Page 109 of The Art of You

“What do you want? Who are you?” I asked him once my hand was off the controls, needing to buy myself time.

“This is Delta Two. The kid escaped. He’s taken off, and he’s armed.” Alfie’s words temporarily distracted me from the man who had my life in his hands, and I peered at the screen.

“This is Alpha Three,” Hudson remarked, “I’m going after him.”

“Rose was your sister, wasn’t she?” I asked him, because that was the only thing that made sense to me. The lengths my brothers would go to protect me. The revenge they took in the past when Bianca died. All of it.

But according to our research, Rose didn’t have any family, just her husband.

“Rose was a good person. The best fucking person on this planet. She gave her life in service to this country, hoping to redeem our family name, the same as I did. And it was for nothing.” He showed his teeth, snarling as he leaned closer, drawing the 9mm right beneath my chin, pushing it up so my eyes were on the ceiling.

The guys outside would open up and check on us soon, I was sure of it. Hudson’s orders. But if they did, this maniac would probably go ahead and shoot me.

“But our brother wasn’t even a killer. All that time we believed he was. All those years of shame. Court acquittal or not, everyone thought he took your sister’s life. We were treated as lowlifes. Our family was destroyed.” Anger curled around his words. “We had to change our names. Escape from the stain of what webelievedour brother did.”

Shock pulled my head forward as it all connected.

“When my sister was murdered by these terrorist pieces of shit, and her husband came to me and let me know she never should’ve died . . .” He shook his head, letting his words trail off. “That opened Pandora’s box. I told him our real names, and we went down a rabbit hole that led us to more lies and treachery. Those lies brought us to your fucking family. To the fact they killed my brother and the government covered for them. Then last year, your family took out your sister’srealkiller.” Spit hit my face as he continued. “Your family took everything from us.” The gun pressed harder into my throat, and on instinct, I reached around with my free hand to try and push him away. He didn’t move an inch. “And now, I’m going to take everything from your brothers and Hudson the way they took it from me.”

The embassy bombing really did wake the sleeping giant. It was too much to process.

I jolted when the doors abruptly flew open, and I thought he’d put one in my head. I’d see the bright light soon. The other side would steal me away to where Bianca was.

“Boss, it’s time to go. Pilot says we need to take off.” An unfamiliar voice drew my eyes, and where were our guys?

“What’d you do to them?” I whispered, trying to see beyond the stranger outside the van to locate our operators. That’s why they didn’t do their regular check.Please be alive.

“Relax,” Keith said, reading my thoughts. “I wouldn’t killinnocentveterans. They’re just taking a nap.” He didn’t budgefrom his position, keeping his back to the door, which meant I couldn’t try and make a move for my gun with my free hand. “We can’t go until the mission is over.”

I could faintly hear the sounds of helo blades off in the distance. He was going to make an escape, and since today was only day 364, that meant he was probably taking me with him, still intent on punishing my family on the anniversary of Rose’s death.

“We have maybe two minutes. They’re bound to find out about what happened in New York soon. We need to get ahead of them,” the stranger said.

My stomach somersaulted yet again, because what the hell happened in New York?

Chapter 42

Hudson

“TOC, do you come in?”I hadn’t heard from Bella in two minutes, and I needed her voice in my ear to calm my heart rate down. Leaving her had been one of the hardest decisions I’d had to make, and I’d yet to shake the bad feeling since I’d left.

“This is TOC, that’s a good copy.” It was Keith, not Bella, and my gut twisted uncomfortably again, throwing my focus.

I nearly missed a tango playing peek-a-boo from a tree off to my nine o’clock. I dropped to my knee and swiveled in one fast movement. Head shot. He was down. Hopefully the last of the tangos out there.

“This is Three, I’ve locked on to the package,” I confirmed the moment I laid eyes on the kid heading for the back fence.

“The HVT is down,” Alessandro shared the good news. “Alive, but just barely. All tangos, aside from the kid, have been immobilized.”

“TOC, can you confirm?” Constantine asked. “Any movement from your vantage point?”

“Nothing,” Keith said. “You’re clear.”

“Bella.” Her name popped from my mouth like areflex.

The silence was deafening, and it stopped me in place. “Something’s wrong.”

“Get down, the kid’s coming at you with his shotgun.” Bella’s words had me taking cover, narrowly missing a round to the face that would’ve ended my promise to make it back to her.

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