“Are you sure you about this?” The cars were lining the driveway as the men prepared to take Pearl and Lars away. They were leaving the estate and retreating to Greece, to a small island where people wouldn’t look twice to find her.

“Yes.” Crow’s expression didn’t change as he held my gaze.

“Because you don’t have to do this. I understand, Crow.”

“I know you would be there for me if this were reversed.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re obligated to do this.” Whether I would do it for him was irrelevant.

“I’m in, Cane. Pearl is too.”

“You’re certain she’s okay with this?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I knew Crow wouldn’t change his mind. “Alright. Thank you…”

Crow nodded before he stepped aside.

Pearl walked up to me, looking exactly the same even though everything was different. “Please get her out of there.”

“I will.”

“And please…bring Crow back to me.”

“I’ll make sure that happens,” I whispered. “I’d rather die than keep that from happening.”

She nodded slightly, tears in her eyes.

“Congratulations on the baby.”

“Thank you.” Her hand immediately went to her stomach. “We weren’t expecting it…but now it feels right, like it was meant to happen.”

“I’m excited to be an uncle. I told Crow I would feed them lots of candy and get them into all sorts of trouble.”

I got her to laugh, but it was weak. “I’m sure you will.”

“And you’re gonna be a great mother, Pearl. If you have a daughter, she’ll be strong. If you have a boy, he’ll grow up to a man.”

“Thank you, Cane.”

I brought her into my chest and hugged her, holding her like a sister.

She rested her face against my chest and breathed hard. “I love you, brother…”

“I love you too, sis.”

She pulled away from me and walked to the car. The drivers were ready to take her away along with Lars. She would have all the protection she needed as well as most of Crow’s money. If we both died, she would be okay.

“We’ll leave after I say goodbye to her.” Crow walked toward her in the entryway. The rest of the men and Lars stepped away to give them privacy. The engines were running, and the house was dark since all the curtains were drawn.

Crow rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

She did the same, but the tears started to fall.

Neither one of them said anything.

They just stood there.

After a moment, Crow tilted his head back and looked at her. “I love you, Button.”

Tears streamed down her face, and she started to sob. “I love you too…”

He cupped her cheeks then kissed all of her tears away, treasuring her with his love. He rubbed his nose against hers before he pulled his hand away and abruptly walked away, turning his back on her so he wouldn’t have to watch her get into the car.

But I knew the real reason he turned around.

He walked toward me, his eyes visibly red and wet. He walked past me and stepped underneath the olive tree. His hands were in his pockets, and he stood absolutely still, listening to the car doors shut as they prepared to leave. Soon, the tires rolled as they pulled out of the roundabout and left the property.

Crow didn’t watch them drive away.

When they were gone and out of sight, he finally turned back toward me.

With tears running down his face.

---

Bran grabbed my wrist then pointed the gun at the underside of my forearm. He hit the trigger, and the tracker went inside.

Crow hadn’t said anything since Pearl left. He was dead silent. He quickly wiped away his tears and returned to the stoic man I’d always known. It was like nothing had happened at all. When our parents died, he didn’t shed a single tear. When Vanessa was shot in front of him, he didn’t express a single emotion.

But watching his pregnant wife drive away broke his heart.

Bran turned to Crow. “You’re next.”

Crow extended his arm without looking at him.

Bran inserted the chip, and Crow didn’t flinch.

“That way we’ll be able to locate each other if we ever lose track of one another. They shouldn’t be detected if we’re captured.”

“Good idea,” Crow said quietly.

“It can detect a pulse too. That way we know…you know.”

“Yeah.”

We prepared ourselves for the attack, stocking up on ammo, grenades, and guns. I had a pistol on either side of my holster, a knife in my boot, and I was going in with my machine gun. I wasn’t messing around, and I was going with only one intention.

Killing everyone in that compound.

I couldn’t let a single man escape. I couldn’t let a single phone call be made. I had to wipe out every last man in that complex so no one would know it was us. It could look like a random hit, a robbery.

And I could get Adelina the hell out of there.

