Page 126 of Until the Day You're Mine

He glances at the foot of the dresser, where one of his guns is hidden. As time slows down to a stop, he can vividly map out his moves. He can kill Harris Kelly and the officers in the bedroom. They could run. His secret stash and the second car he’s hidden are idly waiting in front of one of the vacant villas. They could make it. Ty will never tire of fighting to keep his family safe.

When he looks up, the look in Rian’s eyes stills him.

Don’t do this.

Trust me.

Ty takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

He trusts Rian.

Ty mouthsI love you.

Rian bites his lower lip, chin trembling. A barely perceptible nod. Only for Ty to see.

I love you.

Tayida forces himself to look away and remain calm. They drag him out of the small villa roughly. Someone throws a pair of shorts at him once he’s in the cruiser. He pulls them up awkwardly while the SWAT office gawks at him.

The vehicle peels off fast, but he can still see Rian exiting the villa with Bran in his arms followed closely by Harris and the remaining officers. The dreadful feeling of déjà vu hits him – he is being torn away from Rian in the same abrupt way he had been taken all those years ago at the funeral home.

Only this time, Harris doesn’t have the upper hand. Tayida and Rian are calling all the shots, and they’ve got reinforcements.

He’s glad he has some pants on, when the car transporting him abruptly hits the brakes an hour later and he falls to his knees. The SWAT officer guarding him points a gun at his head and screams frantically, “Don’t move! Stay where you are!”

Shouting and dogs barking drown out the buzzing noise in his ears, as the doors suddenly burst open. Bright light floods the back of the wagon. A familiar voice calls out, “Vacation’s over pretty boy. Get your ass up. We got shit to do.”

Ty is certain he’s never been happier to see Sullivan. His friend drags him up by his forearm and extends his hand to the dazed SWAT officer without so much as looking at him. The man hesitates, but all his friend does is wave his fingers impatiently. “Keys, bitch! I ain’t got all day. I wanna get out of this shithole! I fucking hate Florida.”

* * *

They fly to Boston,and Sullivan reassures him his team is watching the house. The driver that will take Rian and Harris to their home is one of their own. But they need to move fast. There is no time left to dance around the past. Ty can tell there will be no other opportunities to get this shit over with. They have a real chance of freeing themselves from Harris Kelly for good. They can finally take this fucker down and get him to answer for his crimes.

“Thank you for giving me the heads-up on Harris.” Ty acknowledges Sullivan’s timely warning.

“I’m glad you got my message on time. Is Rian going to be okay?”

“We’ve discussed the possibilities of what might happen in detail. I ran him through all the different ways all of this could go down.” He hesitates, not quite sure how else to express his concern.

“But he’s a father, and this situation is overwhelming for him and Bran. Rest assured, the house is bugged to the gills, and I have men watching them. There are agents on the plane, at the airport, and outside the house. If Harris makes a move, they will step in and remove Rian and Bran.” Sullivan is giving him his best reassuring, calm voice. Ty has been the recipient of it many times, especially during some of his darkest episodes in jail. He had appreciated the kindness then, but he didn’t need to be coddled now.

“Sullivan, look, I know there is no other way, but I wish Rian had saidno. I wish we could do this right now, without him being involved. Rian believes he can get Harris to talk, but this bastard has manipulated him for so many years. I’m scared he might get in his head again.”

Sullivan gives him a thoughtful look. “You think he’s not up to it?”

“He is. I’m not. Knowing he’s risking everything…he’s fulfilling his duty to his brother Cyril. I can’t challenge him about that. He’s doing this for Sebastian too. There was really no talking him out of it.”

Sullivan tries to reassure him. “If things go down that way, we’ll step in. I’m thankful Rian has agreed to do this, but I wouldn’t put him in danger if I didn’t have the space completely secured. As soon as he utters his safe word, we’re going in.”

Sullivan looks away briefly as if the clouds outside his window truly had all of his attention, but Ty knows better.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“They have Margarita.”

“What the hell? You’ve got to get her out of there! That woman has done nothing wrong!”

“We are monitoring the situation. I got it under control.”

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