Kian nodded his bald head. “One of Gio’s men brought it. He’s under guard in the interrogation room.”
What an arrogant ass Gio was. Did he really think Carlin would let his man leave?
“Use him. Find out whatever you can about where they’re holding her.”
“Full force?” Kian asked.
“Whatever you need to do. That bastard made a huge mistake when he went after my family. And now he’s going to lose everything.” He smiled at the thought. “We’re taking this town.”
He’d been planning for it. He’d stockpiled weapons. Used his spies to gather as much info he could about Gio. But the other man had just moved up his timeline. Nobody touched his sister.
He looked up in surprise as the door to his study was slammed open. Three men strode in. He sized them up quickly. Hard. Battle-ready. Dangerous.
“Who the fuck are you? How did you get in here?” he snapped, standing and reaching for his gun.
His men had drawn their weapons. They stood between him and the three intruders, who didn’t reach for their own weapons.
“My name is Joseph Bjorn,” the one in front said. “These are my brothers, Garret and Sawyer. We’ve come about your sister.”
Bjorn? Why did that name ring a bell? Then it clicked. Surely not. Those guys had to be at least sixty, didn’t they?
“Bjorn? From the castle?”
“Yes.”
His mind spun. “How did you get past my security?”
The one he’d introduced as Sawyer, snorted. “Your security needs work. Your guards are lax. There are holes all over the place. Your sister has been sneaking past them for months.”
He narrowed his gaze. Anger beat at him. Holes? What holes? “And how would you know about my sister?”
“She is ours.” This came from Joseph. He was obviously the leader.
Ours? What the fuck? “She is not. She’s mine.”
Garret snorted. “Not anymore. And if this is the way you take care of her then it’s long past time she came with us.”
He moved around the desk. Two of his men drew closer, two moved to each side of the room to get a different angle on the Bjorn brothers.
“Just what sort of claim do you think you have on my sister?” Remain calm. Information is key.
Joseph gave him a withering look. “That’s none of your business. We’re here because we know she’s been taken by Gio. She left here a few hours ago and was attacked and taken to his compound.”
“And how do you know that?” Carlin’s voice was a soft whisper. His men grew even more tense. They knew he was getting close to striking.
“That’s not any of your business either,” Joseph told him.
“It is if you had something to do with her kidnapping.” And how would they know who had taken her, if they hadn’t been?
“We would never harm Georgina.” Joseph gave him a disgusted look. “She is going to be ours.”
“You keep saying that. But it’s not happening.” Fuck that. All three of them? Not one of them was worthy of her. No one was, of course. But three men? No way.
“We don’t need your approval,” Sawyer told him. “As soon as we rescue her, we’ll take her with us.”
He couldn’t kill them yet. Not until he knew everything they did.
“So, if you know where she is why are you here?”
“We were going to storm Gio’s compound and rescue her,” Joseph told him. “But it occurred to us that there might be an easier way in. We need your mother’s diaries.”
“My mother’s diaries?” That was unexpected.
Joseph looked around at his men. “Lose the goons and we’ll explain.”
Kian sent him a warning look. Yeah, he knew he would be stupid to send them away.
“We’re not going to harm you,” Joseph said impatiently. “If we’d wanted to, we would have done it already.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re outnumbered, out-gunned, and in my territory.”
Sawyer grinned at him. But there was no humor in his gaze. “We don’t need guns to be dangerous.”
Joseph folded his arms over his chest. If he looked concerned at having four guns aimed his way, he didn’t show it. “We won’t harm you because you’re important to her. Unless, of course, you stall us or get in our way. Each moment you delay means it’s that much longer until we get to her.”
He thought about the video and grimaced. He knew they had to get to her soon. Gio would think nothing of harming her. Of letting his men use her.
“Out. All of you.”
“Carlin—” Kian said.
“I’ve got this. Go question the messenger.”
His men left. Garret turned to him. “Messenger?”
He studied them for a moment. He wasn’t sharing until they did.
“Listen,” Joseph said. “We care about your sister. We are going to do whatever it takes to rescue her. But it would be a lot easier with your co-operation. Either way, we’re getting her out.”
For some crazy reason, he believed him.
“How do you know my sister?”
“That’s not relevant right now,” Sawyer stated. “Messenger?”
“Gio sent someone with a vid for me.” He turned the screen on his computer around and played the video back. But he didn’t watch it, instead he watched them. He saw Garret flinch as Gigi’s bruised, pale face appeared. Then Sawyer’s eyes narrowed dangerously as one of Gio’s men slapped her. She cried out, and Joseph let out a low noise of pain. He turned, striding to the door. Carlin watched him closely. There was something weird going on with his skin. Suddenly, he drew his fist back and ploughed it into the door.
“Easy, Joe,” Garret warned. “You need to keep control.”
The man took thirty seconds, took a few deep breaths, then turned to Carlin. His eyes almost glowed. That was . . . weird.
“We need those diaries.”
