The hours ticked by. Kade nearly lost his mind waiting for his brother to show up. Between worrying about Matthew and trying to keep Angel from checking herself out, he was near his breaking point. She’d agreed to stay until the doctor cleared her. At first. Then her mother instincts kicked in, and it had been all he could do to keep her here. She was finally sleeping. Thank God for small miracles.
He also had to contend with the nurses freaking out over one of their own being murdered. It was all they could talk about. He’d already had to warn them to keep their voices down. He refused to let Angel get more upset than she already was. Reliving what she’d been through was not on the menu for the night, even if the nurses were determined to keep talking about it. The hospital had also called in extra security, but it did little to alleviate the fear or the tension running rampant among the staff.
The gasps he heard from the nurses’ station pulled his attention away from his phone and toward the desk. His brother was striding toward him. He could understand the women’s reaction. Conner was a good-looking motherfucker. Tall, hair darker than Kade’s, and smoldering black eyes. Women loved that smoldering look. So did men, for that matter. Conner was bisexual. His brothers knew, but their parents did not. They were Catholics, and Conner feared what they’d think of him. Kade thought they wouldn’t care because they loved him, but none of them pushed Conner on it.
That wasn’t what put the darkness in his eyes though. He’d stayed in the Marines when Viktor decided to not enlist for a second tour. Conner had been part of some kind of special ops team that did shit he wasn’t allowed to talk about. He came back damaged with a darkness that ate away at the man he’d been.
Hell, Conner had been the happiest, most carefree of them all. Always smiling, joking, and being straight-up fun. Kade hadn’t seen him crack a real smile since he’d come back a year ago. He’d been released early, not finishing his four-year tour. Conner refused to talk about it. Kade hoped one day he’d open up about what happened to him in Afghanistan. He wanted to help his brother come back from the dark hole he was in.
But not right now.
It was selfish. He knew it, but right now he needed the badass motherfucker standing in front of him.
“Nikoli said to give this to you.” He handed Kade an envelope. “Said you were waiting for it.”
“Where is he?” Kade accepted the envelope and tore into it. DNA results. He scanned it, and that tight band that had been constricting his airways since last night expanded and released its grip. The kid was his. He’d known it, but he hadn’t let himself believe it until this moment. His son really was alive.
“DNA results?” Conner dropped his duffle bag and leaned against the nurses’ station, completely ignoring all the women staring at him.
Kade nodded. “He’s mine.”
Conner simply nodded, accepting it. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”
Kade led him into Angel’s room and closed the door, leaving Watkins on duty. Fucker had better not let one more person slip past him. Kade was so furious it was all he could do to not beat the shit out of him. The only thing that stopped him was Angel. She was fond of the asshole.
Conner walked over to the bed and gazed at the now sleeping Angel. “You forgot you were married to this looker, brat?” He snickered. “How drunk have you been the last six years?”
Kade shook his head. The fact he’d forgotten he was married was a running joke among his brothers. They never let him forget it. It wasn’t that he’d forgotten so much as he’d not let himself think about it and bring back all the painful memories that came with remembering his Angel.
Kade pulled his wallet out and removed the folded photo he’d stuck in there last night. “This is your nephew.”
Conner walked over and took the photo, studying it. “This kid has seen some shit.”
That was what Kade was afraid of.
“He’s yours, though. No denying that.” Conner dropped into one of the empty chairs, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb Angel. “How do you want to get our kid back? Legal or a snatch and grab?”
Kade smiled at the way Conner simply accepted he had a new nephew and called him our kid. God, he loved his family. “Legal is the best way. Nik pointed out it was going to be hard to explain how we suddenly just ‘found’ Matthew.”
“We can do legal, but I have a plan B.” He pointed to his duffel bag.
“We might need a plan B after what happened this afternoon.” He filled his brother in on the attempted hit on Angel.
“Motherfucker.”
Conner swore so loudly it woke Angel. She came awake, sitting straight up and staring wild-eyed around the room.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to wake her up.” Conner stood and walked over to the bed, pulling Angel into a bear hug. “Welcome to the family, sestra.”
“Angel, this is Conner.” Kade laughed when she squeaked. Conner sometimes didn’t know his own strength. “Let her breathe, brat.”
“If this fucker forgets he’s married again, you let me know, and I’ll beat his ass.” Conner kissed her on the forehead before releasing her.
“If he forgets he’s married again, you’ll have to get in line behind me. I’ll just shoot his ass.”
“I like her.” Conner ruffled her hair. “It is good to meet you, sestra.”
Angel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She’d woken up from a nightmare, only to stare into the face of a man who scared her. It wasn’t just the expression in his onyx eyes. It was everything about him. His entire demeanor said “killer.” This man was a hardened killer. He’d been a soldier, and she knew Kade worried about him. Seeing him in person, she wasn’t sure he was wrong to worry. This man could do serious damage and walk away without giving a damn about the carnage he left behind.