I hadn’t slept much that week. It was a miracle that I was still functioning at that very moment.

I had sixty mercenaries recruited for the operation, all skilled men that I trusted to have my back. Even if Tristan were ready for us, he would have a difficult time defeating us. We would get in and get out quickly, taking Adelina to safety.

I couldn’t believe I let her go in the first place.

I didn’t want to think about all the suffering she had already endured. She might be dead for all I knew.

Bran rounded the men into the Hummers and then came back to Crow and me. “We should get going if we want to be there by three.”

We were driving all the way there since flying wasn’t an option with our kind of artillery. “Last chance,” I said to my brother.

He turned his eyes to me. “Let’s do it.”

---

Hours later, we were a mile from the house.

Crow was in a different Hummer with his own team of men. We were executing this in waves. The first group of us were supposed to take out as many men as possible silently. The second wave was backup, taking down all the men once they were aware what was going on.

I wasn’t sure exactly where Adelina would be. I suspected she would be in her room. If she were, that would make this operation a lot easier.

I pressed my fingers to my ear. “Crow, you there?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Alright. Let’s move.”

We drove to the compound with the lights off. There were no gates around the mansion because he tried to blend into the coastline. When there were gates and fences, it looked more suspicious than leaving it totally open. Plus, it made a strong statement.

Two men were already on foot, taking out the guards that were posted outside.

John came on to the mic. “All four guards down. We’re clear.”

“Roger that,” I said back.

The cars pulled into the asphalt entryway that was as big as a parking lot. We parked two hundred feet from the house, not wanting the sounds of our engines to be a dead giveaway to anyone who was sleeping. We killed the engines, and it turned silent.

The ocean waves were in the background.

My team got out of the cars and moved in.

My heart was beating so hard.

So much adrenaline.

So much ferocity.

My woman was in there—and I wasn’t leaving without her.

I frisked both of the men at the entryway and placed one of their mics directly into my ear. Now I had radio communication with the enemy. I tried the door and was surprised it wasn’t locked.

What kind of idiots were they?

I stepped inside the pitch-black house. There was a large entryway opening to a living room.

No one in sight.

My team moved farther inside and examined every room. Guards that were posted were looking at their phones, so they were easy to take out silently. But I wasn’t naïve enough to think that was it.

Then someone screamed.

Gunshots fired off, and the war began.

I sprinted down the hallway and opened the first door.

A gun was pointed right at my face.

But I fired first. I took out two men then cleared the room before I moved forward. My goal was to find Adelina. Everyone else’s goal was to kill anyone inside that building. I searched more rooms, killed more men, and then finally made it to the final bedroom on the bottom floor.

There she was.

Naked.

Dirty.

Her ankle cuffed to the wall.

There wasn’t time for tears or emotions. There wasn’t even time for anger.

She covered herself with her hands when I first stepped into the room, but once she recognized me, her hands slowly dropped. “Oh my god…”

I shut the door behind me and got to work. I didn’t have a key for the chain, and I wasn’t going to bother looking for one. “Don’t move.”

“What are you going to—”

I shot the chain until it snapped in half.

Adelina let out a scream.

“Come on.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. There was nothing to cover her with, but her nakedness wasn’t important right now. I had to get her out of there. “Stay behind me.” We moved back into the hallway and walked over the dead bodies back to the front door.

Some of the men were mine.

One of Tristan’s dead men was wearing a sweater. “Take it off him and put it on.” I kept my eyes trained around us, prepared for unexpected company.

Adelina did exactly as I commanded and yanked it off him. She pulled it over her body and zipped up the front. The fabric stopped just above her knees.

“Let’s go.” I guided her out the front door, the sound of gunshots still going off upstairs. “Come on.”

The men in the cars covered both of us as we made it back to the bulletproof SUV’s. I opened the back door to one and pushed her inside.

“Cane—”

“I don’t have time to talk.” I shut the door and ran back into the house. My primary goal had been completed, but the job wasn’t done yet. I had to kill every single asshole in there. “Crow, what’s your status?”

