Page 62 of Forbidden Cravings

“If you hurt her, so help me, I’ll gut you until you’re screaming for mercy, then leave your body out for the crows to pick at until you're dead.”

“So full of that bravado, Brinks. My boss wants you dead…well once he sells your whore off to the highest bidder. Imagine how that will feel watching her get fucked right before he puts a bullet through your eyes.”

“You’re dead, fucker,” I roared, my calm obliterated. “I’ll cut a piece of you out for every insulting word you just muttered. And your boss can put the pieces back together while I carve him up until I’m satisfied that enough of his blood covers the ground.”

“Bring it. We’re waiting at Donelli’s latest construction site. One he won’t be completing because he won’t make it. If his son’s death doesn’t kill him, knowing we sold his snotty daughter to another high bidder certainly will.” Shit, they had Angie, too, and Tony was dead. The nightmare kept getting worse. “Get here soon. Your girl’s got a nice set of tits, and I might need to break her in before the boss sells her off.”

The line went dead. Tyson was pale, the anger creased into every part of his face, the same anger that was burning through me. I looked over to see my men with the same expressions. No one threatened one of us, especially either of our sisters. Especially not my girl. The ire that lit my bones mingled with the terror of her being hurt, of anyone touching her. I would burn the world down around the Bad Omens if they hurt her and Tyson would be at my side. If we died, we’d go down fighting and taking as many of them with us as we could.

“We’ll get her back,” I told Tyson, trying to bolster my confidence and his. I’d almost lost Riley this way, and now I might lose Casey. The Bad Omens had found my weakness, and it was the women in my life. Riley was safe now. Of course, I’d thought she was safe before. But now there was no way anyone was getting close to her with Tides on guard. After Randall broke through his ranks, I was certain he’d dealt with any faults in his defenses. And once we found Casey, she wasn’t leaving my sight again. I didn’t care if she complained that I was making her uproot her life. She would deal with it. There was no way I would let her outside my protection.

“Damn right we will. And then I can beat the shit out of you every time you touch her.”

“You’re gonna have bloody knuckles then, because I plan on touching her often, especially after this.”

He gritted his teeth, but I noted the slight tug of a smile.

“Let’s go murder some Bad Omen.”

“Fifteen minutes until we land, boss,” Breck called out, and I took my gun out, readying it, then grabbing another and tucking it in my waistband.

“Shame you didn’t bring the sexy flight attendant,” Tyson muttered, arming himself. “My tension could use some release.”

“Are you shitting me?” I asked. “I thought you said she wasn’t worth the fuck?”

He shrugged. “She wasn’t, but having those pretty lips around my dick right now sure would feel good.”

“There’s something wrong with you, Ty. Get your head out of your pants and focus.”

“I focus better after I come. You’ve had me off my game and I haven’t had a good fuck in a week.”

“You need help,” I teased, shaking my head, my anxiety growing with every minute that passed until we landed.

As we pulled into the hangar, the tension rolled in waves through my body. Breck lowered the stairs, exiting the plane first, his gun at the ready. Three more of my men followed before Tyson and I exited.

My car was in the hangar, and I headed to it, not taking notice that my men hadn’t finished sweeping the place. It was a rookie error, one I was too calculating to let happen, but my mind was on getting to Casey in time.

“Mace,” Tyson said, stopping me at the bottom of the stairs. I peeked back at him just as he caught up with me, his eyes frantic. “Get your ass back on the plane and let them do their job.”

Only then did I realize my mistake. Tyson snagged my shirt to yank me back to the plane as I cursed myself. “Fuck, I—” A gunshot split the air, cutting my thought short. The bullet ripped through my shoulder, sending me stumbling several steps back, but I managed to get a round off before all hell broke out. Tyson yelled something about them being hidden and pulled me down and toward the plane tire. I’d been sloppy, too rushed and worried about Casey to follow normal protocol. And that one reckless move might have cost us everything.

Chapter Twenty

CASEY

Minutes crawled by like ice thawing as I sped down the road, taking random turns to throw anyone following off my trail. My gut told me they’d been too far behind to see me take the exit, but I wasn’t taking a chance. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about these guys, and the fact that only two men had rounded the building to shoot at us as we left only further solidified that thought.

Angie sat next to me, her knee bouncing, her hands so tight on her seatbelt that I worried it would snap.

“What are we doing?” she asked, her words coming out between shivers.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I really didn’t know. There were a hundred possible scenarios ahead of us and only one held a positive outcome—me making it to the hangar before the bad guys. But that was irrational because they’d left ahead of us.

Scratching my arm, I continued to stare at the road, taking a sharp left turn and throwing Angie’s body into the door.

“Dammit, Casey. I’m bruised enough.”

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel to stave off some of my nerves. “Sorry, but I’m running out of time.”

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