’s got us.
She’s Riley’s little sister. We’ll do right by her.
Right now though, I’m glad Dante’s the one making sure Chloe stays close and stays safe. With my blood still bubbling over with rage, I can’t spare anything extra to help Chloe deal with the fact that Riley just fucking sacrificed herself for us.
Not that there’s any way in hell that I’m going to let that stand. We will get her back.
Logan pulls the Escalade up and Dante helps Chloe into the back while I take the passenger seat. It’s pocked with bullet holes and the entire driver’s side got banged up in that fucking alley. It’s gonna need some serious body work, but the only thing that matters right now is that it’s still drivable.
“Go,” I say as Logan floors it, taking the turn where I lost McKenna’s car fast enough to put us up on two wheels.
None of us are surprised to see empty road in front of us.
“Head toward Cliffton,” I tell Logan, naming a part of the city in West Point’s territory.
Dante shakes his head. “They’re not that stupid. McKenna has to know we’ll try to get her back.”
“We’re not going to try,” I snap, fisting my hands so hard that my blunt nails draw blood from my palms.
“Dante’s right,” Logan says, even though he’s heading in the direction I told him to. “McKenna won’t take her into their territory or stash her in any of his usual haunts. He’ll need her somewhere completely off our radar until he can figure out how to get his hands on her inheritance.”
We all go silent for a moment. He’s right, but it leaves us with fucking nothing right now.
I can’t accept that.
The only safe house I knew West Point to use was the one I saved Chloe from, and obviously that one is blown now.
During the entire time we were searching for Chloe—Logan tapping into every electronic surveillance method available in Halston, and Reapers scouring every street—we didn’t come up with any off-the-grid leads, but we’re just going to have to dig deeper.
“Is she really going to marry Austin McKenna?” Chloe asks quietly, her breath hitching.
I clench my teeth so hard it feels like my molars are about to crack, but it’s Logan who answers her.
“Now that she’s claimed the Sutherland inheritance, it’s the only way he’ll have a chance of getting his hands on it.”
“But she only said that so he’d stop his men from shooting at us,” Chloe says, sounding young and scared. “Right?”
None of us answer her. Of course that’s why Riley fucking said it. That doesn’t change the fact that McKenna is a sadistic bastard who will do whatever he needs to, to put West Point on top.
Chloe lets out a shuddering sigh and turns her face toward the window, silent tears trickling down her cheeks. I half expect her to start losing her shit, but she’s got the same strength her sister has.
And right now, she’s gonna need it.
Logan starts driving a grid pattern, all of us keeping our eye out for any sign of that silver Charger McKenna stuffed Riley into. Or, hell, any sign of West Point activity outside their borders.
There’s nothing.
As we crisscross the streets of Halston, I send out instructions to our people to keep their eyes peeled too, and Dante reaches out to our allies with the same request.
All we get back is a fuck-ton of even more nothing.
“McKenna got too much of a head start,” Logan finally says, making me want to fucking punch something.
“Madd,” Dante adds after a minute, “We need to do this another way.”
I can feel a muscle ticking in my jaw. I want to get my hands on McKenna and make him bleed. I want Riley safe and back where she belongs, with us. I want to fucking find her already. Turning back feels like admitting defeat.
But my brothers are right. Getting Riley back is our only priority right now, and the only way that’s going to happen is if we focus on doing shit that might actually help. And clearly, driving the streets of Halston isn’t doing that.
I unclench my jaw and force words out that I hate. “Head back to the house.”
The Escalade is shrouded in thick silence as Logan drives us there, and once we get back and start to head inside, Chloe follows us out of the vehicle, then hesitates.
“Should I come in, too?”
I nod. “You’ll stay with us until we get your sister back.”
I move behind her as I’m speaking, ready to grab her if she bolts. Keeping her here is for her own safety, and because I know for fucking sure it’s what Riley would want.
What I don’t know is any of the details about what went down when West Point was holding Chloe—either the first time, or the second—or how much Riley had a chance to tell her about our… relationship. I can imagine, though. And after everything Chloe’s been through, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she has trouble trusting me on this.
