Chapter Twenty-Eight
JAX
MARLEY’S BODY slumps, at the same time Hallie screams, and the fucker who just hit her with the butt of his goddamn gun catches her with one arm.
White fiery anger surges through me faster than fucking rapids and I start to rush him, but he turns his gun on me and shoots at the ground at my feet before setting the muzzle of the gun on top of her head.
Mason grabs my arm from beside me, his eyes glued to the gun on Marley’s head. If she were conscious right now, she would be hyperventilating. It’s probably a good thing she’s not aware of the precipice she is on right now.
A low growl rattles in my chest as I stop where I am, the chaod that is threatening to hijack my brain takes a step back.
If I could reach him right now, I would crush him with my bare fucking hands.
Instead, I curl my fingers into my palms and try like hell to keep my mind under control, because rage is tapping at my fucking temples, wanting to come out and play.
I have to hold on to my logic. That’s the only thing that will get me to her without endangering her life. My gut is telling me that this guy doesn’t give two shits about killing us, or her, to get what he wants. I make a silent promise to him and myself to make his death very fucking painful.
He holds the gun on the most important person in this world to me, awkwardly in one arm, his black eyes narrowed on us, until he’s sure I’m not going to be a threat.
“Hallie, grab her other arm and help me.” He barks.
“No, D, please, just let her go. I’ll go with you.” She argues, tears running down her face.
He moves the muzzle of the gun to the top of Marley’s head. Mason, Hallie and I yell “No!” simultaneously, but D keeps his eyes on Hallie. “If you don’t want me to blow her fucking brains out right here, help me get her to the fucking car.”
“Okay, okay.” Hallie cries as she steps up to Marley and gently loops her arm under Marley’s arm.
Glancing at her neck, I look for the necklace I bought her. I don’t think she ever takes it off, so I let out a sigh of relief when I see the dainty chain shining against her tanned skin.
The skin I was feasting on just last night and this morning. Another growl rattles from my chest when the guy from the feed store steps out of the car.
The last time my heart beat in fear like this was when I was put in a holding cell with my mother, sister, and cousin, Vasilei.
I’ve not cared about another person this much since then.
There are few people in this world that I care about, people that I will fight for, but Marley has become the one person I would go to war for.
I’d die for her.
I watch helplessly as they pull the woman I love to the man who threatened her yesterday. I don’t just feel helpless right now, but I’m so incensed that I want to burn the fucking world to get her back next to me, where she is safe.
Hallie turns to us, her face wet with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
I don’t take my eyes off Marley. Everything they do to her will be done to them before I kill them.
The guy from the feed store drags her to the car and puts her in the back seat and waits for Hallie to get close before he grabs her by the hair and shoves her in the back seat with Marley. When he closes the door, he turns to me and smiles.
My upper lip involuntarily curls back. “I will kill you.”
He smiles even bigger. “Looking forward to it.”
Once they’re in the car, Mason and I watch helplessly as they drive away.
“Right, we need to call Callum. We need Spits.” Mason says as he turns toward the house.
If only our team were all we needed.
Letting myself feel the overwhelming pain in my chest as I watch the taillights disappear, I rub my fist over my sternum and experience a type of ache I’ve never felt before. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get her back.
The sounds of tree frogs and crickets are starting to echo across the peaceful yard, completely opposite of the maddening frenzy spinning in my head and heart.
“Jax.” Mason’s hand slaps on my shoulder, pulling me out of a sinking hole, and I turn to him. His hands are fisted at his sides and his face is a mask of rage. “We’ll get her back. Let’s move.”
I need to call Dimitri and Vasilei.
Mr. Harlow and Gray are standing on the porch, looking like they are about to murder someone.
As we get to the steps, Mr. Harlow is trying to be calm, but I can tell he’s about to lose his shit.
When he looks like his knees might buckle and he lays his hand on his chest, Mason and Gray each grab an arm.
“Dad? Dad, here sit down.” They are pulling him toward a chair on the porch.
“Dad, where are your pills?” Gray asks.
“They’re in my office, son.” He grumbles breathlessly as he waves his hand over his shoulder toward the door.
Gray turns and goes into the house, the screen door slamming behind him.
Mr. Harlow had a heart attack last year and, from what I’ve witnessed since I’ve been coming here, is fiercely protective of his family, especially Marley because of what she’s already been through.
Mason squats in front of him. “Dad, we’re going to call the team and get them back.”
Mr. Harlow is rubbing his fist over his chest in slow circles and levels his eyes on Mason. “Do you know where they took ‘em, Mason?” He shakes his head. “I don’t think your sister will recover from anything else being done to her.” He winces and takes a deep breath.
The thought of what they could do to her and how that will affect her mind has my heart racing in my chest. I realize I’ve mirrored Mr. Harlow, my fist is over my chest as well, trying to rub away the pain and fear that is making the air around me feel thick and hot.
Leaning over to put my other hand on my knee, I suck in deep breaths, as much as the boulder on my chest will let me. I have to get her back. The briefest flash of memory crosses my mind, my mom on the floor of that room. I don’t think I can survive this again.
