Page 6 of Fired at the Heart

Ready to storm out of the room and leave this godforsaken place and all its painful memories behind, I turn on my heel to leave.

Before I can take a single step, though, Caleb speaks. “They took Jade.”

I freeze, my heart stuttering, before I turn back to face him. “What did you say?”

Caleb swallows hard, his icy exterior cracking. “The traffickers. They took Jade. They got him, Avery.”

For a moment, I forget how to breathe.

Jade, always cocky and relentless, begging me and Caleb to teach him how to fight. How to survive. He was all sharp edges and louder than he had any right to be, desperate to prove he wasn’t weak. I saw a lot of my younger self in him.

And now he’s gone. Kidnapped by the monsters the Rockfords want to take down.

The hit lands hard, but I don’t allow it to show. This isn’t my family anymore. Raphael made that clear when he drew his line in the sand.

I shove the memories back into the box where they belong. What comes out of my mouth next is as cold as I intend it to be. “I don’t care.”

The words hang in the air, heavy and final. For a moment, no one moves, no one breathes. Then Caleb explodes.

“You heartless son of a bitch!” He lunges at me, his fist drawn back, ready to strike.

Cassian draws his gun, placing himself between me and Caleb. “Stand down, or I’ll put you down myself.”

My hand drops to the knife at my side, ready to draw it and back up Cassian if Caleb pulls a weapon of his own. I’m honestly shocked that my second-in-command is still standing. Emotions must be seriously messing with Caleb’s killer instincts.

Tension crackles through the air as the two men face off. Raphael shifts, angling his body toward me, but I keep mine rigid and forward-facing, unwilling to let my attention stray from the powder keg waiting to explode in front of me.

Aaiden’s command draws everyone’s attention. “Stand down, Caleb.”

With a snarl, Caleb returns to his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

I touch Cassian’s arm in silent command, and he holsters his weapon, resuming his position at my back.

“Avery, please.” Aaiden’s mask cracks, desperation leaking through. “We’ll pay anything, do anything. Just help us take down these people and find Jade. Help us stop these bastards before they hurt anyone else.”

He slides the folder across the table, and I flip it open to find a contract inside. I lift it to scan the numbers and terms. It’s a generous offer, more money than most people would see in a lifetime. But I’m not most people, and neither are the Rockfords.

With a scoff, I toss the contract back onto the table. “I don’t need your scraps.”

Aaiden flinches, but he doesn’t back down. “Name your price, then. Whatever you want, we’ll pay it.Please.It’sJade. We need you.”

Such a powerful Alpha, aRockford, begging me should feel good, but it’s not therightRockford.

I settle back in my chair and consider the contract again. “Double it.”

“Fine.” Aaiden accepts without hesitation. “Update the contract with the revision.”

He slides a pen across the table, and I catch it, the metal cool in my hold. I twirl the pen between my fingers, my mind racing. This is it, the moment of truth. The moment where I decide whether to let myself be pulled back into the Rockfords’ orbit.

There’s just one more thing I need.

I roll the pen between my fingers. “I have another condition.”

Aaiden’s jaw clenches. “What is it?”

The question hangs in the air as I savor the power that making them wait and wonder gives me.

And then I turn my attention to Raphael, our eyes locking for the first time since I walked into the room. “Beg me.”

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