She doesn’t resist, though. She almost looks relieved as she looks up at me, nibbling her lip in a move that sends a sharp pang through me.
I’ve seen Riley do the same thing.
Finally, Chloe gives me a shaky smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
I nod sharply, ready to be done with the uncomfortable emotional shit. I still put my hand on her back to get her moving into the house, though. And dammit, I can’t resist trying to reassure her a little bit too, for Riley’s sake.
“You’ll be safe here. You know your sister would never fucking forgive us if we let something happen to you while she’s—”
I snap my mouth closed, refusing to say “McKenna’s captive,” or let myself imagine any of the things he might be doing to Riley right now.
I’m pretty sure Chloe’s imagining the same exact shit though, because as we follow Logan and Dante into the kitchen, she looks down, her expression turning bleak.
“Hey,” I say gruffly, tipping her chin up so she has to look at me. Her eyes widen. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, and we will get Riley back.”
Chloe holds my stare for a moment. I can see she wants to believe me, but she also knows the kind of sick bastard Austin McKenna is firsthand. “Do you think he’ll hurt her?” she finally asks, her voice cracking a little in the middle. “Or… or worse?”
“No.”
I bite the single word out, then rage steals my voice… because it’s a fucking lie. But I can’t think that shit, or else I’ll do the kind of damage that this city—and the Reapers—won’t recover from.
I close my eyes and draw a slow breath through my nose, reaching for the clear mind I need right now.
Thankfully, Dante jumps in.
“All McKenna wants is the Sutherland money.”
I meet Logan’s eyes behind Chloe’s back. We both know that’s not true. He’s getting a sadistic pleasure out of taking my woman again too. But Chloe doesn’t need to hear that.
“That fucker needs Riley,” Dante goes on, reassuring her. “Wherever she is, just remember that McKenna knows it. He’ll take care of her. He needs her alive to get access to her inheritance.”
Dante has never been one to sugarcoat things, but he’s damn good at making people believe what he wants them to, and in this case, it works. Chloe’s shoulders relax, and she gives him a tentative nod and a small smile of appreciation.
Must be nice. I’ve managed to lock a mask of calm in place, but underneath, my skin itches with agitation as my mind races through dozens of scenarios that I’ll take my whole fucking gang to war over if it comes down to it.
I’m not worried about McKenna taking Riley out… yet. Keeping her alive is only gonna be guaranteed until he gets what he needs from her, but that’s not what fuels the burning sense of urgency inside me. There are too many shitty things short of death that a fucking sadist like him could be subjecting our girl to right now to count, and no matter how tough Riley’s core of steel is, she’s not going to be able to stand against the entire West Point gang.
“Logan,” I snap, “go tap into city surveillance and track down McKenna’s fucking car. We need to know where he took her.”
Logan nods, his blond hair messier than usual. He’s already been tapping away on his phone, no doubt getting a start on doing exactly that, but at my order, he turns and heads out of the room to pull up the more powerful system he has on his computer.
“Dante.” I jerk my head toward my office. We need a fucking plan.
Dante hesitates, though.
“What about…?” he starts, indicating Chloe.
I dial back my impatience, because he’s right. We need to keep her out of the way, but we also need her to stay fucking calm. Knowing how headstrong both Sutton sisters are, I figure Chloe is likely to either make herself a distraction or put herself in danger if we don’t take the time to make sure she feels confident that we’re gonna handle this the way it needs to be handled.
“Grab their bags, then get her settled up in Riley’s room,” I tell Dante, pulling out my phone as he follows my orders.
I tune him out as he talks softly to Chloe, then heads out to grab the girls’ things out of the Escalade. A tiny spark of satisfaction flares to life before dying again when I see him bring Riley’s things back inside, then head upstairs with Chloe to unpack them.
Planning on sending Riley away was… necessary.
Having her shit back in the house feels better, though.
I start making calls. We already alerted some of our people on the drive over, but we need more manpower on this.
It’s not just a matter of getting Riley back. That’s a given, because there’s no way in hell that I’ll stop until she’s free of his clutches. But even more importantly, it’s a matter of getting her back right the fuck now.
Before McKenna does something to her that will force me to rip this fucking city apart.