29. Check - Rafe
Ding, ding, ding.
At first, I thought it was a social media notification interrupting my light doze, dragging me from that weird place between awake and sleep. The chirp sounded again, and I disentangled from Alex’s sleeping form at my side.
She didn’t stir, not even a hint. After the excitement of the day, followed by the intense sex, I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept like the dead until morning.
I reached for my phone, and the device shrilled in my palm, putting me on alert.
That wasn’t a text or a social media notification—not that I got a lot of those anyway. That was the alarm Jax and I had set up for the island.
Something had tripped the censors.
It was possible a small animal had done it, and tomorrow I’d laugh at my paranoia as I adjusted the censors to ignore such a tiny intruder. At least that’s what I told myself as I slid from bed, feet silently hitting the ground, and took the master key from around my neck. It unlocked a lot of shit in the house. I’d had the bedroom furniture specially crafted to keep every piece of Alex’s wardrobe under my command.
Kinky slut-wear.
Professional outfits.
Dressed up stuff.
Casual things.
Also locked away was my pistol. I stuck the key into the drawer in my nightstand and turned it to the right. The drawer slid open, and I grabbed the loaded gun. As I pulled on my slacks and pocketed the key, a faint thud sounded downstairs, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
I swung my gaze between the open door of our bedroom and Alex, still fast asleep in our bed, and debated on whether or not to wake her. The unmistakable thump of footsteps stiffened my spine, and the need to investigate sent me creeping out the door. I kept my back against the wall and peered over the railing into the darkened living room below.
Nothing moved, and the place was quiet. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing. I couldn’t take that chance though. I’d let Alex down once before on this island by letting my guard down long enough for Perrone’s guys to sweep in and take us both.
Not this time.
I was prepared and ready to fight for her, to the death, if necessary.
Finger on the trigger, I made my way to the first floor, bare feet soundless on the stairs. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and after checking to make sure the living room was empty, I started toward the kitchen, making it to the dining room before I found the silhouette of Zach standing several feet in front of me.
Steadying my hands, I aimed the barrel at his head.
“Before you shoot me,” he began with a flip of the kitchen light, “you’ll want to see this first.” He held out a cellphone, and the unworried smirk on his face pissed me off.
“How about I just shoot you and ask questions later?”
“Shelton thought you might. That’s why he sent me in alone.”
I arched a brow, a deceptive picture of calm. “Shelton?”
“His guys are outside waiting.” Zach took two steps toward me, making my finger extra twitchy. “Just look at the fucking video.” He set the cellphone on the floor and kicked it across the hardwood to me.
Keeping the gun aimed at his head, I bent and picked up the device then pressed the play icon on the screen. My heart landed in the bottom of my gut. A young boy sat tied to a chair, a strip of duct tape over his mouth. Tears bathed his face, and he squirmed, crying and begging behind the stickiness of the gag.
My son.
Fear burned my eyeballs as I noted the terror in William’s expression. The footage switched to Shelton’s ugly mug.
“We have your son. If you want him to live, do as De Luca junior says.” The video went black, and I clenched my fingers around the cell, hand shaking before I dropped it. The phone landed with a clunk but didn’t break. I trained an incredulous gaze on Zach.
“You’d put an innocent child at risk over your sick obsession?”
Zach shrugged. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get Lex back.” He glanced at the device lying on the hardwood. “Leverage is leverage.”
“What does Shelton get out of this?”
“You.”
I figured as much. With me out of the picture, Alex was ripe for the picking. Zach would be able to pluck her away without anyone knowing for days.
“What does he want with me?”
Zach sneered. “Do you think I give two fucks? You’re not my problem anymore.” He nodded toward my pistol. “Kick the gun to me.”
I sent a quick glance over my shoulder, toward the stairs leading to the loft where Alex lay sleeping, oblivious to the danger. Because she trusted me to keep her safe.
How could I fucking leave her with Zach? I couldn’t.
