All the breath leaves my lungs. He loves me. Of course he loves me. I know that. We haven’t said it out loud, but I know it. I love him, too.
I go slack in his arms. “But…”
“No buts.” He lowers me to my feet and squats in front of me so we’re at eye-level. Holding my shoulders, he meets my gaze. “June, you listen to me.”
I nod, sniffling.
“I need to help my team. I cannot worry about you the entire time. I need you to trust us to rescue that woman. Not you. Us. You’re not trained. I am. Cannon, Tank, Ghost… This is what we do, Little one. Not Little girls armed with a purse.”
I glance down at my purse and sniffle again. “I stole one of your knives.”
He closes his eyes for a moment and draws in a deep breath. What he doesn’t do is lose his temper. “I know. We’ll discuss that later, naughty girl. Right now, I need you to go back to the Camaro the same way you got here. Can you do that, or do I need to tie you to a tree?”
Shifting my gaze to the house, I swallow. “What if he shoots you?”
“He won’t, honey. I promise. Let me do my job. Let me do what I’m good at. Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl. Will you go back to the car so we can go in as four instead of three men?”
I nod and throw my good arm around his neck. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“I know, Little one.” He kisses my temple again before turning me in the direction he wants me to go. “Car, June. Now. I swear, if you don’t obey me, I will stand you in the corner for a week.”
“Okay, Daddy.” When he releases me, I start jogging behind the houses, retracing the path I took to get here. I’m scared out of my mind, but I’m no longer in a position to trade my life for the other woman. Daddy is here. He’s going to handle this his way. I won’t let him down.
Twenty-Seven
Blade
* * *
My men are waiting for me in position. I watch to make sure my girl is completely out of sight before I join them. I hate that I had to send her away alone, but I won’t let my men enter this house without me just because my girl is nearby.
I’m confident she will obey me. She understands the stakes. She has to. If she doesn’t… I can’t wrap my head around what I’ll do if she isn’t in the Camaro when I look for her.
I make eye contact with Tank and Ghost. Cannon is on the other side of the property. Tank and Ghost can see him. With a hand signal, we silently move up to the house until we’re all plastered to an outer wall.
I’m probably going to have the best view since I’m coming from the back, where the kitchen is located. Stark is holding the woman in the kitchen. He’s been staring at his phone and pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room for the last two hours, according to Mace. He grumbles a lot.
The truth is he has no idea if June ever saw his text. He took a gamble. I’ve never responded to any of his texts from the moment they started coming in, so he can’t be certain he’s even texting the correct phone number.
“Where is he?” I whisper.
Mace has been in my ear the entire time. Not only has he been monitoring what’s happening inside the house, but he was the first to spot June sneaking up from behind.
“Hold tight a second,” Mace responds. “He’s pacing. He’ll be back in the living room in a moment. Then, you can look in through the back. The woman has her back to you. She won’t see you.”
All four of us can hear Mace in our earpieces.
“Blade, now,” Mace says.
I lean around the corner to look through the window over the sink, quickly scanning so I’ll have a solid lay of the land before ducking back against the side of the house.
Mace continues, “Cannon, there’s a window cracked open an inch in the master bedroom next to you. See if you can slide it up. Tank, head around to the front with Ghost.”
I hear Tank in the earpiece. “The handle is ordinary. Ghost, can you see if it’s unlocked?”
