Page 172 of Desperate Actions

Nico and Luc sit in the back, each on a call, voices clipped and lethal. One is on the phone with my father, the other with his head of security. Their words are razor-sharp, slicing through the thick tension inside the SUV.

And me?

I can barely breathe.

Not until I see her again.

Not until I have Aella back.

“You got a guard named Benny?” Nico asks, his voice dark.

I nod. Tension coils in my gut like a snake.

“He’s dead.”

Fuck.

The word rips through me, my vision darkening with the weight of it. Benny was an innocent. The youngest of my old team. I knew he didn’t do this.

This is all fucking Santos.

“How many others?” My voice is ice, steady even as my fingers flex against the steering wheel, aching to rip something apart.

“Six bodies altogether,” Nico confirms grimly. “Want my guys to ID them all?”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw clicks.Six.

Six men who were supposed to protect my home.My wife.

They were handpicked.

Either by me—or by Santos.

And that’s where I fucked up.

I trusted him.

And now? Now, I’m going to tear him apart.

Angel finally speaks, his voice low, controlled, but deadly as a bullet to the skull.

“Tell me about the guy.”

His fury is no longer aimed at me.

Good. Because tonight, we’re on the same side.

So I tell them. Everything.

I tell them about Santos, how we served together, how he was a brother in arms before he became a betrayer.

How I let him into my world, into my family, without ever seeing the venom pooling in his veins.

I tell them how I never saw this coming.

And that’s the part that burns the most.

“So this guy was your right-hand man,” Angel states, voice dripping with pure, undiluted fury. “He betrayed you. You trusted him.”

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