Page 62 of Chaos & Carnage

“So she went alone?!” Enzo spits, throwing his arms in the air. “It’s a fucking suicide mission. Why would she think we’d be okay with that?!”

“I’m guessing that’s why she waited till we were all sleeping,” I drawl, pushing past him to grab my clothes. Fuck this shit. There’s no way I’m hanging around here. Red couldn’t have more than an hour’s head start. It’s not too late to put a stop to this hare-brained idea before it can get her killed.

From the corner of my eye, I notice the others doing the same. I’m slotting a gun into a shoulder holster when someone’s phone starts ringing. As one, we all turn toward the noise.

“Whose phone is that?” I bark at the same time Dante orders, “Someone answer that!”

Please let it be Red,I plead as sofa cushions and blankets are tossed aside in search of the phone.

“It’s mine,” Oliver declares, grabbing the phone from beneath a pillow. “Unknown number.”

“Answer it!” I bark, practically drilling a hole into the phone I’m staring at it so hard. If it ends up being a fucking telemarketer, I’ll personally pull every tooth from their mouth—see how they manage to cold call people when they can’t fucking talk.

“Who’s this?” Oliver asks into the receiver, putting the call on speaker so we can all hear.

“If I were you, I’d get my ass down to the casino. Your girl could do with some backup.”

“Who the fuck is this?” I demand, losing my patience.

“Oh, goodie, the growly one. Did you not just hear what I said? Get down to the casino!”

The line goes dead, and I share a look with Oliver. He shrugs a shoulder. “You heard him. We’ve gotta go.”

Not wasting any more time, the four of us hurry out the door and climb into the SUV.

“Do you think it could be a trap?” I ask, thinking aloud. “Whoever that was on the phone could have Red.”

“Maybe,” Oliver muses aloud. “But why? What reason would they have for luring us to the casino when we were going there anyway. I think it’s more likely that whoever it was, was the guy that rescued her after she was thrown from her bike.”

My grip tightens around the steering wheel. “I don’t fucking like him.”

Oliver snorts, and I swear I hear him mumble, “of course, you don’t,” under his breath.Wise ass.

“Me neither,” Dante grumbles.Finally! Someone who sees reason!

“How can you hate him? We don’t even know who he is,” Enzo unhelpfully comments.

“Exactly.We don’t know who he is, and yet he’s managed to worm his way into Red’s life. I don’t fucking think so.”

“He saved her life,” Enzo continues to argue.

“Did he, though?” I counter. “Seems pretty fucking convenient that he just so happened to be nearby when her bike was shot at. And today, he just so happens to know she’s at the casino and in trouble? Sounds shady as fuck if you ask me.”

“I agree.” Can’t say I ever saw Dante and I agreeing on anything, but there you go. Hell has chosen today to freeze over. “We should get rid of him once we’ve got Sawyer back.”

Before I can voice my support of that idea, Enzo sighs. “You can’t just kill everyone you don’t like.” I’m guessing Dante’s suggestion is a regular one. Makes me wonder how many times he’s voiced killing Oliver and me. Instead of pissing me off, the thought only makes me smirk. “Sawyer obviously trusts the guy to some extent. Once we have her back, we canaskher, rather than traipsing off all willy-nilly to murder people she might prefer to keep alive and breathing.”

Flicking my gaze to the rearview mirror, I catch Dante’s unimpressed expression as he mutters something too low for me to hear.

Parking the discussion of that suspicious fuck, for now, I direct us to the issue at hand. “How close to your father could Red get?”

“He’ll have men crawling all over that building. Assuming she even made it inside, there’s no way she’d get anywhere near his floor before being caught. Even if they weren’t on the lookout for a redhead, she’d stand out by a mile in whatever she’s wearing.”

A tense silence fills the air and I push my foot down further on the accelerator.

“Sawyer isn’t stupid.” I flick my gaze in Oliver’s direction when he doesn’t continue. I assume that’s not all he had to say… “She knows Giovanni will have guards at all the entrances. She knows about the security cameras.”

“Oliver’s right,” Enzo agrees, leaning forward in his seat. “She must have had some sort of plan. What if she went in disguised as the Reaper?”

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