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ISLA
“Ican’t do this,” I say the moment Bryant opens the door.
The dress hugs my body in a way I used to love, but now I long for my sweatpants. I wish I was on the couch at home with Doc, with him on his laptop and me with my head in a book.
Or in bed, with his front plastered to my back and his arms wrapped around me, protecting me from the rest of the world.
I’d rather be anywhere but here, in this dress, going ahead with a plan I know could be my own demise.
His eyes flash with regret, but it’s gone almost as quickly as it came. “I know you’re afraid. But this is the only way we can draw Spade out.”
“What if he doesn’t take me wherever Bree and my dad are?” I snap, all the unknowns suddenly raining down on me.
Not one part of this plan is good, and yet here I am, hours away from home, ready to walk into the lion’s den in the hope it will save the people I love. How could I be so fucking stupid?
Bryant sighs and moves farther into the room. He’s changed since we arrived too, into a pair of charcoal slacks and a crisp white button-up. It may as well be his uniform for the club,because I’ve seen him in some variation of this outfit more times than I can count.
“I know you’re scared, Isla. Of course you are. But we’ve done everything possible to make sure this goes off without a hitch. You’ll have a tracker on you at all times, and we’ll be right behind you. We believe he’s keeping your dad and Bree at his home an hour south of the city, and once you’re inside you’ll be able to find them, so when it’s time for us to get you out, you can go to them.”
Even as the words come out of his mouth, I’m shaking my head. This is ridiculous. There’s no way this is going to work, and I have no idea in what universe I thought it would.
But most of all, it was so fucking stupid of me to do this without Doc. He used to be a SEAL for God’s sake. He works for one of the most infamous crime families in the fucking country. If there is one person I know I should have gone to, it was my husband, and for some idiotic reason, I fled instead.
I ran from the man who has loved me like I never thought I deserved to be loved.
“You don’t think they’re going to check me for a tracker?” I snap. “Anything could happen to me in the time he has me.Anything.” The thought has a cold sweat breaking out on the back of my neck. The reason I married Doc in the first place was to avoid something like this happening. And here I am running headfirst toward it? “I’m not doing this. We’ll have to find another way.”
Bryant approaches me slowly, as if he’s afraid I’ll bolt if he comes at me too quickly. “We’ve put every contingency in place to prevent any of that happening. You have to remember that we do this sort of thing all the time. This ain’t our first rodeo.”
“I don’t care.” I shake my head and back away, trying to put some distance between us. “Doc is on his way, I’ll work something out once he’s here.”
“We don’t have the time for that.”
“They’ve been missing for weeks,” I growl. “What difference is a few hours going to make?”
“Spade’s already here.”
I stare at him for long moments, trying to process the words that have just come out of his mouth. We were meant to have more time than this. Panic rages through my veins, and I’m frozen in place. Unable to run. Unable to speak. Unable to breathe through the blinding panic.
“This is a mistake,” I murmur.
Bryant grips my shoulders, his touch warm and reassuring. “Isla, I need you to hold it together. We have all our men on this. My father is already at the Spade estate, ready to infiltrate with his most trusted men. The plan is already in motion. There is no backing out now.”
I let out an unsteady breath but nod, knowing he’s right. I could have said no to begin with. But I didn’t, and now this entire plan rests solely on my shoulders.
“Okay,” I whisper.
He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me toward the door. “I will be close by at all times. You are not alone in this. I promise.”
But the closer we come to the thumping bass of the club, the more it feels like I’m being marched to my death.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
ISLA
It may be three in the morning, but there’s no shortage of bodies on the dance floor.
Couples grind on one another, their hands and bodies so close you can’t see any space between them. Friends dance together, laughing and drinking, completely unaware of what’s about to happen.
