Page 22 of Unleash You

I rose to my feet, feeling better. Zack made it sound so simple. All I had to do was tell Anabelle I loved her and then drop a truth bomb on her. “I’m going.”

“There you are.” Our brother Tyler came in through the double french doors that led to the gardens. “Mom wants us in the drawing room. Sweet Ana is playing the piano.”

Zack squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll send her home when she’s done so the two of you can talk.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, got a minute?” Tyler slapped my arm.

“I’ll see you guys upstairs. I can tell this is highly classified stuff.” Zack covered his ears, making a shushing sound.

“How can you tell?” Tyler asked. “Do we look that guilty?”

“A bit,” Zack called out on his way upstairs.

“What’s going on?” I asked Tyler when Zack was out of my line of sight.

“Rebecca ran off. She was doing fine, and then she wasn’t.”

“Jesus Christ.” I rubbed the creases on my forehead. “I thought she was safe with you in New York.”

“She was, until she left. I looked for her, but she’s really good at hiding.”

Rebecca Smith was the woman who came to us for help while we were in Maracaibo. Or rather, she sold us crucial information in exchange for an exit visa out of Venezuela for her and her brother. The night we lost Charlie was the same night we helped her escape Smith, one of the biggest cartel leaders in the area. He controlled all guns and drugs coming in and out of the country. We were certain his most recent business venture with a New York Mafia boss involved human trafficking. But when Charlie and I took this information to our commanding officer, we were told to stand down.

Rebecca had already risked it all for us. So I called the best pilot I knew, my brother Tyler. He took personal leave from the ATF to come get us out of the jungle. That night it all turned to shit in a matter of minutes. Charlie’s insane obsession with Rebecca made him do all kinds of crazy crap, like leave the group to kill Smith. In the process, Charlie and Rebecca’s younger brother, Jack, got shot. Neither one of them made it out.

“She promised to stay with you,” I said. Not that repeating the obvious would change the facts.

We fucked up majorly in Maracaibo, and now we had to fix it. We owed her that much. Because of us, the only life she knew got upended. When we first met her, she was running accounting for the cartel. Smith treated her as though she were the most precious thing on the planet. But then something changed, and she came to Charlie for help. In return, she turned spy for us. Now one of the deadliest cartels in the business was after her. Whether they wanted revenge or to make an example out of her, it was hard to tell.

“She did. Something spooked her in New York. Have you heard from Charlie?”

“Yes, but that’s a dead end. He doesn’t want to come home.”

“That can’t be good.” Tyler braced his hands on the sofa armrest.

“Don’t worry about him. I’m working on it.”

“Good. Because I have to head back to New York. I have a lead on the Mafia boss who was working with Smith. I’ll keep looking for her. We’ll find her.”

“Thanks, man. I’m headed to Venezuela soon too.”

“Oh fuck.” He ran both hands through his hair.

“We don’t leave a man behind.”

“Agreed.” Tyler’s blue gaze turned dark with determination. “Wait, is that Valentina. What’s going on there?”

Valentina bolted inside through the french doors with her shoes in her hand and mud on her bare feet. “No idea. I’ll go talk to her.”

“No, I got it. You go meet Zack in the drawing room. Sounded like you and sweet Ana had a conversation pending.” He hit my arm.

Was anything ever a secret in this house? A smile pulled at my lips, and I punched him back. “Yeah, and the name is Anabelle.”

When I reached the drawing room, guests had already gathered around the piano. I had to elbow my way to the front, where Zack had already found a spot next to Mom. After a few minutes, the sea of bodies parted to make room for Anabelle to get through. She looked spectacular in that low-cut dress. Jesus, no wonder Josh stood in the back of the room, moping like a teenager. He didn’t like that he had to share her with so many people. Had she agreed to go out with him? Earlier, I’d made a quick exit because I couldn’t stomach the idea of those two together.

Anabelle sat on the piano bench, biting her lower lip as she glanced up to smile at all the expectant faces. “This is ‘Rêverie’ by Debussy.”

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