Page 242 of Kissing the Villain

“Aiden’s around here somewhere.”

“Fuck,” I groaned. “He shouldn’t have come.”

“He’s a Knight,” Marcello pointed out. “Your brother has every right to be here. He has to protect our Queen.”

“Take care of him for me.”

“He’s not a boy. Aiden can handle himself.”

I gripped his shoulders, standing on my tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. “Take care of yourself, Marcello. You better come back to me in one piece.”

He leaned down, his face inches from mine, and nodded against my forehead. “My men are on their way. Don’t fight them. Listen to their orders.”

“How will I know if they’re your men?”

His watch beeped, and he raised it closer to his face so that I could see his eyes from the soft glow. “Count to thirty,” he told me.

Then he opened the door and raced out of the room without another word.

I stood in the dark room, my heart slamming into my chest, counting down the seconds in my head. By the time I reached thirty, the door opened. Two men dressed in dark clothing entered with a purpose. One of them grabbed my arm and led me toward the windows.

The other man shoved the curtains aside and pushed out the casement windows. He leaned over the sill with a silencer attached to his gun and fired two bullets at the men below.

He lifted me by the hips and set me on the ledge. “Jump.”

“What?” I croaked. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

“No, I’m saving your life. Now, jump before I push you.”

“Fifteen seconds,” the other man said as he studied his watch like Marcello’s.

“Now,” the man said with his hand on my back.

Because I trusted Marcello, and he trusted Alpha Command, I jumped out the window.

90

LUCA

Alex and Rhiannonwere on the DeLucas boat, headed back to Key West with a handful of members of Alpha Command. I had arranged for my cousins to help with the extraction. In case someone ambushed the boat, I wanted trained soldiers guarding the girls. Marcello and the rest of his team stayed behind to help the Knights and me deal with the men who took Alex.

“I found Kurti.” Drake shoved his cell phone in front of me. “And his known associates. I sent a team to collect them.”

“Tell the team leader to keep them at the safe house in Beacon Bay.”

Drake nodded, and then his eyes swept across the room.

“Stop worrying, Battle. We have this under control.”

“I know.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. “But we’re unarmed, with dozens of men watching us. One wrong move, and we’re fucked.”

“We’re at war. It’s not an exact science. You can’t program your way out of here.”

He snickered. “Give me a laptop, a car battery, a screwdriver, and five minutes.”

I laughed. “We’re not shooting our way off this island. There are too many people for us to handle head-on. Follow my lead.Whoever brought us here will bring the fight back to Devil’s Creek. We will deal with them when we get home.”

“You think we’re leaving this island without a fight?”

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