Page 75 of Captured

“When I tell you to stay somewhere, it’s not a request but a command. What just happened was unexpected, dangerous as fuck. You could have died. That can’t happen. I won’t let you put yourself in harm’s way.” I shook her, the anger and anxiety at the thought of losing her strangely overwhelming.

“I…” Emily blinked several times, grimacing when the plane smashed into the ocean maybe four hundred yards out. There was an almost instant explosion from the gas tanks hitting the surface, the rumble creating a horrified look on her face.

I wanted to punish her for being stupid, for risking her own life, but I knew that wasn’t what she needed. Still, I wasn’t the kind of man to give comfort to anyone. But as the fireball of twisted steel continued to burn, I pulled her against me.

“We need to get back. I’m sorry to cut this short.”

Emily pulled away enough to be able to look into my eyes. “This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. Right?”

“You are correct. However, I have a feeling this time it’s even more personal.”

She shuddered in my hold as the anger continued to grow. Whoever had done this would soon pay a hefty price.

With their lives.

Both Rico and Axe stood like lions waiting to devour a smaller creature or slaughter everyone who got in their path, my other soldiers filling the space in my office with explosive breaths and moods. No one was sitting. They were as tense as I was, if for no other reason than someone dared to attack me, especially at my home, I had extremely clever and cruel methods of fighting back.

Usually, they were forced to come along for the ride, covered in blood by the end of the experience.

This time it would be the most savage act I’d performed.

“I need to know who the fuck found us,” I growled as I looked from my Capo to the other men in the room. It was funny how they all seemed sheepish. “I want that info today. Fucking today!” The look of terror on her face was embroiled in the front of my brain, so much so I was furious with everything and everyone for allowing this shitshow to occur.

Granted, I hadn’t taken walkie-talkies with me, only my phone, which I’d pitched in the seat of the Jeep when I’d undressed hurriedly. To Axe’s credit, he had called in an attempt to warn me, but I’d been otherwise preoccupied.

“There was no advance notice,” Ralphie, the younger guy who’d been with me only a few months was stupid enough to say. He was also directly in both my line of sight as well as my physical presence.

I issued a brutal backhand without thinking, knocking him halfway across the room. As he crashed into one of the tables, smashing the legs as he crumpled to the floor, Rico glared at me, daring to walk closer. He was the only soldier who had the fucking balls to stand directly in front of me.

“We’re trying, boss,” Rico huffed. “It’s best if you calm down.”

“Calm down? I almost fucking lost both my life and that of…” That of whom? The woman I loved? Or the one I’d wanted to treat as nothing but a fucking possession? Three of the other men in my employ helped Ralphie to his feet, the man acting dazed and confused.

Well, so the fuck was I. Who was stupid enough to do this shit? They all stared at me as if I had yet another screw loose. Maybe I did but it was all because I’d promised to keep Emily safe and had come damn close to failing. I wanted to be more furious with Rico as he continued staring at me without blinking, but he was right that nothing good would come of me flying off the handle.

I took a deep breath, rubbing my eyes as I attempted to put the pieces of this game of chess together in my mind. That’s exactly what this was, the real enemy waiting to take the pawn he’d created. Fucking me. And I was finished with it.

“When the hell did you get the pilot and his plane on radar?”

“Only a few minutes before they struck. I listened to the chatter for a third time. They took off from Mazatlán International Airport supposedly on their way to Cabo San Lucas. Everything appeared to be normal.” Axe was hesitant at first but his answer was full of confidence.

“You mean until they took a sudden swing in our direction.” I gritted my teeth, the rage I’d felt at almost losing Emily exhausting.

“Yeah, they did. Within seconds, I called you, boss,” Axe insisted. “You didn’t answer.”

“Yeah, I know,” I admitted, which allowed others in the room to take a deep breath.

“How the fuck did they get to the island so fast?” Rico tossed out, turning slightly toward my hacker, Axe.

“The engine didn’t sound normal, almost like one you’d find on a jet,” I answered as a suggestion. That much I had caught before the hunk of metal slammed into the water.

“That makes sense,” Axe said, inching closer. “There are some military prototypes built to look like passenger crafts but they have powerful engines and weapons on board.”

That was the most interesting thing I’d heard in a long time.

“Do you have any idea who it might be, boss?” another one of my soldiers asked.

“The list is endless.” Although I had at least three ideas. “That’s what I’m going to find out. Axe, see what you can find out about these planes and if there is a list of people who purchased them.”

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