Page 62 of The Devious Husband

I shake my head. “I can’t risk that lunatic hearing about it and deciding to end his game early.”

“Zach, tell me you’re getting closer to finding something,” I ask as I glance over the list of people Sierra’s been told about so far. Zach has been helping Elijah find a link between them, but they’re both coming up empty. Most of them have been people I’ve taken out in my quest to find or avenge Valeria, but a few of them are random thugs from years ago. There’s no discernible pattern.

“Your list of enemies is too long,” Faye says, her usually sweet voice filled with uncertainty. I know they’re trying not to, but they all blame me, rightfully so. “We’re going down them one by one, checking all properties they own and their recent movements, but so far, nothing is flagging.”

“We’ve been checking all their financials,” Valentina adds, but I can’t find anything worth digging into.

I nod, and Celeste looks up at me. “Come take a look at this,” she tells me. She’s been reviewing the footage we were able to gain access to from surrounding blocks, tracking the helicopter to an open field, where it seems to have disappeared. “In this reflection, there’s a fraction of a tattoo visible.”

The image is so pixelated that it’s hard to tell, and I stare at it as our systems attempt to sharpen the image. “I’ve got his voice, I think,” Elijah shouts. He presses play just as the image of the tattoo sharpens, and my stomach drops when I recognize both the tribal tattoo and the man’s voice.

“I know where she is,” I shout as I take off running toward my helicopter, my pilot already on standby, Dion and Elijah on my heels.

Dion really fears flying, even more so in helicopters than planes, but he doesn’t even flinch as he straps himself in next to me. My heart is in my throat as we approach the warehouse I think she’s being kept at, the same one where I shot the cleaner that I’d learned had been abusing his daughter.

He’d been one of many that had been in charge of cleaning up our messes, and one day, his daughter had come to me, begging for help. I shot him in the head the next time he showed up at a site, and I should’ve just made sure he was actually dead before walking away.

I don’t know how he’s still alive, but I do know I’m to blame for what happened to Sierra. My past came back to haunt me, and she paid the price. “Hover over that field there,” I instruct as I begin to load my gun. “We’ll be shot down if we get too close. Lower me, and I’ll be able to run through the fields undetected.”

The pilot does as told, and both Elijah and Dion join me. We’ve only just made it halfway though the field when the warehouse in the distance goes up in flames, and all I can think about as I run as fast as I can is my wife strapped to that metal seat.

Fifty-Four

Sierra

I wake to the sound of beeping and loud shouting, my head pounding painfully as I try to open my eyes. “She’s awake,” I can eventually make out, along with a lot of crying and rejoicing.

Relief rushes through me when I recognize the feeling of my husband’s hand in mine. “Xavier,” I whisper, turning my face to look at him.

Our eyes lock, and he stares at me like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. “Thank God,” he murmurs, his voice breaking.

“I knew you’d find me,” I whisper, my throat burning.

“You’ve inhaled a lot of smoke,” Raven tells me. “Xavier carried you out just in time.”

My father-in-law places his hand on Xavier’s arm, his eyes filled with just as much relief. “She’s awake now,” he says gently. “You promised us you’d get your wounds looked at once she woke up.”

“You’re hurt?” I ask, trying to sit up and failing. My entire body hurts, and I’m not sure why. All I remember was that creep panicking and knocking over barrels with oil, before lighting the whole place up.

“No,” he lies, his face a little too pale, his pupils blown. “I’m fine.”

“He broke five bones nearly getting crushed by rubble as he tried to get you out,” Dion tells me, his tone grim.

I look back at my husband, before looking at my brothers-in-law. “Hunter, Elijah, Zach, get him checked out.”

They nod and jump into action, and Xavier struggles when they reach for him. “No,” he says, panicking. “I can’t leave my wife right now. She just woke up, and?—”

“We’re with her,” my mother-in-law says, reaching for my hand.

“We won’t go anywhere until you get back,” my father-in-law adds, and I nod reassuringly as his brothers all but drag him out of the room, his eyes on mine until the very last second.

“How is he?” I ask, turning my head to face Ares.

“You’re the one that was kidnapped,” Raven says, sounding furious and worried out of her mind. “You’re lying in a hospital bed, Sierra.”

“Yes, but Rave, that means I’ve been checked out and treated,” I tell her, looking at Val instead. I get where she’s coming from, but it isn’t myself I’m worried about right now. “How is my husband?”

“It’s hard to say,” Val admits, giving me the truth I needed. “He was running on pure adrenaline, so I don’t think he’s even started to feel any pain yet, but the doctors think he broke his forearm, several ribs, and his leg, all on the same side. He needs x-rays, though.”

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