Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“My brother is out there. He’s alone and scared.”
“I know,” Grant said. “But the best way to keep him safe is to wait until we have a clear plan.”
My logical side knew he was right, but it didn’t stop the rest of me from feeling like I had to leave to search for him myself.
“We’ll find him, and we’ll take care of him,” Rhys said, laying a hand on my arm.
Rogue laughed as he gestured to us. “See? I told you. They’re perfect for each other.”
Rhys and his brothers gave me all the hard work I could have asked for to keep me busy. By the end of the day, my arms and back were aching, I’d been forced into close contact with a number of horses, and I knew more than I ever wanted to about the inner workings of tractors.
My phone was ringing when I stepped out of a long shower during which I’d thought of at least fifty ways I could kill Franco. I picked it up expecting it to be Rhys calling to bitch at me for being late to dinner. It was my father.
My heart slammed against my chest. Had he gotten news about Arturo? If my brother was hurt or… dead, I wasn’t going to forgive myself for not going after him myself.
As soon as I answered, my father said, “Get on the next plane home. I need you here.”
His voice was oddly monotone. All my senses went on alert. “Why? What’s changed?”
My father hesitated, something he never did. “I don’t trust these men you’ve sent. They aren’t working fast enough.”
His voice still didn’t sound right. “Are you in trouble?”
“Of course I’m in trouble. My son has been taken.”
That sounded more like him, but why would he suddenly want me there?
“Have you seen any sign of Franco?”
“No…” Again he hesitated. “Only some of his henchmen.”
What was going on? Was he somehow being forced to call me? Did Franco want me there? Did it matter? If me showing up in Chicago was the only way to save Arturo and take Franco down, then I’d go. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, son.”
Even if nothing else had tipped me off that something was wrong, my father ending the call like that would have done the job. The call was not what it seemed, but what I didn’t know was whether it was orchestrated by Franco or my father himself. Was that my father’s attempt to sound afraid, to make me think he really needed me? Had he made a deal with someone?
No. I couldn’t reconcile that. He would never give up power, not while he was still alive, and the voice had definitely been my father’s, strange as it had sounded. I’d have to put all the pieces together when I got there.
I texted Rhys, not wanting to go down to the kitchen to face him and his brothers. I knew they would try to convince me not to go, but if that fear in my father’s voice was genuine, either the situation with Arturo had become critical or something had happened to my stepmother or one of my other brothers, and he’d lost control of the situation. If my father was the one luring me into a trap, he was working with Franco, and I would deal with him accordingly.
I was stuffing necessities into a duffel bag when my door banged open, and Rhys stormed into my room.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I turned away, not wanting to look him in the eye. “I told you. My father asked me to come home.”
“Have you talked to X?”
“Not yet. I’m going to call him on the way to the airport.”
Rhys grabbed my arm, trying to make me face him. “Call him now. Something is wrong.”
“I know.”
He narrowed his eyes. He looked as angry as he had the first time he’d been forced to admit how much he wanted me. I longed to grab hold of him, throw him down on the mattress, and make him admit to wanting me over and over, but if I touched him, I would lose all my resolve. “What do you mean you know?”
“My dad’s voice was… off, and he said things he would never say.”
“See? You need to wait like X said.”
“No. It’s time for me to see this through. Even if it’s a trap, it’s time for me to take charge.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If it’s a trap, then you absolutely need to stay.”
“Not if it’s Franco baiting the trap and the consequence of me not going is Arturo dying.”
Rhys shook his head. “X has sent in his best men. They have narrowed down Arturo’s location.”
“They think they have. We can’t be sure of anything except that my father says he wants me home.”