Emilio had scared her when he’d pressed a gun to her head, but Kade’s brother terrified her without doing anything.
“It’s good to meet you too, Conner.” He might look like Viktor, but they were as different as daylight was to dark. Viktor inspired trust; Conner inspired a flight instinct.
“Now, tell me about this fucker who touched you.” She jumped at the venom in his voice.
“I…” She cleared her throat. “It was an old friend of my brother’s. He used to come over to the house a lot before Kade started hanging out.”
“I need a name, sestra.” Conner’s hands clenched, and she shrank away from the anger vibrating off him.
“I think you’re scaring her.” Kade came over and sat on the bed, taking her hand in his. “Is he scaring you?”
Angel nodded, gripping Kade’s hand so tightly she was surprised he didn’t wince.
Conner relaxed so fast, if she’d blinked, she’d have missed it. He even slouched a bit. It was amazing and terrifying.
“I’m a scary motherfucker. I know it.” He sat in the chair Kade had vacated and took her other hand. His touch was gentle despite the coldness seeping out of his eyes. “You will never have need to fear me. You’re my sister, my family, and I will protect you with every breath I have. I’m sorry I scared you, but the thought of that bastard…” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I will make them suffer for taking your son and for threatening you. I swear it.”
Angel knew he was telling the truth, but it didn’t stop the unease from taking hold. This man was dangerous, but maybe that was what they needed to get Matthew back. She would trust him because Kade did, but she’d never fully be comfortable with him. It was a simple truth. The darkness in him scared her too much.
“Now, we need to get this show on the road. Kade, you might want to call your contacts in the FBI. Sometimes it’s easier to deal with the feds than it is the local police force. You said you already had men on the ground?”
“Yes, Dylan went down last night, and our best tracker should be landing shortly.”
“Will she be safe here for a few hours by herself?”
Angel bristled. They wanted to leave her behind? Oh, hell no. Before she could even open her mouth, Conner shushed her.
“We’re not leaving you behind, sestra. You deserve to be there when we make the bastards pay for taking our boy from you. I need to visit some friends and collect our arsenal. I need someone to watch my back.”
“You get my husband killed, and you better hope God can hide you where I can’t find you.” Despite how much Conner scared her, he better damn well protect the man she loved more than anyone except her children.
Conner didn’t even crack a smile. He nodded curtly. “I won’t get him killed.”
Kade told him to go on and he’d follow him in a few minutes.
Angel let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding when he left. “I don’t like this, Kade. Not one little bit.”
“Conner knows what he’s doing. We have to be prepared in case shit goes sideways. We aren’t coming home without our child.” Kade took her face in his hands and kissed her softly. He looked her in the eyes, his forehead pressed against hers. “I promise.”
“I love you, Kade Kincaid.” She pressed her lips to his again. “Come home to me. If you die, I will kill you.”
He chuckled and pulled away. “I love you too, moye serdste.”
She remembered the first time he’d told her she was his heart. They’d just made love, and he thought she was sound asleep. He’d whispered moye serdste and pulled her close. She’d used Google Translate the next day and found he’d called her his heart. It was the moment she’d started to fall in love with him.
“I’ll be back soon. Watkins is right outside, and I have more men throughout the hospital.” He gave her another quick kiss and left before she could stop him.
What would she tell the nineteen-year-old girl who’d looked up into those laughing black eyes on the beach all those years ago? Would she tell her to run and never look back, or to hold on tight because the ending was worth all the pain they both suffered?
She would tell her to hold on tight and never give up hope, even when it felt like she was drowning and would never come back up for air. The end was worth all the pain.
Angel hoped her happily ever after would be just that, though. It had to be. She couldn’t lose everything again. She wouldn’t survive it.
God had better not let her down.
***
Kade tried hard not to show any reaction when Conner drove them down a back alley that looked like something out of a horror movie. He was ninety-nine percent positive they were about to get murdered and chopped up, the pieces strewn throughout the dumpsters that littered the city. Where in fuck’s sake were they going?
“You sure you know where you’re going?” Kade gripped the oh-shit handle, as he called it, when they narrowly missed hitting two guys huddled together against the wall of a crumbling, abandoned building. He was pretty sure they were sharing needles, but he didn’t look too long.
“Would I be going this way if I didn’t?”
“How the hell do I know?” Kade tensed when they started to slow down. Crack house. That was his first impression of the building with two very built black guys standing at the entrance. Several people of various ethnicities roamed around the front of the building looking very much like strung-out junkies.
“Look, I did some checking. Los Muertos has a major hold in this city now. There are very few who don’t owe allegiance to them. This guy is one of the last holdouts.”
“What makes you so sure they won’t hear the name Kincaid and turn us over to ensure they remain the last holdout?” Kade was nervous. He admitted it freely. Walking into gang territory without police backup was not cool. It reminded him of how he’d felt every single day he’d been undercover. The fear of being discovered as a police officer had been as real as the fear of being turned over to Los Muertos now.
