Page 62 of Hunted Hearts
“They’re stealing these kids. Pulling them from the system with the promise to match them with families. Then they forgethe papers and sell them to the highest bidder. The families who were supposed to adopt them—the good homes? They’re left in the dark about what’s really going on. And Juliette…” He paused, his chest tightening. “Juliette started putting the charity in the spotlight with generous donations. Then with public appearances. Too many eyes got on them. And now they need her silenced.”
The brothers exchanged heavy looks. Denver broke the silence first. “So what’s the move? Turn this over to Interpol? Local law enforcement?”
Theo shook his head immediately. “No. If we tip them off now, the whole operation scatters. They’ll burn evidence, pull every kid they’ve got off the grid and double down on Juliette. She becomes target number one, and we’re back to chasing shadows while she’s looking over her shoulder every damn second.”
“So we do what?” Oaks’s tone was even but dangerous. “Kick the hornet’s nest ourselves?”
Theo’s jaw worked as he glanced at the map pinned to the far wall. Red dots marked every known location tied to the charity. Europe. The Middle East. One in South America. They were everywhere.
“We need control,” Theo said finally. “We can’t just react to this—we need to lure them out, get eyes on the real players. The faces hiding behind all the shell companies. That’s the only way to shut them down for good.”
Colt’s brow furrowed. “And how exactly do we lure out a network like this without getting Juliette killed?”
Theo’s gaze slid to another monitor with a poster of a performance to benefit the charity. Juliette’s face took up half of the poster, and the headline boasted that she had championed several campaigns across Europe.
The thought of these bastards coming after her had his stomach knotting.
But as he stared at her beautiful face, the familiar arch of her brows and her lovely, expressive eyes, the answer clicked into his brain, grim and inevitable.
“We use the avenue they believe will be a fast track to silencing her…one way or another.”
Carson was already shaking his head. “I can’t believe you’d evensuggestwe use her as bait, brother.”
He swallowed hard against the shard of panic in his throat. “I don’t see any other choice. I can’t keep her here, in hiding, forever.”
Yet that was exactly what he wanted to do. More than anything.
Because he was fucking falling in love with the woman.
Denver glanced around. “Why do I suddenly feel like quoting Shakespeare?”
Gray ducked his head, but his smile was still visible.
Theo ignored him and continued, “We use Juliette’s draw for the event. We host a charity concert—something big enough to get every one of their key players in the same place. The kind of event they can’t resist attending, because it makes them look legitimate.”
Denver’s eyes narrowed, already reading between the lines. “And while they’re patting themselves on the back…”
“We pull their names, track their movements and rip the guts out of the operation from the inside,” Theo finished. “But this time, on our terms. Quiet. Controlled. No warnings, no leaks. When we move, we take them all down at once.”
Colt leaned back in his chair, rubbing his jaw. “That’s a hell of a play. Dangerous as all hell too. They find out we’re ontothem, they won’t just come after Juliette. They’ll come afterallof us.”
Theo met each of his brothers’ eyes in turn. “When has that ever stopped us before?”
Silence settled for a beat, heavy and charged. The monitors flickered, casting shifting light across the table. Somewhere outside, a gust of wind rattled the eaves, a low moan against the winter air.
When Theo spoke again, his voice was like flint. “If we’re doing this, we need to start pulling strings now. Security. Intel. Logistics. And Juliette doesn’t hear a word until we’re ready. No need to put more weight on her shoulders yet.”
He saw a few nods, though the thought of keeping her in the dark made something twist in his gut. He wanted to tell her, to pull her close and let her know they had a plan. But the truth was, until they locked every detail down, she was safer not knowing.
Oaks tapped the map, his finger landing on Romania. “This is where we start flipping over rocks—in the orphanage. It’s the hub. We cut the head off there, the rest unravels fast.”
Theo straightened to his full height. The worry that had been coiling tighter and tighter in his chest until it finally solidified into something cold and sharp.
“Then let’s get to work.” Every syllable carried the weight of what was coming.
As his brothers started dividing tasks—Denver barking out instructions, Colt already pulling up secure lines for contacts overseas—Theo moved to the window, staring out at the snowflakes drifting down across the ranch.
The yard was quiet now. No more glow of the bonfire. The only movement was the sway of the pine boughs in the wind.
