Page 87 of Into the Fire

I willingly came, her lips meeting mine in a deep kiss.

“Come back to me. All of you,” she whispered when she broke away.

“I’ll always come back, Sunshine,” I murmured, my throat tight. “Always for you.”

I untangled myself from her and left the room, ready to do what needed to be done.

One less prick in the world to hurt Rosalie was all I could think about.

TWENTY-SEVEN

FOX

“What do we know?” I asked.

Dominic De Santis stared at us from his seat in the safe house he had out in the middle of nowhere. We’d driven like a bat out of hell out here to meet with them. Judging by the state of them, they were struggling with what they’d seen on the video they’d been sent. While I ached for what they were going through, my mind was on Rosie. I trusted Anson with everything I was, but if something ever happened to her. . . I felt like a broken record, the wild fear rushing through my body. I stared at Dominic, my cousin, wordlessly, waiting for him to answer.My cousin.A powerful man in his own right with his girl kidnapped. I could very well be him. The thought sickened me. I needed to come clean eventually, but now wasn’t the time.

“We have the video,” Dom’s voice was tight. He nodded to his laptop on the coffee table.

“And the text?” Enzo asked, sitting forward in his seat.

With a nod, Dom pulled his phone out and handed it to E. I watched E stare down at the message for a moment before he handed it to Cole, who gave it to me.

A request for five million in cash with a promise to return her if received, and a link to the video I didn’t have the heart to tap.

“My guy can’t trace it. Says it’s a burner.” Dom scrubbed his hand down his face.

“It’s the only thing that was sent,” Vincent said. “They asked for five million dollars and sent the link to the video. I assume they planned on making us watch her-her rape. . .” the words faltered on his tongue. He took a moment to collect himself before continuing. “Then they’d give us the address of where to meet.”

“And you’re sure it’s the lords?” Cole called out. Cole had been quiet since we’d left, which was unusual for him.

But I understood why. We were all struggling with what this could mean.

“I recognized Vasiliev’s tattoo,” Levin muttered. “On his wrist. It was him on top of her. We’re assuming the rest of the lords were in the room. There were others in the video, but the camera moved too fast for us to get any identifying information. They were dressed in all black. If Vasiliev was there, then so were the others.”

Enzo nodded, clearly deep in thought. I was struggling trying to get my head into the moment. It was back on Rosie, worrying even though I knew she was safe. Worried, but safe. She had such a good heart. I didn’t want this world to destroy that.

“Cole. Make the call,” Enzo finally said.

Wordlessly, Cole pulled his phone out and dialed before putting it on speaker. I prayed this wouldn’t end badly.

A moment later, the ringing stopped.

“Drake. How’s it going?” Cole asked nonchalantly.

Dom visibly tensed, and Levin sat forward. Vincent swallowed. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they thought we were betraying them and working with the lords. Levin’s hand went to the piece he had at his side. I looked to Enzo, who gave a slight nod of understanding to me.

“Not fucking good,” Drake muttered.

“So we heard. Thought maybe you could clear some shit up for us though. Seems you might know where Bianca De Santis is.”

Drake was quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t involved in it.”

“I’m sure. Here’s the thing, Drake. I thought we had a deal. If I remember correctly, wasn’t it Fox who said we’d drown you like a rat if you turned against us? He had his gun to your head.”

I smirked at that memory. I’d meant it too, even more now.

“He did say that, but I haven’t turned against you.”

---