31. Amorette
AMORETTE
“B lanca!” I screamed down the hallway where the offices were. No answer. I ran to the next wing of the compound and screamed for her again. Nothing.
When I was in the commons, I tried one final time.
“What?” A smattering of incensed Spanish followed, and Blanca popped her head out of the hall for the birdcages.
“I need you!” I whisper-shouted, but it was pointless. The hall was empty, and all the guards were outside. Andre and Grey had run off toward the helicopter pad ten minutes ago.
“What’s wrong?” Blanca raced down the stairs, a frown on her lips.
“Lafe’s missing.” I waved her after me and started toward the apartments.
She had a master key. They made a big deal out of no one having access to their homes, but I knew for a fact that Blanca cleaned their apartments occasionally.
“I need you to open his place up. I want to see if there are any clues as to where he went.”
“Amorette! If I open his apartment for you, they’ll strip me of my job.” She tried to tug on my arm, but I shook her off.
“We have to find him!”
“Let his brothers find him! Where is Andre? Parker? Grey?” She ran in front of me and stopped, putting her arms out. I ducked to the right and slid right past her.
“I think Parker’s gone. That’s what they said. He hasn’t come back yet. And they just ran out.”
“Then let them find him. Lafe is their brother.” She stepped forward and caught both of my arms, looking deep in my eyes. “You don’t have any skills to find him. Or an obligation. Let the brothers do their thing.”
“That’s not good enough for me!” I swiped my hands through my hair, my fingers catching on the tangles. They hadn’t told me everything, but I knew enough.
They had a plan against Vicente, and it didn’t work.
Parker retaliated, and instead of going after Parker, Andre decided to get wasted and…Damn. We got wasted and had sex.
Then Vicente served his own revenge against Grey. And now Lafe was missing? That wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be. I didn’t think he could come in and steal Lafe, but how the hell should I know what Vicente was capable of.
Over the last few weeks, I’d tried to learn more, but there were no opportunities to understand the Institution. The brothers didn’t even seem like they understood it anymore.
“That’s not good enough,” I whispered, dropping my hands on Blanca’s shoulders.
“They forced me to be here. Now I’m here.
They don’t get to decide how I live beside them.
Life doesn’t work that way. If they wanted a prisoner, they should have locked me up in one of those apartments they keep for visitors. ”
She struggled with what I was asking her. I got it. If she helped me, she could be in trouble. But I’d fight for her, and if there was one thing I was damn good at, it was arguing in someone’s defense.
“I want to help you, but I don’t even know of a way to search for Lafe.
If he’s gone, and Parker’s gone, that leaves at most one plane and a boat.
If Andre and Grey went together, that would leave us one way off the island.
If they went separately, we’re stuck. Say they did leave something behind, do you know how to drive a boat? Fly a plane?”
Shit. She had a point.
“There has to be something we can do, Blanca. I can’t sit here and wait for them to get back.
I won’t put myself out there. I won’t do anything stupid, but there has to be something we can do to make sure Lafe is okay.
Open his apartment, and let’s look around.
There might be a clue as to where he went. ”
“Andre could have done that already,” she argued.
“He didn’t,” I assured her, stepping closer. “Both he and Grey left the compound. They ran out without checking his place.” I nodded, trying to get her to agree with me.
She bit her lip and furrowed her brow, clearly distraught at the position I was placing her in. Blanca was a good woman. She’d been sheltered by her brother and the men at the compound. She should want to keep them safe.
“Fine. I’ll open his door.”
I waited for her to warn me against telling them, but she just muttered under her breath as she turned and stomped toward his door. Following behind her, I rushed to keep up.
She punched in a key code that I should have paid attention to, then used a key for the lock. The door swung open, and I pushed past her, ready for something to stick out at me.
There was nothing. No open laptops. No broken phones or dated pictures scattered on the floor. Nothing that could shed some light on anything that was going through his head. We searched the entire apartment, and with each passing second, I grew hotter and hotter.
