Chapter 25 #2
“We have the hotel staff adding an extra safety net, so we can manage for a while,” he says. “The only alternative I could suggest is sending Reid and Quinn to an undisclosed location. My preference would be out of the country.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I say before Ash can consider it. “This thing with Ilya is going to blow up sooner or later, and I want to be involved when it happens.”
“It could be sooner than you think,” says Hunter.
He wouldn’t say that unless he had intel. I scan the faces around the table, settling on Ash’s grim features. I wait for him to fill me in, but he says nothing.
I don’t believe it. They’re not only limiting Quinn’s access to our business, they’re freezing me out too.
“You don’t trust me now?” My words choke me. I thought Ilya was the enemy, but Quinn and I are being attacked by my own family.
“We have to be realistic, Reid,” says Ash. “Quinn is compromised through her sister, and there may come a time when you’re compromised through Quinn.”
I’d dismissed Quinn’s warning last night, but maybe she was right. The day may come when I have to choose between the woman I love and my brothers.
“We don’t want to keep anything from you,” Ash adds. “But we have to be honest about the challenges we’re facing.”
I’m shaking my head. “And you think keeping me in the dark won’t make me even more vulnerable?”
Ash winces, conceding the point. “We do trust you, Reid. That hasn’t changed,” he says. “But if we’re about to discuss the information we have, it can’t be shared with Quinn. We can’t have Ilya knowing what we know.”
“I understand,” I say although my words are clipped.
I’m not angry with my brothers. I’m angry at the impossible situation we find ourselves in.
“And Quinn wouldn’t want to hear anything that Ilya might find of value.
She’d rather avoid giving him any more reasons to coerce her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.
She doesn’t want to betray us. And she won’t. ”
Ash and Hunter share a glance, but they don’t come right out and challenge my faith in her, and thankfully, Mace is too preoccupied with his eavesdropping.
“We’ve intercepted messages that suggest a shipment is imminent,” Ash says at last. “The Russians have amassed over thirty units. That’s how they describe the women they abuse.”
“You can read the messages if you like,” adds Hunter. “It’s completely dehumanizing.”
We all turn to Mace, who will have gathered the intel. He’s chuckling to himself quietly, and it takes a second to notice we’re all staring at him.
“They’re currently debating whether the withdrawal method is a safe form of contraception,” he explains, like we were all waiting for him to share the joke.
“Lily’s horrified. She’s just asked if they’ve never heard the saying, ‘It spits, before it fires.’ I swear she makes this shit up, but she has a point.
” My look of confusion makes him laugh harder.
“She’s talking about precum. It’s mostly lubricant, but your boys can send out a sneaky little scout party before the big show. ”
“Mace,” Ash says through gritted teeth. “Monitor their location and the surroundings by all means, but keep your focus on this conversation.”
“Fine. They’ve just ordered a bottle of rosé for breakfast, so I’m probably better off not hearing what’s coming next.”
Mace switches his attention briefly to his tablet.
A local map comes into view showing the location points of his multiple trackers, and he monitors it as Ash sets out what we know so far about Ilya’s plans.
The shipment is due to arrive in Poulton Springs in a matter of days, and we’re walking through options to intercept when Mace straightens up.
“Have you got Quinn’s phone?” he asks me, interrupting Ash mid-sentence.
“No, it’s in her purse.”
“Then why is her location showing as here?”
The tension in Mace’s voice sets my nerves on edge. I don’t know if it’s because I’m about to face another attack on Quinn’s character, or if there’s something genuinely wrong. She had her purse in the car, but I don’t remember her carrying it when we got into the elevator.
Mace adjusts the map view to account for altitude. “It looks like her phone’s in the parking garage. She must have left it in the car.”
“Levi’s confirmed she doesn’t have her purse on her,” Jake says after speaking low through his earpiece.
My default is to defend Quinn, and I shrug. “So, she forgot it.”
Mace seems about to accept my explanation when he presses his fingers to his earpiece. His eyes widen as he jumps up from his seat. “Did they drink them?”
Fear tightens its fist around my heart as the rest of us stand too.
“Get them the fuck out of there!” Mace yells.
There’s no time for questions, and chaos erupts as we all race for the door, our guns drawn.
Jake and Mace are barking orders to all our nearby teams as we reach the elevators.
I feel so damn useless. The women are only on the other side of the street, yet completely out of reach. I should have given Quinn a gun.
“It’s confirmed,” Jake shouts as the elevator doors open. “There’s an attack in progress.”
As I go to step into the elevator, Hunter slams a hand into my chest, forcing me back. “You need to stay out of this!” he growls.