“They probably would if they knew our names were Kincaid.” Conner got out of the vehicle and left Kade to follow him.
Dammit. Kade got out. They didn’t bother locking it. If the people here wanted to steal it or strip it, locking it wouldn’t deter them.
“I’m here to see Andrew about a purchase.” Conner stared hard at the man in front of him.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“The Executioner. Who the fuck are you?”
The big man shrank back from Conner. What the fuck? And why did he call himself the Executioner?
“Go on in.” He moved aside and allowed the brothers entry.
Inside, it was like walking into a memory. He’d been in a few manufacturing houses down in Miami. They seemed to be the same everywhere. Rows of tables were set up with people cutting powder and filling small distribution baggies. Another long row of tables held stacks of money being counted and sorted. On the opposite end, armed men lounged, laughing and joking, their whores being quiet or entertaining whichever man whose lap they sat on.
Conner bypassed all this and headed for the staircase at the back. Kade followed him, trying not to stare too much. It would make them nervous, and they’d start asking questions.
They hurried down the darkened hallway at the top and came to a stop at the door at the end, guarded by two more men. Conner told them the same as the first two, claiming to be the Executioner. He and Conner were going to have a serious talk about that name and why it terrified hardened drug dealers.
Inside, Kade was shocked to see a very nice office. No crumbling walls, but new plaster. It was clean, efficient, and tidy. The black man who sat behind the desk, looking at his laptop screen, wasn’t what he thought the leader of this particular organization would look like. It wasn’t a gang, necessarily, but a drug distribution ring that probably did business with most of the gangs in the city.
“Andrew.”
Andrew looked up, the diamond stud in his ear winking in the light. His head was shaven clean, and the barest hint of a five o’clock shadow outlined his face. He looked more like a Wall Street trader in his expensive suit than a drug dealer.
“You have me at a disadvantage.” His voice was cultured, deep, and his tone warned any fuckery would be met with hostility.
“I’m the Executioner.”
Something flickered in Andrew’s eyes, but Kade couldn’t place the emotion. It wasn’t anything good.
“And what brings you here, Executioner?”
“None of your people.” Conner sat, but Kade remained standing behind him. “I need weapons that can’t be traced.”
“What kind of weapons?”
“The kind I can’t get off the street. I need heavy artillery, automatic weapons that are clean. They can’t be attached to any other crimes.”
“Why would you need…”
“None of your business. I came here because you were highly recommended by mutual friends. If you can’t provide the service I need, I’ll look elsewhere.”
“I didn’t say that. I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.” The flat, cold tone made Kade shiver. Who was this man, and what had he done with his little brother?
Andrew tilted his head in an acquiesce. “So it did. When would you need the weapons?”
“Within the next few hours.”
Andrew’s nose flared. “I can have everything you need by nightfall.”
“No.” Conner stood and tossed a scrap of paper on the desk. “You have three hours, or I move to the next person on my list. A list of everything I need is on that paper along with an untraceable cell number. Call before time is up, or the deal’s off.”
He turned and walked toward the door. Kade wasted no time in hurrying after him. They strode down the hall, the stairs, and out the door. Their SUV sat where they’d left it, in one piece. He breathed a sigh of relief. He really hadn’t wanted to replace the vehicle. There were a lot of extra bells and whistles that were extremely expensive.
Conner drove away and headed down several more side streets before emerging into the flow of traffic.
“What the hell was all that, and why did you call yourself the Executioner?”
“Nickname I picked up in the service.” He rolled his window down to let in some fresh air. “That was a business negotiation. Andrew Tolliver is someone who can get what I need when I need it. He just needs motivation to do as he’s told. Losing that much money is motivation enough.”
“We need to go back to why the word ‘executioner’ scared the shit out of those guys.”
Conner shrugged. “I’m a scary-ass motherfucker. You know this.”
“That…”
“Leave it alone, Kade.” His brother glanced at him, those black eyes looking more like those of a demon than the person he knew. “I’m not going to answer you, and it’s only going to piss me off. Leave. It. The. Fuck. Alone.”
Kade was quiet the rest of the way back to the office. Conner asked if he could borrow one of the company cars to take care of a few more errands. He said he’d swing by the hospital and get Kade when it was time to pick up the shipment.
No wonder Angel had been scared of his brother. Kade was a little afraid too. What happened to him in Afghanistan? Executioner was a nickname. God only knew what he’d done to earn it. At this point, he wasn’t sure if his brother could come back from the dark place he was in…or if he even wanted to.
His head spun with all the problems currently invading it. He pushed everything out and focused on one thing. Matthew. Once they got his son back, he could figure out a way to help Conner. Make him remember the man he used to be. Kade knew his brother would never be the same man as before, but if he could find a way to bring out glimmers of the old Conner, he’d live with it.
That was a problem for next week, though, and one he’d need all his brothers’ help with.
Today was about Matthew.
And they would be bringing him home.