CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
– FALCON –
I keep my hands busy by spinning a ninja star between my thumb and index finger while I scan my surroundings. The building looks abandoned from the outside. Macsen holds the door open for Heath and Archer to slip inside as they palm their guns.
Thorsten is also holding a weapon while I’m only holding a ninja star. I can easily either grab a gun or a knife, but I’d like my hands free to have options. Besides, three guys around me have their guns out and Macsen will stand outside to guard the exit.
“Motherfucker,” Heath whispers and I follow his line of sight.
Motherfucker indeed.
Archer releases a string of curses while Thorsten states, “Whomever hit the fucker’s brothel did this.”
“A vehicle is approaching,” Archer’s old lady’s voice flows through my earpiece.
My gaze connects with my brother’s and he slightly inclines his head.
Archer touches his ear. “Bee, change of plans. Have everyone on standby. We have no clue who the fuck is in that vehicle ’cause it sure as hell isn’t Amadeo.”
I glance at the wall and bob my head. Sure as fuck isn’t Amadeo indeed, because he’s nailed to the wall, belly cut open and his guts are hanging half out of it. Blood is coating the concrete beneath him. Someone tortured the bastard and made it last before killing him.
Narrowing my eyes, I notice the slight rise and fall of his chest. I snap my fingers and point at Amadeo.
“What?” Archer asks.
I glide my thumb across my neck and shake my head.
“You think the fucker is still breathing?” Heath asks and jogs over to where Amadeo is nailed to the wall.
Placing his fingers against Amadeo’s neck Heath states, “Warm to the touch, pulse is very fucking faint. He might still be breathing, but he’ll be dead before an ambulance gets here.”
Heath is suddenly gripping Amadeo’s throat and growls, “Open your fucking eyes, motherfucker. Look at me. Did you really think you could threaten my sister and get away with it? Wanting her dead? Well, look who’s dying now, eh?”
I move quickly to stand shoulder to shoulder with Heath when Amadeo opens his eyes. His lips part, as if the fucker wants to say something, but only a bubble of blood is his final fucking action.
“Yuck,” Heath grumbles when he pulls his hand back, covered in blood.
“Guys?” Macsen says and we all turn our heads toward the door. “There’s a nice set of tits pressing against my back. Though the steel pressing against my temple is a bit annoying and unwelcome.”
“Don’t be crude,” a woman dressed in all black from the crown of her head to her toes says.
Only a small bar in her mask shows where her eyes are. She stays behind Macsen, pressing a gun against his temple.
“Everybody play nice, please,” she calmly states. “I have your girls safe and sound. So, no surprises, please.”
“What’s with the double politeness, sweet tits?” Macsen’s voice is a husky murmur and it annoys the fuck out of me.
Why the hell is he keeping his cool and trying to fucking flirt with someone who just mentioned she has Kenz and Livi?
“You’re a dead woman if you so much as harm one hair on my old lady’s body,” Thorsten snarls.
A man dressed in a suit steps inside behind her. “You should have thought about the safety of your old lady before you brought her here.”
Archer curses and the ninja star in my hand is itching to fly through the air. I’m fairly sure I can kill the chick holding Macsen. Especially since she doesn’t have the gun pointed at his head anymore. The suit doesn’t even have a weapon in hand; one of the others would take him out.
“Stand down, Falcon,” Archer snaps.
Thorsten and Heath are still aiming their guns at the threat so why the fuck am I the one being told to stand down?
Archer curses again. “Thorsten, tell your brother to stand down. He has twitchy eyes and I don’t want my cousins getting harmed because he acts before thinking.”
“Cousins,” the suit murmurs and steps around the woman and Macsen. “Archer Lawson, I presume.”
“Holland Hart,” Archer states and my gaze bounces between them.
What the hell is going on? I glance at Thorsten who pulls his shoulders up.
“Fuck,” Bee snaps through my earpiece. “Holland Hart is in there? The diamond dealer by day, notorious kingpin by night. Backup is on its way.”
“Stand down, Bee,” Archer murmurs.
“Give my old lady back, right fucking now,” Thorsten snarls.
“My sister too,” Heath grits.
