Page 79 of Cage

Both Zeke and Ruth are screaming from the office. I’m not sure who they think is going to hear them and come to their rescue. This house isn’t close to any neighbors. There are at least three acres of property surrounding it.

One glance around Ember’s bedroom has me fighting the urge to go put a bullet in Griffin’s head right now. There are touches of my girl throughout the space, but barely. She nevermade this her home. Never settled in here. Because he kept sending her away. Fucking bastard.

I pocket the bracelet, noting that there are only two charms on it. It’s the only one like it in the jewelry box, so it must be the right one.

Rylan is wiring some explosives at the bottom of the stairs when I get there. “Thank you,” I say.

He glances up at me and then back at what he’s doing. “For what?”

“For taking care of my girl out there.”

“She’s family, Cage. Since the day she arrived, Ember’s been family. And even with as much shit as I give you, I’m so fucking happy you found her.”

My heart heats faster while I stare at my brother, almost speechless. After we were recruited to The Elite Team, we all bonded and became the tightest group of brothers. We had to because we needed to trust each other when we were working. Then Rowie came into our lives and turned our world upside down. She taught us about more than just trust. She taught us love. We don’t show each other our emotions to each other very often, but I hope my brothers know how much they all mean to me.

“I love you, Ry.”

He rises to his full height and eyes me. “I love you too, bro. Now, let’s go avenge our girl.”

I glare at him. “She’s my girl. Not ours.Mine.”

The fucker laughs and heads toward the office. “Whatever you say, asshole. I’m pretty sure she likes me more than she likes you.”

If looks could kill, Rylan would be a dead man. I swear to God, he’s going to send me to an early grave with his smart-ass comments. One of these days, I’m going to snap and he’ll havea broken nose. Or worse. Yet, I know he’ll continue to push my buttons because that’s what family does.

Zeke Griffin has made it into a sitting position since we left him in here. Ruth is leaning against a wall, trying to use her feet to break the zip-tie around her wrists.

“You’ve proven your point, Cage. Cut this off, now,” Ruth snaps at me.

Going over to her, I squat down and smile. “I really don’t think I have proven my point, Ruthie. You see, if you paid attention to me or my brothers, you would know that loyalty means everything to us. You could have been straight with me and probably gotten what you wanted, but you were sneaky. And you put Ember in danger. You also helped to kill her mother, the one person in her life who loved her… Until now.”

Ruth shakes her head, her lips curling down with anger. “Cage, I’m a fucking CIA agent. You won’t get away with this.”

I reach out and cup her chin. “I already have, Ruthie. You see, while I was flying here, I made a call to the head of your organization. He’s in full support of what I’m about to do. Seems you’ve been doing quite a bit of shady shit throughout your career, and it’s all starting to catch up with you. And you know what happens to CIA agents who become traitors.”

Her face goes ghostly white as her eyes bulge. She tries to kick me away but ends up falling sideways to the carpeted floor. I laugh and take a step back, then turn to Zeke.

“You hurt my world. I live and breathe for your daughter, and you hurt her.”

“I didn’t mean to!” he shouts desperately. “I’m her father. I love her.”

Striding over to him, I kick him in the face, a loud, crunching noise filling the room as my steel-toe boot meets his jaw. He howls as blood gushes from his nose and mouth.

“No, you are her sperm donor. I’m her Daddy. You don’t get to hold any title for her. You never protected her. That’s my job now, though. And I take that very fucking seriously. Just ask Ruthie. Ineverleave a job unfinished.”

Zeke continues screaming in pain. As much as I’d love to spend more time torturing the fuck out of him, I don’t want to spend another second away from my firefly.

“Cuff their wrists and ankles. Then blow this fucking place up and set it alight,” I tell Rylan, who gives me that sadistic grin he’s known for when he gets to blow something up.

“Happy to, brother.”

“Don’t leave until it’s done and burned to ashes.” I turn back toward Ruth and Zeke. “I hope you both burn in hell.”

Then I stride out and climb into one of the SUVs, smiling the entire drive back to the airfield.

23

EMBER

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