* * *
“There are tunnels that run under the city,” Garret explained to Carlin as he led them to Gigi’s bedroom. They could have found the diaries themselves but they’d figured it would be quicker and less painful with his co-operation. Getting into a war with both Gio and Blake on the same day wasn’t wise. They didn’t need the diaries to find her. After Joe had lost her scent, he’d raced back to the castle. Sawyer had tracked her using the GPS chip he’d put in her locket. But it would be easier if they could sneak in and get her.
“And my mother knew about them?”
“Yes, she wrote about them in her diaries,” Joe replied.
“Which Gigi has. And she never told me about them.” Carlin attempted to open the door to her bedroom and found it locked. He pulled back then slammed his shoulder against the locked door.
“Let me,” Garret said. He lifted his foot, slamming it once, twice against the wood. It cracked and he pushed his way through.
“Probably because you would have tried to put a stop to her adventures,” Joseph told him.
“Damn straight I would have. Those tunnels could be fucking dangerous.” Carlin ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know where she kept them. We’ll have to search her room.”
They worked in silence for a few moments.
“They’re not here.” Joseph stopped and turned to them. Frustration was evident in the tight lines of his body. He was close to losing control over his bear, he had been ever since he’d found Gigi missing.
“Then we’ll go in by force,” Sawyer said.
“Wait.” Carlin held up his hands. “You can’t go in there. You’ll be slaughtered.”
“Watch us,” Joe told him with a snarl.
“I’ve been planning to attack Gio for months. I have plans. I have the firepower. I’ll go in and get my sister out.”
Like hell he would.
“You care more about gaining territory than you do your own sister,” Joe spat out.
Carlin’s eyes narrowed. “Careful. You’re in my domain and you’re outnumbered. If I wanted
to have you detained, I could.”
“We’re not so easy to detain,” Sawyer told him in a low voice. Things were about to go to hell when Garret caught a glimpse of a shadow in the corner of the room.
“Roger.” He pointed over to the rat, who was scratching against a brick in the corner of the room.
They all turned to him. Carlin sneered. “What? You scared of a rat?”
“Of course not,” Garret told him impatiently. He strode over to where the rat was. He pushed the brick the rat had been scratching at. “It’s loose.” Reaching into the hole that had been created, he pulled out a small bundle. Pulling off the velvet cover, he held up six slim diaries. “Jackpot.”
* * *
She tried to breathe shallowly. The pain was intense. Overwhelming. She didn’t think there was an inch of her that didn’t hurt. Gio’s men had certainly had their fun. The only reason they hadn’t raped her was because he’d called them off, claiming they needed to strategize.
Strategize, her ass.
Their only strategy seemed to be harming her until Carlin snapped and gave them what they wanted.
Thing was, she knew her brother. He didn’t give in to the enemy. Not that he didn’t care about her and wouldn’t try to rescue her. But she had no doubt he would never surrender. She figured he was plotting a way to get to her. She just had to hope she could hold on until he did.
There was a noise as the door, and she tensed, expecting Gio’s goons to walk in and finish what they’d started. Oh, God, how could they be back already?
The door slid open and she knew that was it. She had one chance. Pushing aside her aches and pains, she jumped up with a cry. She rushed at them, hoping she could take them by surprise. One of them caught her. She screamed, and he pulled her around, slamming her into his chest to muffle her cries. Agony engulfed her as her poor body came met his much larger, harder one.
She struggled against her captor. She wasn’t ready to give up. She wasn’t going to let them rape her without fighting back. In her terror, she didn’t notice that the dickhead holding her wasn’t trying to hurt her. That he was cradling her gently. In the aftermath of the adrenaline rush her exhaustion made her sluggish. It was finally then, as she collapsed against him, that she heard the voice crooning to her.
“It’s all right, darling. I’m here now. It’s all right. You’re safe. You’re safe. I have you.”
She pulled back, looking up at him with her good eye. “Garret.”
“It’s me. You’re safe.”
She’d never seen him look so hard. She reached up with a trembling hand to touch his face. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, you’re not dreaming. Come on. We’re getting you out of here.”
“Gio’s men. They’ll be back. They’ll catch you too.” She tensed and tried to move away from him. She had to protect him. He could get hurt.
“Hush. No one’s catching me.” He smiled. It was a dark, hungry grin. “Although I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with the assholes who did this.” He gently touched the side of her face.
“It’s okay. I’m all right. I just want to get out of here.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
He gently picked her up, cradling her against his chest.
“I can walk,” she protested.
“Hush. We’ll move quicker if I carry you. You’re swaying. You’re spent.”
Yeah. She couldn’t argue with that. Her legs felt like limp noodles.
“How did you get here?”
“The tunnels. We figured there might be some that led here. We found your mother’s diaries, and sure enough there’s one that goes straight into Gio’s compound. Come on, Sawyer and Joe are waiting for us. Joe is going to lose his shit when he sees you.”
He stepped out of the room and into the passage. Fear jittered in her stomach as he strode down the hallway. At the end of it a dark figure stepped out of the shadows. She gasped.
“Easy,” Garret told her. “It’s just Sawyer.”
Sawyer stared down at her. His jaw was tight. His eyes dark. “Fucking bastards, I’m going to tear them limb from limb.”
