Page 133 of Bishop

The noose cinches tighter, the ability to breathe becoming harder and harder. “Mom, I—” I suck in breath after breath. “Please.”

Bishop grabs my arm and hauls me from my chair, his fury bearing down on me as he gets in my face.

He scowls at me. Nostrils flaring. Jaw clenched. He glares so violently I can feel his hatred against my skin. But it’s not directed at me. It’s meant as fuel. To strengthen and enrage.

“Focus,” he mouths, snatching the cell off the table to hold between us. “Breathe.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Scrunch my nose. Fight with everything I have to maintain control. “I said I’ll do anything,” I repeat. “You’re on your own now. I can help you. Just tell me what I have to do.”

“I’m neither alone nor in need of your help.”

“Mom,” I plead. “Please. There has to be something.”

The line falls quiet. The entire room waits on a knife’s edge.

“You want to know what needs to be done, dear daughter?”

My stomach twists. I can already imagine the men she will punish me with. The scars her request will inflict. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

“Fine. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you exactly where your daughter is if you avenge what was done to your father. That means getting rid of your brothers. All three of them. Don’t call me again until it’s done.”

25

BISHOP

The call disconnects.

The room erupts with sound.

Scraping chairs. Pitiful placations. Spineless threats toward Adena.

But all I hear is Abri. Her hitched breaths. The underlying approach of panic.

My gaze doesn’t leave her as I dump the cell on the table.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur close to her ear. “Just breathe.”

“I, um…” She stumbles back, ghostly white, her wild eyes blindly scanning the room. “I need a minute.”

She starts for the hall. I shadow her.

“Bishop.” Lorenzo raises his voice over the bickering. “Give her space.”

“That’s not what she needs.” I follow on her heels.

“Jesus, Bishop,” Salvatore yells. “He said give her some fucking space.”

My volatility increases. If my focus wasn’t pinpoint on Abri I’d rip that conceited piece of shit’s throat out. But I keep following her, thankful she doesn’t protest when I tail her into her bedroom.

She swings around as soon as we’re inside, grabbing the door and pushing it shut, keeping her open palms against the wood as she hangs her head and hyperventilates.

Her shoulders rise and fall, the pain in each rasped breath slicing through me in ways it shouldn’t.

“My men will find her.” I step closer, not sure if she’ll still welcome my touch. “I’ll get the information from Adena myself. I won’t stop until I do.” I’ll fucking murder that bitch, but not a moment before Abri has her little girl.

“She’s not joking, Bishop.” She struggles to speak between heaves. “She wants me to kill my own brothers. She expects me to do it.”

“I know.” I gently grab her hips, turning her to face me. “But we’re not thinking about that right now. I need you to focus on getting air in those lungs.”

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