“Fuck!” I yelled to the ceiling after finding nothing in the guest room.
“Amorette, it’s not a bad thing that we didn’t find anything,” Blanca said softly as she walked toward me.
“Yes, it is.” My voice shook, and I was on the verge of fucking tears. Couldn’t she see? This was bad. Not being able to do anything while something terrible was happening was almost worse than having a choice and not acting on it.
It was the fear of the unknown. Could Vicente have Lafe? Could he be torturing him to death, plucking the brothers off one by one while I sat on my ass in this jail of a compound?
I couldn’t even defend myself here. Not really. I could lock myself in a room. That was the extent. None of them ever left weapons out. I’d have to knock one of the guards unconscious to steal theirs. Like that would happen. Their guards were beasts of men.
And I…wasn’t.
Thirty minutes later, my tears had dried up with the numbness that settled over me. If something bad was happening, it was probably over. There was nothing I could do to stop it.
I had no way to contact any of the brothers. The best I could do was sit here and wait.
“It’s okay.” Blanca rubbed circles on my back as we made our way back toward the commons.
I sniffed but didn’t answer her. What was there to say?
We’d just reached the commons when the glass door banged against the wall. Anton was laughing with Parker while they strolled in like they were having the time of their lives.
“Blanca,” Anton smiled and held his arms open.
She erupted into a stream of Spanish, waving her arms and getting up in his face. His broad smile quickly faded as he listened to everything she had to say. Parker lost his amusement, too, as he stepped close to the pair, his gaze intent on Blanca.
When she stopped for air, Parker spun around and got to work making calls.
“Stop!” I ran around them and stuck myself right in his path. He couldn’t leave again. I was going with him whether he wanted me to or not. I’d be damned if I sat here.
His gaze burned me up as he said something into the phone. I thought he said ‘talk to me’, but I wasn’t sure. It was too fast, and I hadn’t learned that much yet.
Whatever he heard on the other end of the line wasn’t good. His black gaze only grew frosty.
He said a few more rolling phrases and hung up. “Anton,” he said over his shoulder without looking away from me. “We need the chopper refueled. We’re leaving.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, no, Little Love. You’ll stay here where my brothers left you.” He tried to move me to the side, but I refused.
“Like hell!” I moved with him, clutching his waist. “After everything you assholes put me through to keep me, the least you can do is take me with you,” I growled.
He laughed, but it was dark and menacing, rolling over me and leaving ice in its wake.
“Lafe is currently being held hostage by our uncle, at the very least. Grey and Andre haven’t found him yet.
And you want me to take you there?” He bent forward until his nose almost touched mine.
“You could die, Little Love. Is that what you want? To lose any hope of seeing your twin ever again?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Of course, that wasn’t what I wanted, but I couldn’t not help. That wasn’t who I was. A piece of me would die if he left me behind, and I could have done something.
“I’m going with you.”
One side of his mouth kicked up into a cruel smile. “And what? Offer yourself up in his place?”
I dropped my gaze. No, I didn’t want to do that. Did I?
If I was willing to, I doubted it would work. I meant nothing to Vicente or the Institution. I was a pawn. A means to hurt the brothers. Nothing more. But we didn’t know I couldn’t help unless I had a chance. And how could I have a chance if I didn’t go?
“All right, Amorette.” I widened my eyes at the use of my actual name. I’d never heard him use it. “You can come, but if you die , it’s on you and I’ll be pissed. If Lafe survives, he’ll be livid too. Are you prepared to be the wedge between us?”
He was trying to deter me with his words, but I gritted my teeth. If he thought I was easily manipulated, he was wrong. And I couldn’t wait to show him.
* * *
Within fifteen minutes of reaching the pad, we were up in the air.
Parker had arranged for ten of their best sharpshooters to come with us.
While they got it ready, Blanca found black jeans and a black T-shirt for me to wear, and when I came out, she had a pair of old black boots in her hand.
I was more than a little thankful to have something practical to wear instead of the stale sundress from earlier.
