Page 19 of Bonds of Obsession

She reacts to that, her lips pursing slightly as a crease appears between her brows. I can feel her studying me, reading the desperation in my face, and I don’t try to hide it. We need their help, and I’m not above letting her see how badly we need it.

For a long moment, the room is silent, broken only by a soft sound from Dayana as she nuzzles closer to Malice’s broad chest in her sleep. Then Willow draws in a deep breath and turns to her three men.

“I think we need to help them,” she says quietly.

Malice shakes his head, his hard expression a complete contrast to the gentle way he’s holding their daughter. “No, Solnyshka. It’s not our problem. We’ve got enough on our plate.”

Vic nods in agreement, but Ransom chews on his lip thoughtfully, the piercing in his eyebrow glinting as his brows draw together.

“I know it’s not our problem,” Willow admits, rising from her seat and crossing toward Malice. She rests a hand on his arm. “But it’s not always about that. Sometimes it’s about helping a friend. Right?”

Malice grunts, his thumb stroking over Dayana’s chubby arm as he gazes down at Willow.

“Jesus. That fucking heart of yours.” There’s pride and adoration in his voice, and he leans down and kisses her hard. It’s not a deep kiss, but it’s so loaded with emotion that I look away, feeling almost voyeuristic for watching them. “You’re the best fucking person I know, Solnyshka. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend. But getting involved with the Dark Lotus Syndicate… it’s not just dangerous. It could be suicide if shit goes sideways.”

Willow squeezes his arm, glancing between him and his brothers. “I know it could be risky, but Quinn will be taking on most of that risk. She just needs our help finding a way to get in touch with Malcolm Mercer. We can’t just sit by and do nothing. Jonah didn’t have to help us when we came to him, desperate and out of options. So even if we’ve technically paid off that debt already… we can’t just walk away from his daughter if she’s in as bad of a situation as we were. Everything we have, the life we’ve built together? We owe it to Jonah. That’s not something I can ever forget.”

As always, the mention of my father makes a familiar tightness build inside my chest. I fucking hate that he’s gone, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him, but there’s a small rush of pride in the knowledge that he played such an important role in Willow and the Voronin brothers’ lives. He would be proud of that, I think.

And Willow’s words clearly hold weight with all of her men. One by one, the stiffness in their posture eases a bit, their expressions turning somber and serious.

Finally, Vic nods. “Alright. I’ll do some digging and see what I can find.”

Malice makes a noise in his throat, obviously not thrilled about this but not arguing. “Just research, right? We’ll help her find a way to contact this Malcolm guy, but we’re not getting any more involved than that.”

Willow beams at them, going up on her toes to press another kiss to Malice’s cheek before doing the same to Victor and Ransom. “That’s all I’m asking for now. Thank you.”

I draw in a shaky breath, relief spreading through me. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a start.

“Thank you.” I echo her words, my own voice rough with emotion. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”

7

QUINN

Vic leads us all upstairs,and I watch as he settles in front of a bank of computers in what looks like some kind of command room, his fingers flying over the keyboard. The soft clacking fills the tense silence between everyone as my men stand behind me, their arms crossed and their attention focused on Vic. Malice and Ransom hover nearby, their eyes darting between the screen and us.

Willow is standing in the doorway, and after a few moments, she steps forward and takes the sleeping baby from Malice’s arms.

“Quinn,” she says quietly, glancing at me and then jerking her chin toward the door. “Can we talk while Vic works?”

I nod and step away from my men to follow her, giving them a reassuring look as I go. It might not be obvious to people who don’t know them as well as I do by now, but I can tell that Killian and Nico are both on edge, their muscles taut like wire. Even surrounded by people who have shown themselves to be our friends—or at least friendly—they aren’t taking anything for granted.

But then, I guess we’ve been fooled before. That’s why we’re here now, thanks to Ambrose’s double-crossing bullshit.

Willow leads me downstairs, and I glance around at the warehouse space as we go, momentarily pulled out of the worries cascading through my head as I take in the space. It’s large and open, the kind of building that could easily feel cold, but there’s a comfortable, lived-in vibe to it. They’ve truly turned it into a home.

“What happened with Atlas?” Willow asks as we settle onto the couch in the living room, cradling Dayana in the crook of her arm.

My stomach twists into a knot. I figured that question would be coming at some point, but it still makes me wince a little to hear his name.

“We were ambushed,” I say in a low voice, trying to decide how much is safe to divulge. “By… an old enemy of my father’s, in a way. He and his men took Atlas, and it has something to do with the Dark Lotus Syndicate.”

Willow’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t interrupt me. So I continue, carefully choosing my words. “We’re not sure where they’ve taken him, but I need to make contact with the Syndicate if I want to have a chance in hell of getting him back. According to what Vic told us last time he did research on that organization, Malcolm is their leader. So any new information we can find out about him will be helpful at this point. If we can’t track him down, Atlas will die.”

I feel my throat tighten as I speak. It’s one thing to have these dark thoughts running through my mind twenty-four-seven. It’s a whole other fucking thing to say them out loud. It makes us look weak, like we can’t take care of our own, and that’s never a good thing.

But there’s no getting around the fact that Atlas is gone, and we’re grasping at straws.

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