Page 2 of Chaos & Carnage

“It’s not fucking okay,” Cain snarls, his temper quickly reaching boiling point as he steps up to Dante and curls his fist. “I still don’t fucking trust that you didn’t know my sister was in that tower this whole time. Hell, for all I know, you wanted her there.”

The flaring of Dante’s nostrils is the only sign that Cain’s words have pissed him off.

“Why the fuck would we help you get her back if that was the case?” Enzo sneers.

“They didn’t.” Although Evie’s voice sounds stronger, when I look back at her, she’s licking her lips nervously. Still, as I watch, she steels her spine and works to rein in that fear. “I-If they have Red, then you need to find her. I-I’m okay.”

Cain looks back at his sister, scrutinizing her for a long moment while he tries to decide what’s the best thing to do. After a moment, he frowns and spits out, “Fine, but stay upstairs. I’ll call Marcus and get someone to stay with you.”

“O-only Marcus or Luc.”

Cain hesitates for a split second at Evie’s request before giving a quick nod. We watch as, with one last glance in Dante and Enzo’s direction, Evie disappears back into her room, and with a reluctant grunt, Cain indicates for us to follow as he strides toward the kitchen.

He rifles through a drawer before pulling out a map of Black Creek and spreading it out across the kitchen table. “Where was Red supposed to meet you?”

If it’s possible, Dante’s expression only hardens at Cain’s question, and Enzo cocks a brow, his expression clearly unimpressed.

“You mean to tell us you didn’t even ask where Sawyer was going before she left here?” Enzo growls. “What sort of fucking idiots are you?”

Cain’s hand slams down on the table. “I trust Red can look out for herself and doesn’t need us babying her, tracking her every move, and checking in every three fucking minutes.”

“Just show us where she was fucking going,” I snap, sick of wasting time.

Enzo stares at the map for a few seconds before pointing out an area along the border between Antonelli territory and ours. “Here. This is the address I gave her.”

Grabbing a pen from one of the kitchen drawers full of all sorts of crap that doesn’t really belong anywhere else, I map out the various routes Red could have taken. When I’m done, I frown down at the map. There are four potential routes, and that’s assuming she took a direct way and didn’t decide to take a convoluted path through the city to shake off any tails or just want to let off some steam by taking Raven for a detour.

“We split up, and each takes a route,” Cain orders, in full leader mode, even though Dante and Enzo aren’t his to command. Not expecting to have his orders questioned, Cain’s already dialing a number on his phone and bringing it to his ear as he steps away from the table.

“He realizes we don’t take orders from him, right?” Enzo drawls. “Besides, we only have one car with us.”

I take a second to let my eyes run over him, his tousled blond hair and day-old stubble, the stress lines around his lips and eyes, before turning my attention to Dante. He studies the map with those cold, calculating, all-seeing eyes of his. Everything about him gives the impression that he’s at ease, though the way he stormed in here, ready to raise hell on Red’s behalf, would imply the opposite. I really don’t get what Red sees in them. Perhaps they aren’t like the rest of the Antonellis, and if their stories are to be believed, then they’ve both suffered as much as Cain has at Giovanni’s hands. Even if they were worth saving, I can’t for the life of me figure out what made Red actually fall for them. I’m still half convinced it’s some twisted Stockholm Syndrome thing from being locked up in that house with the two of them for so long.

And yet, they’re here, looking for her, and it’s more than evident by the big dick energy they’re throwing around that they care about her.

“You wanna spit out whatever it is you’re thinking?” Dante states far too calmly, slowly lifting his gaze from the map to meet mine. There’s absolutely zero emotion in his eyes. It’s like being stabbed by an icicle. I can feel the coldness seeping into my core. All of it only raises more questions.

“What’s the deal here?” My gaze flicks to Enzo, finding him watching me just as intently before focusing back on Dante. “Do you actually give a shit about Red, or is there a larger game at play here?”

“She’s my wife.” He says it so matter of fact, like that’s all the explanation he needs to give.

“She only married you because she had to. You do realize we planned to kill your entire family that day?”

Dante gives a barely perceptible shrug of his shoulder. “Doesn’t change the fact she’s mine.”

“And what if she wanted a divorce once this is all over?” I question, raising a brow.

“No.”

Just one word, delivered with such authority that it brokers no argument. My eyes narrow, my hackles immediately rising at his irrefutable tone.

“What the fuck do you meanno?”

The muscle in his jaw ticks, the only indication that I’m pissing him off as much as he’s angering me. He takes a step forward, but Enzo follows him, placing a hand on his shoulder that seems to stop any further movement as Dante levels me with an impassive expression.

“This is pointless.” With a finger pointed at the map, Enzo says, “We’ll check out these two routes. I take it we can trust you two to thoroughly scout the others?”

“Yes,” I hiss between clenched teeth.

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