Fury is eating me alive at the thought of Kenz and Livi being locked away somewhere. Someone might have a gun aimed at their heads, tied up, or worse.
Holland ignores my brother’s outburst and instead nods at Archer. “Let’s keep this civil, us being family and all.”
“We’re not family,” Archer coldly states.
“Could we speed this up?” Thorsten takes a step in Holland’s direction. “My woman is pregnant; she doesn’t need the damn stress.”
Holland swings his head in the direction of the woman. “You didn’t drug the women, did you?”
“Only the dude. The women were very compliant and are safely locked for transport,” the chick holding Macsen states.
I reach out and grab my brother’s shoulder, anger vibrating off both of us and it’s my brother who asks, “Locked for transport?”
“Yes, I need to have a word with my daughter. It will be good for her to have her best friend there. After we’ve had our time to talk, I will have both of them delivered to the clubhouse. Not by choice, but I do respect hers if she chooses to stay with him.” Holland jerks his chin in Thorsten’s direction. “Is she really pregnant?”
“Is she really your fucking daughter?” Thorsten fires back. “Because the birth certificate is a blank slate.”
Holland takes out the handkerchief in his suit pocket and stalks toward me with his hand curled into a fist, except for one finger. “Mind giving my finger a slight cut?”
I want to slice the fucker’s neck, but if what he says is true? There’s no way I can kill Livi’s father without her blessing. Sounds fucked up, but she’s my brother’s old lady, my woman’s best friend. Livi recently had her whole past uprooted and this shit is only adding to it. So, yeah, killing him without a solid reason would be a huge no-no at this point.
The ninja star is sharp as fuck and draws blood with little effort on my part. Holland covers his finger with the handkerchief and wipes away the blood while he saunters in Archer’s direction.
Holland hands it over. “I assume you have her DNA, since you claimed her as family a few months ago. You can compare with mine while I will finally spend some time with my daughter.”
The fucker’s attention slides to me and Thorsten.
He points at Amadeo’s body and states, “Don’t ever put my daughter in an unnecessary dangerous situation again.”
“Stating for one damn second she actually is your daughter.” Thorsten takes a step closer. “Then you happen to have a misunderstanding about your daughter’s character and abilities.”
Holland’s voice is hard and cold. “I might have kept my distance for her own well-being, but never once has she left my radar. Which means I know damn well she was a highly trained special agent when she landed on your doorstep. Obviously, I didn’t want you corrupting my oldest daughter, knocking her up to tie her to you for life.”
“Too. Fucking. Bad. She’s mine and that’s exactly what she’s going to tell you after she’s kicked your damn ass,” Thorsten grits.
Holland removes an invisible speck from his jacket. “Tomorrow afternoon at three. Both girls will be waiting for you.”
I don’t trust the fucker. There’s no way I can simply go home and wait like he says. What if he doesn’t show up? What fucking if? Snapping my fingers, I point at the woman behind Macsen. Holland narrows his eyes at me, and I point at the woman again and back at my brother and I.
“We’re gonna need your guy.” Thorsten shrugs. “Well, woman in this case, to stay with us as a trade. Keep it to good faith and all. Tomorrow afternoon at three, was it?”
Holland releases a sigh. “Lu?”
“Fine,” the woman huffs.
Thorsten crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Good. Now, give us proof of life right fucking now or I swear the concrete floor will turn a sea of red.”
“Lu?” Holland says again.
The woman tucks her weapon away and walks over to us as she pulls her phone from one of her pockets. She taps the screen and turns it in our direction. Both Kenz and Livi are sitting in what looks like a limousine. They both look fucking pissed, but very much alive.
“Three, tomorrow, not one fucking minute longer,” my brother states.
Holland dips his chin. “Gentlemen.” He takes one step and stops near Archer. “While you’re busy comparing the DNA, I will make sure a list will be delivered with the rest of Amadeo’s contacts concerning the human trafficking ring. You can handle the rest of the cleanup.”
Archer mutters a thanks and we can do nothing more than watch the fucker leave. For now that is, because for sure as fuck I’ll get my woman back. Soon. Real soon or there will be hell to pay.