I stand my ground. “The hell I will! If they’re under attack, I need to be there.”
“They’re not all under attack,” he grits out. “Quinn’s part of it.”
“Fuck you, you’re wron–”
My air gets cut off as I’m yanked backwards by my shirt collar. “We haven’t got time for this!” yells Mace.
As I spin towards him, his fist lands between my eyes. I drop to the floor, my gun clattering across the tiles.
“Stay the fuck down!” he yells, pointing an accusing finger at me. “This is all that bitch’s fault!”
Hunter and Mace continue to glare at me as the elevator doors start closing, but it’s Ash’s eyes I meet. He simply shakes his head.
Is this really happening?
Why are they blaming Quinn?
Do they seriously think she betrayed us?
No.
I don’t believe it.
I won’t believe it.
Scrambling to my feet, I grab my gun and race for the stairs.
I go down one flight then hitch a ride on another elevator.
My progress is painfully slow, and as I reach the exit, I spot my brothers dodging traffic as they race across the street.
Three of our blacked-out SUVs are parked at angles in front of Ruby’s, doors left ajar.
A cluster of armed men shield themselves on each side of the window front.
I look for splashes of color. Quinn was wearing a pastel pink dress and denim jacket, Maddie was in an olive green dress, and Lily wore a sapphire blue trouser suit. The only thing I can see inside the coffee shop are shadowy figures in black.
In my panic to reach Quinn, I almost step in front of a taxi cab.
The driver blares his horn, but my brothers are single-focused and they don’t glance back.
Hunter has extended his arm and one of our men puts an automatic rifle in his hand.
A similar weapon is passed to Ash. Mace keeps his Glock, and takes the one Hunter no longer requires. They don’t stop moving.
They’re already inside when I reach the sidewalk. There are no shots ringing out.
“Reid!” Jake appears next to me. “Stay out here.”
I wipe the smear of blood from my nose. “Where’s Quinn? Where are the girls?”
“Maddie and Lily are safe,” he confirms.
I leave only a heartbeat for him to fill in the rest, but his grim expression tells me there’s nothing else to add. Quinn’s still in there.
His hand clamps around my arm as I go to move. “She spiked their drinks, Reid,” he says. “And Ilya had his men ready to collect them.”
My stomach hollows. It’s not true. It can’t be true. And I won’t believe it until I hear it from Quinn. “This is my fight too,” I say, shrugging him off as I step inside the shop and join my brothers in a stand-off.
It’s eerily quiet. Ash, Hunter and Mace are lined up, weapons aimed at a target I can’t see past their broad shoulders. Levi and Simon are deeper inside, crouching amongst a sea of upturned tables with their weapons drawn. I spot a blood splatter on a table cloth that makes my heart skip a beat.
It’s only as I slip behind Hunter that I see who they’re all aiming at.
“Quinn!” I yell.
I’m only vaguely aware of the Russian rifle that swipes in my direction. Quinn is behind the counter, Mikhail’s arm around her throat in a chokehold, a gun pressed to her head. The bastard is with three others. One is holding the door open to the kitchens. He’s the asshole aiming at me.
“Let me go,” Quinn pleads.
I want to believe she’s talking to her captor, but she’s staring right at me. She puts a hand over her heart, and taps it once.
“Stay where you are, Reid, or I’ll shoot you myself,” Mace mutters.
“No one fires a shot,” barks Ash. To Quinn, he asks, “Is that what you want?”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she says, her voice quavering. “It’s better this way.”
The man holding her tips his head to the others, and they start backing out through the kitchen door.
“Fuck this, no!” I cry out, moving past my brothers.
As the kitchen door closes, Hunter spins fast. He turns his rifle and uses it as a ram to push me back and pin me against the nearest wall. Ash steps in front of us to cover our backs in case Ilya’s men decide to return.
“We’re not risking our lives for her,” Hunter says. “She’s made her choice.”
“She’s being coerced!”
“Who gives a shit!?” Mace yells at me. “Quinn was prepared to hand over Lily and Maddie, presumably in exchange for her sister! That’s a bargain we can never forgive. Neither should you.”
Quinn wouldn’t do that, but as my mind spins, I can’t think of any other explanation. I scan the shop for answers, my gaze snagging on the blood. Oh, god. There was blood. “Who was shot?”
“Me,” Simon answers. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
“The girls are on their way back to the house,” Ash says. “And we should follow. Now.”
I don’t resist when I’m dragged out onto the street. While everyone else remains on alert, my gun hangs uselessly by my side. I said I’d never let Quinn go, but I didn’t fight for her. In the face of her betrayal, I chose my brothers, just like she told me I would.