“I know how to find them.” I blurt out between breaths. I had planned to keep the tracking device close to my chest until after I spoke with Dimitri, but if something happens to Marley’s father, I don’t think she will recover from that.
Two sets of eyes lock on me in question, and I take a deep breath as I right myself. “The necklace that Marley wears, the one she got in the mail. It was from me, and it has a tracking device in it.”
Mr. Harlow takes a deep breath of relief and Mason’s eyebrows go up to his hairline. “She got that necklace months ago.”
Gray comes back out with a glass of water in one hand, and one hand fisted with Mr. Harlow’s pill. I turn my back on them while they are distracted and pull my phone out to dial Dimitri’s number.
“Da, cousin.” He answers in our tongue.
“I need you.” It’s still hard to catch my breath. “I’m on the fucking edge Dimitri.”
“Calm down, Brana, tell me what’s happened?” There is female murmuring in the background and Dimitri mumbles to her that everything is okay and to go back to sleep. I’ve never heard him use that tone before, he actually sounds affectionate. My heart hurts even more.
“They took her.” It’s all I can get out before a growl rumbles in my chest and I pull out my gun to empty the clip in the tree, but Marley’s beautiful voice in my head stops me. It would scare her horses. “I’m about to start a fucking war and I need you.”
Rustling travels over the line and I hear a door shut in the background. “Listen to me, Brana, DO NOT engage with them, DO NOT do anything until I get there or I’ll kill you myself.” All affection is gone and his Captain’s voice is back giving orders.
“That will be tomorrow, what the fuck am I supposed to do until tomorrow? I can’t just leave her there.”
“Do you know where they are taking her?”
“No, but I have a tracker on her. I’ll know where they go.”
“Smart.” It’s all he says for a moment and the silence on the line almost has breaks my mind. “I’m going to send you a list of things to acquire before tomorrow. Send me a pin for where you are and where she ends up. I will be making some phone calls. Is she with the man you asked me to look into?”
“Da.” I turn and look at the men on the porch, watching me and turn my back on them again. “Dimitri. I can’t lose her.”
“Do what you can with no engagement. I want them to know we are coming. We will get her back, cousin, do not worry. I’ll call you when we land.”
The line goes dead and I turn back to three of the men who have taken care of Marley her whole life.
Mr. Harlow is sitting at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, looking at the app on my phone. “Is this how we’ll find her?”
I nod my head, standing off to the side with my hands tucked under my arms. The sound of the ticking grandfather clock in the dining room seems to echo through the whole house, making it feel more empty.
It wasn’t until this minute that I realized the sounds of the Harlow family had settled into my heart like my own family, the family I lost when I was twelve. I didn’t realize how much the chatter, laughter, and… life… meant to me.
Gray’s eyes are distrustful as he looks at me and narrows them. “Why are you tracking my sister?” Mason and Mr. Harlow look at me as the question hangs in the air, confusion on their faces.
Running my hand through my hair, I look at the ground. "Koliko ?elim da im ka?em?” [How much do I want to tell them?]
Mr. Harlow speaks up. “Now’s not the time to be secretive, son. This is my daughter we’re talking about. For the past fourteen years, I’ve made it my life’s mission to make sure she is safe and comfortable. I need to know what your part is.”
I’m not worried about Mr. Harlow and Gray. They may be big men, but aside from the fact that Marley would never speak to me again if I hurt them, they are not a threat to me. Mason, however, could inflict some damage.
I look at Mason. “I love your sister. I’ll do anything for her.”
He narrows his eyes. “You already told me that, now tell me why she has a tracking device on her.”
I huff out a large sigh. “Before I came to the States, my life was very different. I lost my mother and sister in a way that I would never wish on another person. If they had been tracked, they could have been saved.”
“Is there any part of your life that we need to be concerned about?” Gray barks.
I shake my head once. “No.”
“So, there’s no other reason for the tracking device, aside from caution?” Mr. Harlow tilts his head as he is asking, his deep gravelly voice booms in the room.
I shake my head again. Then I look at Mason. “But there is something I have to tell you.”
Mason’s body tenses, it’s slight, but I see it and I know I’m on thin ice. He doesn’t say anything but, I have his attention.
“I told you I moved here with my family and grew up in Nevada, but that’s not true.
My name is Branislav Sokolov. I came here with my uncles and cousins when I was twelve to escape the people who killed my family.
” I give them the Cliff Notes version of coming here and our involvement with the Brooklyn Bratva.
“You’re part of an organized crime syndicate?” Mason asks, his voice calm, but I know that voice, he’s pissed I lied to him.
“Not anymore. I was when we first came to America, but I walked away and enlisted when I was eighteen.”
“But you still have ties?” Gray asks, his hands fisted at his sides, distrust and anger laced in his voice.
With a nod, I square my shoulders and say, “Ties that are on their way here to help me get Marley back, because without them, I’ll start a fucking war to find her.”