Chapter 4
GAVIN
Iwatch Tyler pace in front of the couch for the hundredth time before I grab his hand and jerk him to sit down beside me.
“You’re making me more nervous than I already am,” I say when he glares at me.
“I can’t help it,” Tyler grouches, collapsing back on the couch. “We still don’t have any news on Keon, Kane is on his way to cut our dicks off, and we still haven’t made a move to go after Ari and Jason. Oh, and somehow we ended up being on a team with Professor North. Or Tivon. Or whatever.”
“Breathe,” I reply gently. “Keon is in surgery and will be fine, I’m not worried about Kane, and we can’t move on Ari yet. We have a plan, you were in the same meeting. As for Tivon, he’s the only one who knows how these people operate.”
“Right. But how are we supposed to blindly trust him? He could be walking us into an ambush.”
“We trust him because I do,” Axel announces, walking into the living room, sitting on the loveseat in front of us. “He could have just run off with Kira and left Ari to die, but he didn’t. He came to us for help.”
“Why do you trust him?” I ask. Axel doesn’t trust people easily. I know this for a fact. But all it took was a ten minute conversation with Tivon, and he’s willing to follow him into a military prison run by the Israeli government.
“He grew up with Ari.” That information drops between us like a bomb, making Tyler and I sit up at the same time. “He was younger, so that’s probably why Ari didn’t remember him. But he took over what Ari tried to start before he left.”
“And what was that?” Tyler responds.
“Ari was trying to stop the corruption his father was involved in. They found out, so Ari did the only thing he could do. He came to America.” Axel pulls his phone from his pocket, pulls something up, and lays it on the table between us. Tyler grabs it and his eyes widen when he sees the picture.
It’s a group of guys in tactical gear without helmets with Ari standing in the middle. My eyes land on the guy on the left hand side. “That’s Tivon. He can’t be any more than fourteen here.” Even that young, I can still tell it’s him.
“Ari’s dad started training them young over there. I think Ari said he just turned twelve when his dad put an AK in his hands. Ari disappeared right after this picture.”
“Are the other guys on Tivon’s team?” I muse, and Axel nods.
“Some chose Aharon’s side, and others chose Tivon’s. Tivon got word that Aharon was going to make a move on Ari and came here.”
“Why though?” I ask.
“Because he fought for us when no one else would,” Tivon answers, walking to stand beside Axel. “He might not remember me, but I remember everything that he did.”
“So, you just decided to turn into a creepy stalker until then?” Tyler snarks.
“Tyler,” I hiss, grabbing his hand.
“I wasn’t stalking anyone,” Tivon says calmly. “I put myself where I needed to be.”
“Why Kira’s school?” That question has been plaguing me for hours.
“That’s the closest I could get.”
“So it had nothing to do with who Kira is?” I press.
“Directly? No. I made the move after I knew Ari’s team would be put in place to protect her.”
“How did you even know that?”
“You seem to talk freely at High Flyer. All I had to do was blend in.”
“Then why start asking questions?” Tyler demands.
“So Ari would go on alert and be more vigilant.”
“Why not approach him?” Tyler presses.
“Because Ari isn’t going to trust anyone from his past.”
“But we’re supposed to trust you?” Tyler continues. “You could be working with Aharon.”
Tivon’s entire face changes from understanding why he’s being questioned to pissed off. “I would never work for him,” Tivon grits out. “He killed my brother in cold blood.”
Commotion from the front of the house catches our attention, and then Chelsea jogs into the living room. “Uh, Kane’s here.”
“Shit,” Axel mutters, getting to his feet. “Let him in.”
Chelsea pushes a button on her phone and grins at us. “You guys are so dead.” With a flip of her hair, she makes her way back toward the office with Nolan.
“Keep your mouth shut,” Axel warns Tyler. “He’s already beyond pissed. The last thing I need is him cutting your head off with a machete.”
“I didn’t know you cared that much,” Tyler breathes, grabbing his chest.
“I don’t. I just don’t want to clean the mess up.”
“Where is she?” Kane’s voice booms through the kitchen, and we follow behind Axel.
Every muscle in Kane’s body is tight, but Blaze is leaning against the doorframe, completely relaxed.
Something tells me that move is deceptive, that he could move at a seconds notice.
There’s two other guys standing with them, and my guess is they’re the husbands.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” Axel offers, but Kane’s eyes are zeroed in on me and Tyler.
“I was assured nothing would happen to her on your watch,” Kane says. “It took a month for her to be kidnapped and drugged. Now. Where the fuck is she?”
“She’s in the office with Chelsea,” Axel answers. “We didn’t anticipate this happening.”
“There were warnings,” Kane growls, taking a step forward. “I should have been called immediately, so I could take her home.”
“She didn’t want to go home,” I throw in, earning a warning look from Axel. “It should be her choice.”
Kane’s lips peel back from his teeth, and I know I probably fucked up. His hand twitches at his side, and the guy with the curly hair grabs his arm. “Kane,” he says softly, “we talked about this on the way over.”
“Go get my sister,” Kane demands, ignoring him. “We’re leaving.”
“You aren’t dragging her out of here,” Tyler argues. “We can protect her.”
“It doesn’t seem like it to me.”
