Page 41 of Breeding Justice

She gave a faint nod, her head lolling to the side as she drifted off again.

Bash turned to me, his voice low but steady. “If they’re waiting for us in Naples…”

“They won’t be,” I said firmly, though I wasn’t entirely sure. “We’ll get to them first. We’ll protect SJ. We’ll end this.”

Bash didn’t reply, but the look in his eyes told me he believed it. Or maybe he just needed to.

The road stretched endlessly ahead, the weight of what was to come pressing down on all of us. But we kept moving, the promise of safety just within reach. We were battered, we were hunted—but we weren’t done. Not yet.

And when we were out of this, we were going to kill Vito.

Chapter Seventeen: Zane

The infant’s soft breathing was the only sound in the rental car as we sped down the rural Florida highway. SJ was swaddled and secure in the backseat, this fragile little reminder of what we were fighting for. I leaned my head against the window, my body still, but my mind wouldn’t stop. Every possible outcome, every risk, played out in my head like a reel I couldn’t turn off.

Hassan’s voice broke the silence, sharp and decisive. “We need to head to Miami. It’s the logical place to regroup.”

I turned to look at him, forcing my expression to stay calm even as irritation prickled at the edge of my patience. His hands gripped the steering wheel like he was ready to snap it in two, his whole body tense with that same relentless determination he always carried.

“Vito will anticipate that,” I said evenly, keeping my tone neutral. “It’s too dangerous. Don’t you want to see Justice?”

“Of course I do. But I know she would never forgive me if I let anything happen to her son.”

“We have to do the sensible thing right now.”

His jaw tightened, his eyes staying locked on the road ahead. “We can handle the danger. We need to be where we can make moves, where we have resources.”

Hassan didn’t scare easy, and I respected that about him. But sometimes, it was like he thought charging headlong into chaos was the only way forward. I took a slow breath, keeping my voice steady. “Think about Justice. Hassan. And I’m here, not there with her.”

That did it. His hands twitched on the wheel, and his gaze flicked to the rearview mirror for a split second before locking back onto the road. I pressed on, softening my tone. “She needs medical attention. The safehouse in Naples is equipped for that. It’s safer for all of us. Especially for SJ.”

I glanced at the mirror, at SJ’s tiny form tucked in tight. Just looking at him made my chest ache in a way that wasn’t entirely comfortable. He deserved better than the mess we were dragging him through. So did Justice.

He was driving after I’d gotten tired, but the phone call from Skylar made it impossible to focus on anything but them. They were fine. They were alive. They had escaped.

And we were still standing, despite how much it looked like we wouldn’t be.

“She’s strong,” Hassan said, his voice low and almost defensive. “She’ll pull through.”

“She’ll pull through better with the right care,” I countered, meeting his sideways glance with a steady look of my own. “We can’t lose her, Hassan. You know that.”

I let the words hang for a moment before adding, “And the De Lucas are stretched thin right now. Vito’s focus is on Miami. Naples gives us room to breathe, to plan. It’s the smart move.”

The car hummed along, the road stretching endlessly in front of us. Hassan’s silence was heavy, but I could see him wrestling with the logic. He wasn’t good at giving up control, but he wasn’t reckless, either.

Finally, he exhaled sharply, his fingers loosening their death grip on the wheel. “Fine,” he said, the word dripping with reluctance. “We go to Naples. But if things go south—”

“We’ll adapt,” I finished, leaning back in my seat. “Like we always do.”

He turned on the radio, the soft buzz of static and faint music filling the air. It wasn’t much, but it broke the tension. I let my head rest against the seat and watched the darkened landscape blur past the window.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hassan glance at me. His expression was still hard, but his voice softened just enough to catch me off guard. “I trust you.”

I didn’t say anything at first. Trust was a big word coming from him, one that carried more weight than he’d probably admit. Finally, I nodded. “Good,” I said, looking back out at the road. “Then trust me when I say we’re going to make it out of this.”

Hassan didn’t reply, but his grip on the wheel eased, and for the first time that night, the silence between us didn’t feel so heavy. As the car ate up the miles toward Naples, I glanced back at SJ, his tiny chest rising and falling in perfect rhythm. Whatever was waiting for us, I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him—or to Justice.

And I was never going to let anything happen to Skylar. I needed to see him. I needed to touch him, hold him in my arms. I needed to make sure he was okay.

---