Fractured Freedom(81)

Izzy was doing that too in her own way. We wanted out of the box everyone put us in.

But we’d climb out of it together and we’d move on together.

And it wouldn’t be by dangling drugs in her face. Hard times would no longer push her to her limits. I wouldn’t avoid everything I loved in the hopes of never experiencing loss again.

The door to Iago’s room was oak with a gold door knocker and beautiful carvings swirling toward the handle.

“Do the honors, Izzy.” The man next to me smiled, and his yellow teeth glowed. It was like he knew this was the end. He didn’t realize it wasn’t the end he’d hoped for, though.

The man who swung open the door met us with a smile. He had blue eyes and dark, dark wavy hair. His face was soft, no real hard lines, but he was big enough to throw someone around, even if his muscles looked as soft as his face. He towered over us, and the smile on his face dropped off as he stared at me. “What the fuck is going on? Why would you bring Izzy’s sister here?”

“I brought …” The man stuttered before his head whipped around to stare at me.

All of their eyes widened as I stood there without denying that I was Izzy’s sister. They were hoping for a correction, one I was sure I no longer needed to give them. My phone was still in my back pocket, and I could only hope Dante and my sister were coming in hot with a fucking cavalry.

“Well, should I say surprise?” I quirked a brow as I said it, feeling the fear leave my body and the anger washing in as Iago advanced on me.

Good, I thought to myself. Let him come. Better me than my sister.

His large, meaty hands grabbed my hair and my neck, and he threw me into the wall. He wanted to cause pain as he said, “I was so excited to tell your sister that we finally had all night for me to fuck her. That she wouldn’t be able to fight me off. That we’d finally done it together. And we would be together forever. You know, I think I’ll do all that to you instead. Will you fight as well as she does?”

I clawed at his face. I went for his eyes, and I screamed as much as I could before he squeezed my windpipe shut, all while holding a ball of my hair at the top of my scalp. Over and over again, I hit that wall.

I didn’t shut my eyes, though. I stared at him long enough to spit right in his face.

That got him to let my neck go so he could rear back and punch me square in the cheek.

I really wished I’d taken Dante up on those self-defense classes, because my world went black so fast.

The last thing I remember thinking was we were going to have one hell of a story to tell if I got out of this alive.





25





Take a Cruise





Dante





“Cade, how did you miss the fucker coming to her room? And how did we have the wrong ship?” I tried to control the rage. I tried to bottle what I knew had been in me all these years but had never let out.

He rolled his eyes. “I look away one second and see them walking out. I’m staring at twins. I thought it was Izzy leaving too. You were all there. I got other shit to watch.” He sounded pissed.

Losing the one person in my life who kept me sane, though, had me more pissed. It would cause me to unravel and unleash everything I kept bottled. “If Delilah Hardy has one fucking hair out of place on her head, I’ll kill them all.”

Cade had called in his brother, Bastian, and he was on the car speakerphone as Leonardo navigated the side streets to get us there as soon as possible. We’d also called the authorities, but they had protocol to get through. They needed to get approval. Goddamn red tape. This was a big bust. They had to do things right. But they also had other intelligence that said it was the next ship over.

Fuck them.

We’d seen Delilah’s phone location.

“I shouldn't have left her,” Izzy whispered, looking out her window.

Damn right she shouldn’t have. And I shouldn’t have let her leave the room without telling her I loved her. Without telling her we’d get through the shit and get to the other side.

“I’m getting the authorities' clearance right now, Dante,” Bastian said over the car’s speakers.

Cade chuckled as he looked at me. “Not going to help, Bastian. Dante’s killing them before anyone gets there.”

“We need to keep it clean.”

“You keep it clean and legal when your wife was in danger?” My question was met with about two seconds of silence.

Then, his wife’s voice came over the phone. “He still hasn’t forgiven Cade for not protecting me diligently even though the guy only held me at gunpoint for less than a minute.”

“That’s beside the point. You and I were married. The disrespect—”

“Lilah’s as much a fucking Untouchable as your wife, Bastian. She’s mine. My Untouchable. My Lamb. My whole goddamn future. I will tear this island apart, I promise you.” I clenched my fists. I put them over my stomach, but the energy that flowed into them burned hot and monstrous.

“Hey.” Izzy turned to me and grabbed one of my hands, quickly threading her fingers through mine. “I know my sister. She’ll be fine. She’ll stall, okay? She was smart enough to get that text off. We’ll get there in time.”

Her hand shook, and it reminded me Lilah wasn’t just mine. She was my best friend’s family’s kid. Little Lilah who at twelve had come home with fucking pigtails and a huge smile on her face because she’d won the spelling bee.