Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Sydney
I look up as the gun digs deeper into my side. Tucker is moving toward us, but there is a group of school kids between us. I can’t risk his or their lives.
“Move,” Miles grits out. He pulls me around. “Act like we are supposed to be together. I know you and your little friend Lydia think you can pull the wool over my eyes. Colton said his bitch went into hiding last night, so I know she’s involved. That means you saw the footage.”
“I have the card right here.” I lift the SD card up to show him. “But if something happens to me, the pictures will be posted online and sent to all the major news networks.”
“How? If you’re dead, you can’t send it. Colton is containing Lydia now.”
I look around, trying to find someone to tell that Lydia is in danger, but I don’t know where everyone is hiding.
All those big men at the table last night blend in too well.
I should be able to spot them, but I don’t.
I only see Tucker because he purposely moved into my line of sight.
Knowing he’s close means the others are here too. They’re trained for this.
“I sent the images and video to some friends. If I don’t check in within an hour, they’ll send them,” I lie.
He laughs, but it cuts off as he’s grabbed from behind. I turn to see Tucker squeezing his throat, his thick fingers digging into his skin.
“Stop, Tucker. Don’t kill him. Colton has Lydia.”
“I’m on it.”
I look over to see Maverick rushing off.
“Let him go, brother,” Hades says to Tucker as Miles starts to turn purple.
The gun has been removed from Miles’s hand, and I’m pulled away. Tucker releases him. I watch as Dax walks up and Kant is arrested.
“I’ll kill her,” Miles croaks. “She’ll never be safe from me.”
“Come after her again, and no one will stop me next time,” Tucker says as he folds me in his arms.
We are lying in bed at my mom’s house hours later.
Tucker is holding me with Mari between us.
Colton got away, but Lydia is safe. An arrest warrant hangs over his head, so he won’t come after her again, or so they say.
Miles is being held without bail, along with the two Brigade members who firebombed my house.
“Will you marry me?” Tucker asks softly, and I lean up to look at him.
“Are you serious?” I smile.
“Yeah, spitfire, I’m serious.” He reaches into the pocket of his jeans, careful not to disturb Mari as she clings to him.
He pulls out a ring and holds it toward me.
“Been holding on to this for a few months now. I have a house being built for us on my property. I want to adopt Mari, and I want you pregnant with another child of mine. I want everything with you.”
Tears spring to my eyes.
“Yes,” I say.
He reaches for my hand and slides the ring onto my finger. I look at the rose gold teardrop diamond and a big grin spreads across my face.
“I love it. And I love you so much.” I lean over our daughter and kiss him softly.
“I can’t do what I want right now because she’s fussy, so lie down and be a good girl,” he orders me, and I chuckle as I lie back down.
Poseidon
My cell starts going off before sunrise. I roll away from my girls and grab it off the nightstand before it wakes them. I slip out of the room and head downstairs to the kitchen.
Sharon’s five-bedroom house is huge, with a master suite on the main floor. My dad is standing in the kitchen with a cup of coffee. I dial Carter back.
“Yeah?”
“Kant and the two Brigade members were murdered during the night,” he says, and I pause, not sure how to take this.
“The orders came out of Zimbabwe. There is a price on Colton’s head too. With orders that Lydia and Sydney are not to be touched.”
“How the hell did you find that all out?”
“I told you my team was good. I’m heading out. I got a line on my sister.”
“Be safe,” I say and hang up.
He’s been worried about her running. Callie has a dangerous man after her, the same guy who’s after Carter. If I didn’t have my own family to take care of, I’d help him. That’s what team members do for each other. We got each other’s back for life.
“What happened?”
I didn’t even hear Sydney come into the room. I turn to see her in my T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. My ring on her finger. Her hair mussed from sleep.
“Where is Mari?” I ask as I move toward her.
“I put her in her crib. She snuggled up to Ele and was out again.”
That elephant of hers has been through everything with her, but last night I was the only one who could calm her down. It made me feel good.
“Kant is dead.” I don’t mince my words.
“What does that mean for Syd?” Sharon asks.
I watch as she moves into the kitchen. My father hands her a coffee mug.
“According to Carter’s company, she and Lydia are on a do-not-harm list. I guess us sending out that threat about releasing the footage did its job.”
After everything yesterday, Sydney wanted to post the footage, but Carter had his hacker reach out to the Brigade to tell them we had it. This must be why they are safe now.
“There is a price on Colton’s head too.”
“We need to call Lydia,” Sydney says as she moves closer to me.
I pull her into me, not wanting her far for a long time. It’s going to be hard to let her return to work without having eyes on her, but I know she needs to get back to normal sooner rather than later.
We spend the day together just being a family. I take my girls to show them the progress on the house. Sydney takes a few pictures with an old camera of hers her mom had in storage. I’m upset she lost all those photos that were in her home, but I’m glad she and Mari are safe.
Mari is in her push car, playing as I watch them. My dad walks up behind me and slaps me on the back.
“Build me a small cottage over there so I can be close and help you keep an eye on your family. Besides, your brothers just bought the adjacent pieces of property. This will be our home now.
“You got it.”