“Killing these assholes. What the fuck are you doing?”

I ran to the second floor and helped my men, but I didn’t see Crow.

“Cane.” Crow’s voice came over the line. “Tristan jumped out the window. He was on the second story.”

“I’m on it.” I darted back downstairs, knowing Tristan was heading for the ground floor. He was probably trying to get to the cars left on the side of the compound. I rushed into the night and scanned for him everywhere.

That’s when I heard the sound of an engine.

A boat.

Tristan was inside a speedboat parked in the harbor. He must have jumped to the bottom floor and kept going.

“No!” I sprinted down the dock then took aim as he sped off. I fired all my ammunition, determined to sink that asshole into the deep ocean. It was too dark, and I ran out of bullets. I had no idea if I hit my mark or missed it. He was too far away for me to hear the engine. “Fuck.” Even if I sank his boat, there was no guarantee he was dead. He could have missed the bullets, and he could swim to safety once we were gone.

Crow’s voice returned. “All clear. Did you get him?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know? What the fuck, Cane?”

“He drove off in a boat, and I fired all my rounds. It’s pitch black, and I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, fuck.”

Crow and some of the men ran out onto the deck with me. The black waves were choppy as the wind picked up. If it weren’t for that, we might actually be able to hear something. We scanned the horizon left to right, as if we might see something jump out at us.

Crow released a frustrated sigh beside me. “All of his men are dead. Where would he go?”

“He probably has his phone on him. Could call someone.”

“What’s the likelihood that you hit him?”

“I don’t know. I fired off until I was empty. Chances are, I hit my mark.”

“And even if you did, the asshole can probably swim…”

“Yeah.”

“I say we leave a team behind until morning. All of his stuff is here, and the rest of the coast is mostly cliffs. This is probably where he would swim back to.”

“Agreed.”

“Then let’s head out. You got Adelina?”

“Yeah, she’s in the car.”

He clapped my shoulder. “Good. I’m glad this wasn’t for nothing.”

I didn’t have a single second to contemplate the fact that Adelina was safe and in my custody. I’d barely had a chance to speak to her, to think about her condition when I walked into that room.

“Cane?”

“Hmm?”

“I have some bad news.”

He was alive, and Adelina was safe. There was nothing he could say that would ruin my victory. “What?”

“Lizzie is dead.”

I looked into his dark face and didn’t see an ounce of sadness.

“She was wrapped in a bag downstairs. Looks like they were about to toss her into the ocean.”

“How do you know it’s her?”

“Fits the description. And there were no other women in the building.”

I’d suspected she would already be dead. I figured they’d killed her a long time ago. “Adelina will take the news hard.”

“Or it might give her peace.”

---

Before I reached the back door to the vehicle, she pushed it open and slid to the asphalt. In her oversized sweater with messy hair and bruises all over her face, she jumped into my arms and locked her arms around my neck.

I scooped her from the ground and held her to me, letting her rest against me. The rest of the team packed up and prepared to leave. Everything had been swept clean, and the perimeter had been checked. We should leave now before the sun rose, but I knew Adelina wanted to be held—by me.

“It’s alright, Bellissima.” My lips brushed against her hairline as I felt her breathe heavily against me. She was safe in my arms, but she still felt terrorized. She’d suffered worse now than she did the first time. She couldn’t just brush that off. “I’m here. It’s over.”

“You came back for me…”

“I shouldn’t have let you go in the first place. I’m so sorry…” I should have shot Tristan right between the eyes and pulled Adelina out of there. I should have forced Tristan to take the money for her payment. I should have run away with her, taking her to all the beautiful places in the world, giving her the life she deserved to live.

“No, Cane. Don’t ever apologize…”

I wanted to hold her like that forever, but we needed to leave. “We need to get going. I have a meal packed for you in the back. You’re probably hungry…” Because she’d been starved the second she stepped foot on that compound.

“I am. You’re going to sit with me, right?”

