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“Sloan,” I say with a nod and extend my hand, but the man takes it in his and pulls me into a quick hug with a strong pat on my back.
He does the same to Finn, who looks more uncomfortable with it, but doesn’t pull away.
“Ronan, Finnigan, I must say, I’m not happy to see you under these circumstances.”
He doesn’t beat around the bush, snapping his fingers twice, and two men open the back door of the car Sloan drove in. They pull a bound man out of it, dragging him right to our feet. A gift wrapped so nicely for us.
“You rode with him,” Finn states, narrowing his eyes on our cousin.
“I wasn’t going to let him out of my sight.” He says it like the alternative is absolutely ridiculous.
My brother is more than satisfied with that answer. I catch a glimpse of Carter who came beside me, and even through his cold demeanor, I can still catch a glimpse of respect for Sloan. Respect for understanding the importance of this and making it his personal mission.
“Thank you. Did he by any chance spare us the time and say anything to you?”
Sloan looks down at the sack of meat that stares at us with hate and masked fear.
“We tried. But our mission was to get to you as fast as we could. We didn’t want to waste any time.”
“I appreciate that.”
“We put feelers out, talked to some people to keep an ear out in case his boss is hiding in Venator. It’s not easy, with Onasis and Santo so overprotective of their territory.”
Venator is an old city built on three perfectly aligned hills, but they all almost work as individual territories, and these three crime families run each of them.
“But at least the youngest of the former can understand reason. To an extent,” Sloan continues.
“Pandora?”
I turn to Carter, confused by his question.
“You know her?” our cousin asks.
“University. She was quiet.”
That’s all he offers. Quiet, in Carter’s book, is a good thing. He likes quiet.
Sloan nods in understanding. “Do you need more men for the rescue? My team and I are more than willing to stay. I can call over more.”
I turn to Vin and Madds, who are both a few steps behind, watching us. Vin approaches first.
“It would be much appreciated, thank you. We lost too many of our men.”
“This is Vincent Sinclair, and Maddox Severin.”
Sloan nods and shakes their hands firmly, but pauses on the former, cocking his head.
“The Serpent,” Sloan acknowledges in a low tone.
I nod, trying to ignore how far his reputation has traveled, then turn to the last of us. “And this is Carter Pierce.”
My cousin acknowledges him, but neither of them says anything.
“What about the other one, boss?” one of his men asks.
I lift an eyebrow at our cousin.
“Hayes wasn’t alone, and we didn’t want to separate the couple.” He pushes the man with his foot, rolling him a little closer our way, just as the other guy is dragged out of the car.