Anton monitored the controls while Parker briefed the men on where we were going, the layout, and what he expected of them. The short of it was, if anyone not in our group twitched suspiciously, they died.
Bullet to the head. No exceptions.
He didn’t try to keep me out of the conversation, but he certainly didn’t invite me in. I might as well have been useless eye candy for all the attention he paid me.
The men too. It turned out that they were single-minded machines when there was actual danger.
As they brought us to a smooth landing, I worked to control my breathing.
Breathe in, breathe out , I chanted to myself.
Lafe was so close. It hurt to think how close he was but yet so unreachable.
All because he’d been born into a self-centered, deranged family with no empathy for anyone.
And now he was being held hostage by at least his uncle.
My stomach rolled. He was being held by the very man he’d stolen me from.
That alone gave Maikel reason to want to put him in his place.
Shit, this might have been a bad idea. How was I going to make sure I was an asset and not a liability?
The doors opened, and Parker appeared in front of me. Immediately, he and Anton started pulling open some of the compartments and strapping on enough weapons to fuel a small army.
Once he was decked out, he turned and held out a hand.
“Come on, Little Love. It’s time for you to get introduced to the Institution.”
“What does that mean?” I asked as I placed my hand in his. We turned toward the main door, and he rested his other hand on an automatic weapon hanging over his shoulder.
“Being at the fights with us as a piece of ass is one thing. For you to show up here, assuming we all make it out, this says something quite different. We’re making a statement that you’re more than a pretty face with a tight ass.
You’re important to us, and you have a use.
They won’t know what it is, but you’ll be on their radar because of it. ”
We held each other’s stare. He was warning me there was no going back.
No warning needed. I'd already made that choice by choosing to come back with Andre and Lafe.
The sun was just rising and we were out in the middle of nowhere. A familiar plane and hanger were maybe a hundred yards away, and a string of black SUVs were parked on the other side.
“Do you hear that?” Anton stopped and tipped his head to the side.
The helicopter was still loud as it cooled down, but I tilted my head, anyway.
Then I figured out what it was. A soft, rhythmic whomping was fast approaching. Parker and I turned to face the trees when two helicopters appeared over the top of the branches.
Shots immediately erupted, and I ducked while Parker raised his gun to fire back at the helicopter. “Run!” He yelled to his men. Then he lifted me over his shoulder and tossed me in the open door.
Screaming, I covered my ears as men called orders to each other. Metal pings bounced around the stairs and Parker cursed, ducking.
“Stay here,” he yelled.
I couldn’t drag my gaze away from the two men face down on the pavement with dark red blood pooling beneath them. They were practically sitting ducks out here. Why weren’t they getting back into the helicopter?
“Amorette!”
I jerked my gaze to Parker. His mouth pressed into a thin line as he looked between my eyes. “Stay here,” he repeated. I nodded, and he ran around the nose to the other side.
Minutes passed like hours, and I crouched down, trying to stay out of sight. A couple of our men made it to the hangar, one to the SUVs and were driving back to us, but several were severely injured.
Or dead.
Then the ropes dropped.
Men climbed down, jumping off when they were just a few feet from the ground. I turned to look for Parker, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I didn’t think he’d leave me, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
Fuck! Why hadn’t I watched him instead of what was happening around me?
One of the men caught sight of me and yelled to his buddies. I glanced around, then jumped out. In there, I was trapped. The SUV was almost here. It was flying. If I could make it to them, I could—
“Oomph!” I grunted as a man tackled me to the ground.
“Amorette!” Parker yelled, but I had no fucking idea where he was.
In seconds, the man had me bundled up in his arms and he was back on the rope. The swinging was so violent as they pulled us up, I was going to be sick. The ground swirled under us as we spun around in a circle, but I finally found Parker.
He fought one of the men on the ground, shouting and pointing up at me. Terror seemed to light his face right before I lost track of him, but I couldn’t really tell in the soft glow of morning.
Just like Parker warned, I just proved I was the liability. And worse, I had a feeling I was about to be the bait.