I was planning on driving, but when she looked at me with those terrified eyes, I knew I couldn’t leave her side. “Yeah, I’ll sit with you.” I traded positions with one of the other men and got into the back seat beside her. I pulled off my jacket and laid it across her legs, covering every inch of her body so I wouldn’t have to look at her bruises. I pulled out the cooler and opened the sandwich, chips, sliced apples, and orange juice.

Adelina took everything and scarfed it down like she hadn’t eaten in months.

I couldn’t look at her. It was too painful. The bruises made me sick. The dirt in her hair made me angry. All the scars I couldn’t see made me want to hurl across the back seat. I kept my eyes out the window, doing everything I possibly could not to look at her. It was hard to look at her the first time, but it was nearly impossible the second time.

“It’s a long drive,” I whispered. “You should get some sleep.”

“Okay. I haven’t slept in a while… I’m pretty tired.” She lay down across the back seat, resting her head on my thigh. She immediately closed her eyes, exhausted and weak.

If I weren’t surrounded by my men, I’d probably break down in tears. My fingers moved through her hair, and I gently caressed her, touching her the way a woman should be touched—delicately.

Crow’s voice sounded in my ear. “How’s she doing?”

I kept my voice low so she wouldn’t wake up. “She’s okay. Just ate. Now she’s getting some sleep.”

“You want me to arrange for a doctor to come by your place in the morning?” Crow never offered to do anything for me. He was there when I asked, but he didn’t do thoughtful things like that. I knew he was asking out of concern for her—not me.

“Please.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks. Are you going to bring Pearl back?”

He paused before he answered. “No. Not until I know if Tristan is dead or alive.”

That was the cautious thing to do. “Good idea.”

“Let me know if Adelina needs anything.”

“How come you never ask if I need anything?” I asked quietly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Because I actually like her. And we both know I don’t like you.”

---

We arrived at my house at dawn. I carried Adelina inside the house, back to the place where we’d spent the last month getting to know each other. When I set her on the couch, her eyes fluttered open. She was still in the oversized sweater, a cut on the corner of her eye and her cheek purple and swollen. Underneath her pain, she was still beautiful. There was nothing that Tristan could do to her to hide her resilience.

She slowly sat up and looked around the living room, recognizing the place. “Your house…”

“We’re back.” I sat beside her and ran my fingers through her hair.

“I never thought I’d see this place again.” She sat up and pulled her favorite blanket over her legs, hiding her bruised thighs. Perhaps she was cold. Or perhaps she just didn’t want me to see all the other places she was injured.

My hand grabbed hers. “You’re safe, Adelina. Nothing can ever hurt you again.”

The crew came inside and installed security precautions, cameras and an alarm system. Tristan could still be alive. I wanted to be prepared if he was. He didn’t know where I lived, but it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out.

Adelina eyed the men as they walked by, her usual fire dormant. She naturally projected confidence and strength, but now she was more submissive than I’d ever seen her. She was disturbed. Just the night before, horrible things were being done to her.

Crow joined us. “Adelina, I’m glad you’re alright.”

Her face slowly changed, and her eyes lit up with pure joy. She quickly got to her feet and hugged him, squeezed him around the rib cage hard enough to make him release a quiet grunt. “Crow…I’m so happy to see you.”

He patted her on the back awkwardly, probably uncomfortable by the embrace since he never touched anyone but Pearl. He wasn’t an affectionate guy in general, so this display of sentiment wasn’t his thing. “You too.”

“Thank you for saving me. It means a lot to me.”

“Of course,” Crow said. “You mean a lot to my brother. And if you mean a lot to him, you meant a lot to me.” He stepped away and waved for the physician to come over. “He’s gonna do a quick examination. Make sure you’re doing okay.”

Adelina eyed him warily.

“You guys can enter the first bedroom on the left,” Crow said.

Adelina immediately turned to me. “I want you in there too, Cane.” It wasn’t a request, but a command. She obviously didn’t want to be alone with a man she didn’t know. She was more scarred than I realized.

“Of course, Bellissima.” She never needed to be scared of anything again—not while I was around.