Page 56 of From the Ashes

I flick to the message thread I share with the guys and quickly type out a message to them as well to let them know we need backup. They can organize a team, but right now I need to make sure Camilla has the time to get to her father’s office and into the panic room.

Kovu: De Marco estate is being ambushed. Get here right now.

Once I’ve slipped my phone back into my pocket, I move toward the back of the house, keeping my footsteps light and dodging branches as I go.

When I reach the edge of the lawn, there are only two men visible, and I force down the voice that tells me they could have Camilla, that they could hurt her.

I’ve never cared about much of anything. Not since I was a kid. But the idea of my little lamb being hurt, or worse, killed, has my chest squeezing uncomfortably.

Is this what it means to have a heart?

I swallow thickly and take a quick look around to make sure they haven’t circled back before taking off across the grass as quickly as I can.

Usually I’d keep my footsteps light, but they have to know one of us is here, and I’d almost go as far as saying they’re betting on it.

They know that the Mafia princess everyone has always underestimated has made us fall to our knees, and if it means we get to keep her, I’ll kneel for the rest of my goddamn life.

I reach the edge of the building and press my back to the old stone, taking a second to look from side to side. I’m leaning against the wing Camilla’s room is in, but she should well and truly be in the panic room by now, unless something has gone wrong.

I force down the thought as I move quietly around the side of the house, trying my best to dodge the flowers planted around the edge of the building but doing a terrible job of it. I’ll have to ask Camilla to apologize to the gardeners on my behalf.

There’s a rustling in front of me, and I quickly slam my back against the wall, making myself seem as small as I can. Which to be fair, isn’t very small, seeing as I’m six foot two and built like I spend my whole life lifting weights.

But I’m so focused on the sound in front of me that I all but miss the one behind me until it’s too late.

The sound of the safety clicking off a gun a moment before cool steel presses to my skull makes me pause in place, but it’s their voice that has cold dread washing over me for the first time since I escaped my parents’ house covered in their blood all those years ago.

“Long time, no see, Joseph. Or should I call you Kovu?”

The sound of my old name on my tormentor’s lips has that scared kid that took every beating and never told anyone rising to the surface.

“Joel,” I force through gritted teeth, but remain perfectly still. He may be an asshole, but I’m not stupid enough to underestimate anyone holding a gun. “I thought for sure the drugs would have killed you by now.”

A rattling chuckle fills the quiet night. “It’s a shame you never grew out of that smart mouth.”

I don’t get a chance to respond before the butt of the gun slams into the back of my head and the darkness that lives in my soul engulfs me.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

KAOS

I’ve broken so many road laws at this point that if a cop does decide to pull me over, I’m not sure our connections within the police will help me.

Kovu should be there.

He’s been there every single night she’s been away, which means, logically, she should be safe. But that doesn’t stop me from running straight through every red light I come across. If I make it to the De Marco estate without having an accident, it will be a miracle.

Every mile I grow closer to her only seems to take longer than the last, and right now all I can hope for is that she got to the panic room before they could get to her.

I’m still unclear about why the fuck my dad would want to hurt Camilla. It could be as simple as the fact that he’s teamed up with Davenport, and he wants her dead for backing out of the deal he made with her father. But Caleb has never been one to fight other people’s battles.

Even when we were setting up the Syndicate, he voted against us helping with civil disputes within organizations because he didn’t want us involved.

I turn onto the street the De Marco residence is on and come to a grinding halt.

Ahead of me are three black SUVs and a van with no less than ten men piling into them, including three who are lugging an unconscious Kovu toward the van.

Fuck.

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