Page 81 of Bobby

I absently notice Marco set his phone down and look away, his jaw tight and hands in fists. He’s trying not to lash out, to throw something or break something that isn’t his. But I can tell he’s close to not giving a fuck and doing so anyway. He’s pissed that he missed the Spencer connection. And mad as hell that Danny got the details before he did. Not that he should be. Marco is one man. Danny has an entire team I know he’s been communicating with during this entire talk. Hell, they might be listening in for all I know. Danny likes to have his information at a moment’s notice, and sometimes I swear he has a team monitoring his thoughts to give him what he wants to know sometimes before he even knows he wants it.

“That’s the connection.” Vinny nods as he shares his thoughts out loud. “Spencer opened his mouth somehow and brought Trevor in. From what we know of Trevor, he isn’t the type to make the righteous move and instead saddled himself up with an easy one.”

“Boss.” We all turn at the word, but it’s Danny’s man who steps up and speaks to him. “We just found this.” He hands Danny his phone, who quickly scans it before looking up at us.

“Spencer and Trevor have another connection. A man by the name of Eric Von. Charged with four counts of arson but never convicted.”

“Oh my God.” Willow’s hand moves to cover her mouth.

“Okay, so the ex is an asshole who thinks if he puts Willow’s girls in danger, she’d do what he wants. First, he set the fire,” Tommy says, with a count of his fingers.

“Allegedly,” Danny mutters, keeping his head down and focusing on his phone. He’s all for getting the guy, but he likes to have correct data before accusations are made. Doesn’t mean he won’t rough someone up to get that information. He just won’t say so in public until he knows for sure.

“Right, allegedly set the fire. Probably thought Willow would go to him or something.” Tommy looks to Willow for confirmation, who’s hugging herself.

“I guess if I had nowhere else to go, I would have asked. Maybe. I don’t know what I would have done.” She turns away and looks out the window as tears continue to leak down her face.

“Right. But your ex doesn’t necessarily think things through. He probably thought he was the best option, and you’d go to him. Might have put you up for a while and then tried this blackmail bit, or just to see how much you know. But you didn’t go to him. You came here. And when you kept digging, and he heard about more and more people getting found out, he panicked. Seeing us all the other night backing you probably let him know you have options. Ones he didn’t think about. So he set this in motion.” Tommy gestures about, not that she sees.

Willow turns back around, letting her arms fall to her sides after a moment of silence as we all think it over. Not a single flaw stands out in Tommy’s assessment. Tears have stained her cheeks in tracks down her face, but no fresh ones fall. “I don’t understand any of this.”

“You don’t have to,” I say as I finally cave and let my inner beast comfort my girl. I go to her and pull her close, kissing her forehead and not giving a damn who sees. “Not yet. The only thing we need to know is, do you think Trevor is the type of man who would risk family for money?”

She looks up at me and nods. A single tear drops down her cheek, and I brush it away with my thumb.

“Then we move,” Danny says as he stands, a sense of finality in his voice at the decision that was just made. He might not run the famiglia, but he runs security, protection details, and extraction for anyone who is family inside it. And no one, not even Vinny, will question his orders.

“But we can’t.” Willow pulls out of my arms and steps closer to the group, panic and fear riding her hard. “What if he’s watching this place, or you all? He said not to get others involved. I don’t know if he means the police or what, but how do I know he won’t hurt the girls for me simply talking to you? How do we even know where he is?”

“We know he’s in Texas.” Marco’s voice is devoid of emotion. He’s turned it off. He does it before he starts killing.

“My boys are already on the way to the aviation club to find something out. Discreetly, of course,” Danny tacks on at the end as he looks at Willow, who nods.

“We need a ride. And a fast one.” Marco takes a step closer, making it known that he’s coming no matter what any of us say.

Vinny shakes his head. “Can’t take our planes. If he is watching us, he’s watching our airstrip.”

“I know a few guys,” Tommy offers, and we all look at him with skepticism. “What? I do.”

“Who?” Vinny’s eyes narrow, and I barely hold back a groan at the smile spreading across Tommy’s lips. That’s never a good sign.

“The Strays.”

“Fuck no,” Danny says instantly, but this isn’t his call. He may lead the charge, but he’s not the one who involves others. That falls to another brother.

Vinny’s lips pinch, and then he nods. “Make the call.”

Chapter 29—Willow

“She good?” one of the two men who escorted us onto the plane asks. I think his name is Liam. He’s with the group that Tommy mentioned back at Bobby’s place, the Strays or something like that. I’m honestly only getting pieces of information that stick in my head, too focused on my girls. I’m refusing to think their father is doing something to them. He could barely hug them, so hopefully the idea of putting his hands on them in any other way is out of his mind right now.

Hopefully.

“She doesn’t fly much” is all Bobby says.

Not that I’m terrified of it. Not that I had a huge panic attack last time I was in the air for less than twenty minutes. But compared to the panic I’m going through at the idea of not seeing my girls again, flying seems easy.

I’ll do anything for my girls. Anything. Hike Everest. Kill a man. Even fly in a damn plane if it allows me to have them alive and in my arms once again.