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I tried to ignore her cries of pleasure as I ate my lunch.
I tried to ignore the urge to punch Ezra in his smug face when he came down to get food.
And now, I try to ignore the sight of Maya running her fingers through her messy hair and the light bruises on her skin as we lock eyes on our way to the conference room. It’s as if she’s trying to convey everything she wants to say to me with a look, but I just shake my head. She and Ezra have a long, complicated history. She owes me nothing, but that doesn’t stop the raging pang of jealousy in my chest.
“Where is he?” Ezra growls as he yanks the conference room doors open, making Maya flinch. I don’t want to know how many times she’s had to endure his outbursts.
Lee pulls up a chair and falls into it. “Guards caught sight of him on the front gate cameras,” he explains. He puts his elbows on the black table and threads his bloodied fingers together, cracking his knuckles. Dom Carlo’s arrival at the house has turned everything into a chaotic mess.
“Fucking Donovan sold us out,” Ezra says angrily. He pulls Maya into his lap and holds her close to him. She leans her head against his, staring at a spot on the table.
“I didn’t know he was here,” she says quietly. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”
“Because it wasn’t any of your fucking business, little girl,” Jay snaps at her. “That’s why.”
Ezra shoots him a glare, but Maya looks hurt. Jay’s been cold to her since she walked through the door weeks ago; I don’t know why his tone is affecting her now.
“There’s nothing you could have done, mi amor,” I assure her. “He was a dead man as soon as he walked back into this house.”
Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t say anything else.
Jay leans against the wall with his hands in his pockets, cigarette hanging from his mouth. He looks like a harbinger of death.
“Now we have to kill them all,” he says. “They know where we live.”
It’s not fear in his voice, but a deadly threat to those who mess with us. For years, this house has been kept secret and protected from our enemies. It’s why Ezra chose it. No one would ever suspect the Eastlake Syndicate would live in the middle of the woods. We make sure to take extra precautions when entering and leaving to ensure we’re never followed, never caught off guard. We don’t want to give anyone the power to ambush us on our own property, in our own home.
I stand next to Jay, crossing my arms over my chest. “How many men does he have with him?” I ask.
“Five red Escalades full,” Lee informs us.
Shit. That’s a lot. And most of our men are off today, so we’re horribly outnumbered.
Ezra rubs his chin absentmindedly. “What the hell does he want with Donovan? Dom doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. He’ll let Donovan rot in a ditch before he comes to his rescue. Or he’ll kill him on sight. There’s got to be another reason he’s here.”
“How did he even escape in the first place?” Maya asks quietly, more to herself than to us.
“He’s lived here for years, darlin’,” Lee says. “He’s had plenty of time to discover ways out. We’re the idiots for not thinking that far ahead.”
Maya looks around at all of us, her eyes wide with fear.
“Don’t be afraid, mi amor,” I murmur. Her gaze darts to me, and her throat works as she swallows.
Ezra pulls her closer, glaring at me. “We need to get her out of here.”
Her head spins in his direction. I can’t see her face, but her voice is frantic when she says, “I’m not leaving you.” Then she looks at Lee, Jay, and me. “I’m not leaving any of you.”
Ezra smiles, and dammit, that jealousy just keeps tugging harder. “Are you worried about me?”
“Yes!” she shouts, as if it should be obvious.
“She’s worried aboutallof us, brother,” I point out, but he ignores me.
He runs his fingers through her curls, twists one around his index finger. “I know you’re worried, baby, but I also want to keep you safe. If anything happens to you, I fear what would become of this house and the people in it.”
She exhales. She’s about to say something else, but then a gurgling, rumbling sound fills the room.
“What the hell was that?” Lee yells in his Southern drawl. Maya covers her face with her hands as Ezra desperately tries to hold in his laughter.
