Page 134 of The Best of Us

Baggage.

Skeletons in closets.

But this time, not Constantine’s.

“Easton. They wanted Colin because they found out who his uncle is,” I said as shock knocked me forward, nearly headbutting Constantine.

“Not because of Easton, but because of who Easton knows.” At Constantine’s grave words, I finally lifted my head to look into his eyes. “That’s why Jamie had to be careful to try and disconnect himself and his father from the abduction. He didn’t want to risk The League finding out who was behind this yet.”

“Easton works at The Sapphire Hotel, and Sebastian Renaud co-owns it, and he’s part of that League group,” I interpreted, still not quite catching on to why in the world they wanted our son.

“Sebastian’s not justpartof the group. He’s the most powerful and feared League leader. One of the main men responsible for gutting The Alliance,” he told me. “And Sebastian has something anyone would kill for—or in this case, abduct our son to get their hands on.”

“And what’s that?” I asked as he tightened his hold of my hands.

He looked over at Enzo, then back at me. “According to Sean McGregor, who I just called after talking with the Sicilians, Sebastian has a device that contains not only all of the evidence The League had on The Alliance to take them down, but billions of The Alliance’s funds in cryptocurrency. It’s stored in a vault at The Sapphire Hotel.”

Enzo revealed the final missing piece. “They orchestrated a plan to take Colin, intending to force your brother to convince Sebastian to trade that device for Colin.”

“But there’s one thing they never anticipated,” Constantine said as he stood, bringing me up to my feet.

“And what’s that?” I mouthed, swallowing.

His brows tightened as he stared deep into my eyes and rasped, “Me.”

Chapter43

Constantine

“You really did showup exactly when Colin needed you. A few days, even a few hours later, and he could have been . . .”

I pulled Juliette into my arms, not wanting her to finish that sentence.

Resting my chin on her head, I caught Enzo’s eyes as he quietly stared at us, processing what this all meant starting with Daniel O’Brien—a punk twenty-three-year-old that stupidly tried to mug my intern who brought Colin into my life, and in doing so, obstructed their plans.

“What are we going to do?” she asked once I let her go, and we faced the others in the room.

I ignored the “we” part of her question because whatIplanned wouldn’t involve her. “No one is getting their hands on our son. No deal will be made. You don’t have to worry about that.” It was a promise I’d be keeping. No one, not even the Devil himself, would take my word away.

“I’ll let Mom know to eat without us. We’ll prep for the extraction of Jamie and his team from the hotel. We roll out in thirty. It’ll be dark by then,” Alessandro said, and I gestured with my head for the others to leave with him. I needed a minute alone with Juliette.

Alessandro shut the door as he left, and I appreciated the opportunity to focus all of my attention on Juliette without the fear of prying ears.

“We’ll take Jamie and his crew to our security office in Chelsea for questioning. I’ll have Enzo bring Lennon here, so Colin doesn’t worry about her safety.”

She smoothed the back of her hand across my cheek. “Thank you. That will mean a lot to him.”

Before I could respond, the door swung open. So much for a few uninterrupted moments to put to rest Juliette’s fears.

Hudson shot me an apologetic look for intruding before sharing, “My man on overwatch just called. Someone took out the power at the hotel. By the time he went in to check, the hotel room suite was empty. They were either taken out the back, or they left on their own. CCTV footage was also killed, so we’re in the dark.”

“Colin saw the footage in my office. He must’ve told Lennon we had eyes on the hotel, so she would know she was safe. Either she told Jamie, or Jamie’s mirroring her phone.”The way I am Colin’s.Not that I’d had a reason to check it.

“What happens now? Do you think Lennon’s in danger?” Juliette asked as I went over to the desk, put on my hat, and then picked up my laptop.

“We’ll find her.” I packed as much confidence in my tone as possible. “Assuming Jamie’s working with the mercenaries who came after Colin today, there has to be more of them. They’re more than likely meeting somewhere to strategize the next steps.”

“But if they’re not working together? And those men took Jamie since they couldn’t get Colin today? What does that mean?”

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