I raised the gun again, glaring at Zach through the despair collecting in my eyes. “You sonofabitch.”
“If you kill me, your son dies.”
“If I don’t kill you, you’ll hurt Alex.”
His brows narrowed. “I love her. I’d never fucking hurt her.”
“How delusional are you? She tried killing herself to get away from you.”
“This is my second chance with Lex. I won’t fuck it up.”
“She’s my wife, you piece of shit! Are you this fucking psychotic that you’d use my son’s life against hers?” It was a rhetorical question, a stalling tactic because I couldn’t fathom walking away from her. For fuck’s sake, we’d just gotten married hours ago.
Zach’s attention fell to the ring on my finger, and the rage that contorted his features scared even me.
“You guys got fucking married?” Disbelief strangled his tone.
He hadn’t known, which meant him showing up here was random, or maybe he’d had an eye on the island all this time, just waiting for us to return.
“That’s right. We’re married.” I let a beat pass. “If you do this, you’ll destroy her. Think about Alex.”
He shook his head as if wiping the unexpected news from his mind. “The gun, Rafe. Time’s ticking.” The asshole wasn’t moved by what I’d said. Not even a little. He really was a heartless bastard. My pulse throbbed in my ears. Sweat dripped down my back. God, he would wreck her.
I couldn’t leave her…I fucking couldn’t break the promise I made to her.
And yet the terrified eyes of my son burned in my mind. He needed me. He was only nine-years-old. Fucking hell. I’d walked away to protect him, but I’d failed.
I always failed, no matter what I did.
Someone always got hurt.
With an impatient sigh, Zach withdrew another cellphone from his pocket and hit a button. Someone answered within five seconds. “He’s not cooperating.”
My breath stalled as Zach listened to the voice on the other end. “I got it. Yeah, I’ll tell him.” He pinned me under the certainty of his gaze, his lips tilting into a smug, sadistic smile. “If you don’t drop that fucking gun right now and kick it to me, the kid’s gonna lose some fingers.”
The gun slipped from my hand, almost of its own volition.
“Good. Now kick it over.”
This wasn’t happening. Not again.
But as I kicked the weapon to Zach, I knew I was screwed.
I had no choice.
Alex had no choice.
If she were standing next to me right now, she’d drop to her knees and crawl to Zach if it meant saving my son.
Zach stopped the gun with his foot. “We’re good here,” he spoke into the cell before ending the call. He reached for the gun, then he removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and tossed them at my feet. “Put ‘em on, hands behind you.”
“Promise you won’t hurt her.” What a ridiculous plea, but I had to try. Somehow, I had to reach the part of him that still knew what humanity was. The part of him that really did care about her. “She won’t survive your cruelty. If you care about her at all, then prove it.”
“She isn’t your concern anymore.”
That’s where he was dead wrong, but arguing with him wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I had to trust that Alex could survive him until I found an opportunity to save my son and get back to her. Assuming Shelton didn’t want me dead. My instincts told me he wanted me for more lucrative reasons.
I glanced toward the ceiling. “Let me say goodbye.”
“No can do. Quit stalling and put the cuffs on. You might not believe this, but I don’t want the kid to get hurt, so don’t make me call again.”
As I clicked the cold, heavy cuffs around my wrists, I thought of the moment when this all began—when Zach and Abbott De Luca forced Alex into a lie that wrecked my life.
Now three lives were on the line.
My son’s. Alex’s. Mine.
I’d die for both of them, but no one wanted me dead this time. The bad guys only wanted to make a deal, and it sure as fuck wouldn’t benefit us.
We were just pieces on these sick bastards’ chess board.
My son the pawn.
Alex the coveted queen.
And me?
Fucking check.
But this wasn’t over. As Zach shoved me in front of him, propelling me outside to Shelton’s waiting goons, I anticipated the day when the game would turn.
Because it would be checkmate, assholes.