Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LEENA
“ T his is up to you, Leena,” Luke says once I’ve semi-pulled myself together.
“I can’t,” I say, staring at the floor. “I can’t drag you guys into this again. Not after last time. We almost lost Seb because of me…” I start to lose it again, but then Sebastian is there, his large arms wrapping around me.
“Oh, sweetheart.” He kisses the top of my head. “I’m right here,” he says, and I relax in the comfort of his embrace. Of knowing he’s still here.
When he pulls away, he places his large hands on either side of my face, forcing me to face his concerned dark blue eyes. “That was not your fault. Luke and I chose to follow you anywhere long before you were kidnapped. We knew this kind of shit had been following you your entire life, knew that it would continue. We know you didn’t choose it to be that way. And you know what? We don’t care about any of it. All we care about is you. So if you asked us, we would gladly kill the entire fucking Deck for you, Leena. All you have to do is ask.” His eyes bore into mine, and I feel the tears leave them again, until his thumbs brush them away.
“I can’t ask this of you,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to,” Luke says. I turn in Sebastian’s arms, facing him.
He steps closer, holding the three rose gold loops of my necklace between his fingers. “Leena, we gave you this necklace so we wouldn’t lose you. I hope you know we meant it, even then. We’re with you, no matter what. You’re our family, which means Kathryn is too. So if you want us to help you save your sister, then we’ll help save your sister. If you want to stay out of it, Sebastian and I can handle it. We’ll get her back for you. Or, we can tell Ward to go fuck himself and to handle his own shit.”
I chuckle as he steps closer, brushing his knuckles gently down my cheek.
“Just tell us what you want, sugar. We’ll make it happen,” Sebastian says softly in my ear, and I know they will.
I’m so overwhelmed by these two men, their love and understanding, that I don’t have to think about this anymore. I’ve made my decision.
I take a deep breath, letting my fingers interlock with Luke’s as Sebastian holds me tighter. Finally, I find the courage to speak.
“She’s my sister. I know the kinds of things they do to their prisoners. I couldn’t live with myself if I let something happen to her. But we’ll do this together,” I say, looking between them. They both nod in agreement, and I lean over to hit the button for the intercom.
“Sandra? Would you send William Ward to the conference room, please? We’ll be in there shortly.”
—
I sit down at the table between Luke and Sebastian and open my laptop to take notes, staring down the man sitting across from us as I do.
It’s Luke who speaks first. “How long has Kathryn Hart been missing, and what makes you suspect she was taken by the Deck?” he says.
“Since yesterday, around two-fifteen in the morning. We had plans to meet for breakfast and when she didn’t show, I checked the cameras I have outside her apartment.” Of course he has fucking cameras on her. “They took her right out the front goddamn door. And no, you can’t see their faces or any tattoos on the footage. They were covered up and wearing masks,” my father adds.
“How many men?” Sebastian leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.
“We caught five on the camera outside her apartment, but the ones in the parking garage were down, so we didn’t get a make or model on a vehicle,” my father replies.
“Did they leave anything behind?” Luke asks, tapping his pen on a notepad while I studiously take notes. Because it’s more pleasant than talking to this man.
“What, like a photo ID? Or a fucking map to their location? No, Campbell, they didn’t,” my father spits out.
I grit my teeth. He can talk to me like that all he wants, but Luke?
Fuck no.
I close my laptop and Sebastian leans forward, clearly just as pissed off as me at this point.
“Fine. Then how about you tell us why you hired us in the first place? Why does the entire Deck want Leena dead, and what did you tell the feds to piss everybody off?” Sebastian retorts, lacing his fingers together in front of him on the table.
“Who the fuck told you that?” My father abruptly stands, but so do my men, each of them placing a hand on their weapons.
I roll my eyes.
“Sit. Down. All of you. The Jack of Spades told us that right before I shot him, dad .” I cross my own arms, staring my father down as the three of them slowly sit, still eyeing each other warily.
My father runs a hand over his face in exasperation, but I just keep staring. Waiting for him to explain himself.
“Everyone in the Deck knows I’m training my daughter to take my place. They just don’t know which daughter.” My heart sinks. Kathryn wouldn’t do that, would she? “And I didn’t go to the feds. Somehow, they slid one into my Card without me knowing. The guy worked for me nearly two years, how the fuck was I supposed to know he was reporting back?” He takes a deep breath before continuing, “He was captured by the Jack of Spades, and no surprise, he folded.”
“He was the rat,” Sebastian says.
My father lets out a breath. “Yeah. He told the Jacks where you were in the safehouse, told them that he was a fed, and lied saying that I was in on it too. He told them whatever he could, but in the end they slaughtered him anyway. Left his dismembered corpse at my fucking front door.”
“You weren’t supposed to know where we were, Ward. That was the whole fucking point! They ambushed us! You could have gotten Leena killed!” Sebastian seethes, standing again.
I place a hand on his thick forearm without even looking and he settles back into his seat. I glare at my father as he watches the interaction.
“After the first check in, my guys used satellite imaging to search for your vehicle. Took them a while to find you, but they managed.” The man shrugs.
Fucking shrugs. Like he didn’t almost get the three of us killed.
“You bast–” Sebastian starts, but Luke cuts him off.
“Can you tell us anything that will help us find Kathryn?” Luke says through clenched teeth.
“I can email you the video files, her phone’s last location, bank accounts, whatever you need. Please. Just find my daughter,” he says, his tone softer.
“We’ll find her. Now get the fuck out of our city,” Sebastian says, his fists clenched as he stands.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told him stories of my neglected upbringing .
Just before my father leaves the room, he turns back, eyeing the three of us once again. “Do you mind telling me which one of you is fucking my daughter?”
“Get out,” I deadpan.
It’s quiet for a moment as he stares my men down. They stare back.
And I want to disappear into the fucking walls.
I know they were friends or… something before. But not anymore, so this question is entirely inappropriate. I don’t have to explain myself to him.
I haven’t for a long time.
Luke looks at me in question, and I give him a little nod, giving him permission to do whatever he pleases.
I watch as my men each grab an arm and shove my father out into the hallway.
“We both are,” Luke finally says before slamming the door in his goddamn face.