Page 15 of Owen (Storm Enterprises)

OWEN

EIGHT WEEKS LATER …

The day she walked away from me was the day I made it my mission to uncover everything there was to know about the prick she calls a husband. Now staring at the information gathered on the screen, anger overflows my veins, pumping through me so strongly that it might rupture my flesh.

I will it to happen, welcoming the bleed out. Knowing she’s starting a life without me, the life we should have had, pains me more than any physical pain you could endure. It guts me and poisons every cell inside me.

The piece of shit staring back at me on the screen is Carlos Andreas from Mexico. At thirty-eight years old, he’s far too old for her, far more dangerous too, and the husband to the woman I love.

My eyes flick over the information I’ve already memorized, to drive me on my quest for happiness.

His best friend is Nico Garcia, head of a cartel family in Mexico, a known drug lord, and a piece of shit whose family has been linked to human trafficking.

Over my dead fucking body will I let this scum steal what’s mine.

She might be pregnant with his biological baby, but that baby belongs to me. They’re my family, and nothing will stop me from taking what’s mine.

Not Laya.

Not Tate.

And sure as hell not Carlos Andreas.

I’ll spill blood if I have to. I’ll revel in it, even.

But I will have my family.

Laya and our baby will be mine.

I lift my phone and scroll through until I get to the name I want—Reece O’Connell. He’s part of the O’Connell Mafia family, a good kid, a child genius, actually, with a mind full of knowledge at the family’s disposal that makes him both useful and dangerous.

But there’s a connection that Reece O’Connell has with Nico Garcia, his former would-be stepfather. Nico killed Reece’s unborn sibling, forcing Reece and his mom to run and relocate under new names.

I know Reece has reconnected with Nico, something his father may not be aware of. Information I intend to use to my advantage because I’ll do anything to get my girl back.

Anything.

“What the fuck do you want, Owen?”

I chuckle at the little shit’s manners. He really does not give a fuck how he speaks to anyone. “I need a favor.”

He grunts noncommittally.

“You owe me,” I clarify, and he knows I’m referring to the shitshow that went down at his family’s wedding, where he assisted with the escape of Luca Varros’s wife.

“So I’ll ask you again, what do you want? I have shit to do.” His voice is sterner this time, and I shake my head at his attitude.

“Nico Garcia.”

He grumbles something under his breath, then groans. “You want me to have him killed? You know I owe him too, right?” I know he owes Nico. I’m sure Nico won’t let him forget it either. But the little shit is as valuable as the debts he owes and uses that knowledge to his family’s gain.

“I don’t want you to kill him.” I hear the whoosh of air escape him. “He has a close friend I want a meeting with.”

A loud chuckle erupts from him, and I pull my phone away from my ringing ear and glare at it.

“You want the girl back, right?” My pulse races and the vein on my temple thrums. Of course he knows about Laya; Reece O’Connell makes it his business to know about everyone, and it’s times like this I’m grateful for it.

“I do,” I confirm, hating the way my heart thunders against my chest at letting someone know my plans.

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