“Save it,” Garret said impatiently. “I need you to keep your calm right now.”
“You need to keep her face hidden. If Joe sees her face it’s going to push him over the edge,” Sawyer warned.
“Joe?” she questioned. “Joe’s the most controlled person I know.”
“Not tonight, he isn’t.” Sawyer lightly cupped her face. “You’ve put us through hell, little one. This is never happening again. Never.”
“You won’t get an argument from me.” She shuddered. “I have no wish to ever repeat this night.”
“Good, so when I lay down a few safety rules for you I shall expect your full co-operation.”
“Sawyer, this is neither the time nor place,” Garret told him impatiently. “We need to get out before Blake strikes.”
“My brother?” she asked. “What does he have to do with this?”
“He’s waiting until we have you safely out then he’s going to attack. Apparently, he’s been planning on taking Gio’s stronghold and territory for a while.”
She snorted then winced. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Stay quiet now, darling,” Garret warned us. “Let us do all the work.”
She nodded happily.
They moved like shadows down the hallway. Sawyer scouted ahead, checking that the way was clear. They reached a door and slipped inside.
“You took your time,” a deep voice said from the shadows. “I was about to come after you.”
“We made it back in time, didn’t we?”
Joseph stepped out into a patch of moonlight that lit the room, and she gasped at the look of him. His eyes were glowing. His face was hard. His skin shifted, and she swore she saw a patch of fur appear on his cheek. What the hell? Am I delusional from the pain?
“Georgina.” He reached out and gently grasped hold of her chin. One of his nails scrapped her, and she gasped. He pulled back, looked down at his hands then at her in horror. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s nothing compared to the rest of my aches and pains,” she attempted to joke.
Her attempt at levity was wasted as his face tightened with guilt. “I would never hurt you. Not for the world.”
“You didn’t. I’m fine. It was just a little scratch.” Odd, since Joe kept his nails nicely trimmed.
I’m going to fucking kill him.” Joe’s hands were fisted at his side. “I will make him beg for mercy, but there shall be none.”
He stepped past them, moving swiftly over to the door.
“No, Joe, wait!” Sawyer rushed after him.
Garret swore, turning with her. Joe was already in the hall when a blast shook the building. Garret dropped to his knees, placed her down and covered her with his body, careful not to push his weight on her as the world around them turned to chaos. Bits of plaster rained down on them from the ceiling. Furniture rattled its way across the room. There was the sound of glass breaking then everything went still.
“That motherfucking bastard!” Sawyer yelled. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“What happened? What was that? An earthquake?” Didn’t she have enough to contend with right now? Was God just going to throw things at her until she broke?
“Are you okay?” Garret asked. He ran his hands over her gently, but she still winced as he touched her ribs. “Are you hurt?”
“No worse than I already was. Although it would be hard to tell,” she attempted to joke. Yeah, she had to stop making light of things. No one was finding her funny. Least of all her.
“What happened is your fucking brother moved up the timeline!” Sawyer yelled. “Joe, come on, we have to go!”
There was yelling. The sound of footsteps pounding. Garret quickly picked her up and she had to bite down on her lip not to scream out in pain. There would be a time for falling apart later. Once they were all saf
e.
“Who the fuck are you?” she heard Gio yell. She tensed, unable to hold back her whimper.
“Sh, baby, it’s okay. He won’t hurt you again.”
“Joe—”
“Can take care of himself.”
“I’m here to make you pay for what you did to my mate.”
“What? Fuck, kill him!”
She cried out, but the noise was drowned by a huge roar. She gasped. Who or what had made that noise? There were screams of terror.
“What’s going on? Oh my God! Joe! Sawyer!” She attempted to fight Garret’s hold.
“Stay still, Gigi,” he snapped at her. “You’ll hurt yourself. They’re fine.”
Suddenly, Sawyer stepped into the room. His shirt was ripped, his hair, free of its tie, lay like a wild mane around him. But he wasn’t what caught her attention. No, she lay in Garret’s arms, frozen with fear as she saw an enormous bear squeeze through the doorframe, cracking it slightly to make way for his huge shoulders. He let out a snort.
“Sawyer! Behind you!” Her voice was a squeak rather than a yell.
“Yeah, I know,” Sawyer replied. “Bastard finally loses his control and he does it in the most epic way possible.” Sawyer looked at Garret gravely.
“I take it Gio is no longer a problem,” Garret said dryly.
“You would be right, brother.”
“What? What are you talking about? And how can you be so fucking calm when there’s a bear behind you!”
Sawyer stared down at her. He looked like a savage warrior. There was fire in his eyes, controlled violence in his tight body. “Calm down, Gigi.”
“Calm down! Calm down? Where’s Joe? I want Joe! Now.”
Sawyer turned to the bear. “Joe’s indisposed right now. Leaving me in charge.”
She fought Garret’s hold again. He cursed and held onto her tighter. “Gigi, stop.”
Sawyer grasped hold of her chin. “Stop fighting Garret’s hold now. Joe is fine.”
“Then where is he?” And why the fuck weren’t they more worried about the bear.
“Honey, haven’t you guessed by now? He’s the bear.”
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