“Fuck you,” Tyler barks. “You couldn’t protect her either.”
My mouth drops open as Blaze stands to his full height, and Kane looks like he could breathe fire. “We can leave peacefully, or I can slit everyone’s throat here. I have no problem making a mess.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Tyler pushes. “You’re outnumbered.”
“We’ve taken out more than this with just the two of us,” Blaze says calmly, but I see that look in his eyes. He’s plotting each of our deaths, one by one.
“Is that supposed to scare us?” I argue, and Axel shakes his head. “Kira is ours to protect, and we’d lay down our lives to do that.”
“Kira isn’t yours,” Kane roars, making the dark haired guy flinch. “You were supposed to make sure she stayed safe, not put your hands on her.”
“I can make my own damn decisions.” Kira walks into the kitchen, going to stand toe to toe with Kane. It would be comical with the height difference if she wasn’t shooting fire from her eyes. “Are you done slinging your dick around so we can talk?”
“I have nothing else to say.” Kane grabs Kira by the wrist and starts pulling her toward the door. Tyler and I step forward at the same time to stop him, but Kira jerks her arm free.
“Don’t you dare,” Kira says, her tone deadly. “You are no longer ruling my life, Kane. I’m staying here with them.”
“Oh shit,” Blaze gasps and then starts laughing. “Kira found her own group of men. Like brother, like sister.” Blaze slaps Kane on the back, making Kane growl. “You go, girl.”
“Blaze,” Kane says like he’s holding onto every thread of control. “Shut up. Kira, we’re leaving. We’ll talk about it on the plane.”
“Are you not hearing me?” Kira replies. “I said I’m not leaving. Keon is still in surgery, and we still need to get Ari and Jason.”
“There. Is. No. We,” Kane grinds out. “You will be safely tucked back in New York before then. Stop being stubborn!”
“Stubborn?” Kira’s voice raises an octave, and I catch Chelsea out of the corner of my eye.
Her eyebrows hit her hairline, and I have to fight to stop laughing at her face.
“I’m fucking stubborn?! You’re the one demanding that I leave with you when I clearly don’t want to.
So agree to help us or get out. Those are your options, because I’m not going any goddamn where. ”
Kira spins on her heel and makes her way to the living room.
I can’t tell if Kane is pissed or proud.
I’m fucking proud, no matter what he feels.
Tyler and I turn around to follow her, and find her sitting in the chair by the window with her head bowed.
When she hears footsteps, her head snaps up, and she dissolves into tears when she sees us.
We rush over, each of us grabbing one of her hands. “It’s okay, Baby girl,” I soothe.
“I don’t know how much longer I can hold it together.”
“We’ve got this,” Tyler says, kissing her knuckles.
“Keon is out of surgery,” Axel announces, walking into the room. “He’s going to be fine.”
A sob bursts from Kira, and I pull her from the chair and into my lap.
She buries her face in my shirt, letting every emotion from the last couple of days bleed out.
I rub her back as Tyler tucks himself into her other side.
Kane is boiling mad until the curly haired one steps up and whispers something to him.
He relaxes slightly, but doesn’t take his eyes off of us.
I can understand his anger though. This is his baby sister.
I did everything I could to protect Gemma growing up, even though it bit me in the ass.
Not only did he find out she had been taken from us, he’s also starting to figure out that we have a relationship with her.
“I’m sorry,” Kira sniffs, trying to pull away. Chelsea appears at my side and hands her some tissues with a smile.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Tyler says softly. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“So have you, and I don’t see you falling apart,” Kira argues.
“We’ve been through this a thousand times, Little warrior. Now that we know Keon is fine, we can make a plan for Ari and Jason.” Tyler looks up at Axel. “Right?”
“Tivon is going to get Nolan access to the prison’s cameras so he can be our eyes. There’s only one way we can do this,” Axel answers. “We take it by force.”
“These are highly trained operatives,” Tivon continues. “They shoot without question.”
“So we shoot first,” I respond.
“Do either of you have access to the tank keys?” Axel asks.
Tyler pops to his knees. “We get to use the tanks?” There’s so much excitement in his voice that Kira giggles.
Axel rolls his eyes. “Yes. It’s the only way we can get through the wall, since we can’t climb it. It will announce our presence, but we don’t have a choice.”
“We’re in,” Kane says. Kira gasps in surprise, and he walks to stand in front of her, crouching down so he can look into her eyes. “These guys are important to you, yes?”
“They are,” Kira whispers.
“Then we will go. Jaxon and Eli are staying here with you.” Kira opens her mouth and Kane lays his hand on her arm. “None of us will be able to concentrate if you’re there. You need to stay here, where it’s safe.”
“I’ll leave a couple guys behind too,” Axel responds.
“We can watch with Nolan,” Chelsea replies, helping Kira to her feet.
“We’re going to need all the firepower we can get. We roll out in twenty,” Axel continues.
Kira wraps her arms around Tyler and I, pulling us in close. “Please be careful, and bring them home to us.”
“We will.” She tilts her head up, and I kiss her slowly, not giving a fuck that Kane is standing at my shoulder. When I pull back, Tyler does the same.
In just a short amount of time, I already know that I’d do anything for Kira.
And I’m going to start with bringing Ari and Jason home.