Page 94 of Before Broken Vows

And we do.

SUV engines roar to life. Weapons click into place.

We're not just going to rescue my son.

We're going to burn down the motherfucking world to bring him home.

"DRIVE!"

27

THEO

We descend down the hill on our way like hell's cavalry. We're in the first SUV, the devil leading his fallen angels who follow in the other two SUVs right behind us.

The GPS dot still blinks steadily on the screen of a tablet Andrew holds up front. There's no movement. There's a slight worry that he's taken his watch off, but I pray they've stayed still because they don't know we're coming.

I mean, up until 30 minutes ago, even I didn't know the men's Rolexes had trackers in them.

"Where are we taking Stassi, sir?" Andrew asks, looking over his shoulder back at me.

"Right to where the fuck you're going," Stassi blurts out.

"What?" I say, looking at her.

"Stassi, you can't. I can't worry about you while I'm going after my son."

“Our son,” she retorts. “So I just have to sit someplace and worry about you and him then? Is that it? No. I'm coming. I'm already in the car. You don't tell a mother she can't?—"

"Anastasia! No. It's too dangerous. I can't risk it. I'm sorry, but no," I say, interrupting her.

"Listen, Theodore," she says, using my full name in return—something we only do when we're mad—"if you don't let me go with you, wherever you drop me off, I will just break free and find a way to those hangars or buildings or whatever the fuck is where that blue dot is. And I don't even know exactly where it is, but it's by the airport, so I'll just wander around until I find him. Don't think I won't."

I stare at her. Her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her fingers balling up into fists. It's a side I've never really seen of her. Traces, sure, but being a mom seems to have unlocked primal, protective parts of her.

She holds my gaze and doesn't even blink. Part of me wants to continue on with the plan of leaving her some place safe, and another part of me wants to just give her a gun and let her loose. She'd probably kill 100 men and bring Xander out unscratched while FaceTiming me.

"Fine. But Stassi—and I mean this," I say, turning to face her—"you stay in the damn car. You do not get out. You do not let anyone in. No matter what. Can you agree to that? Because if I go in having to also worry about something happening to you, I could fuck up. And that means me never coming back out. Do you understand?"

Her eyes are fierce, but they soften a bit at the last part. I don't mean to threaten her with me losing my life, but it's true. Andwhile I'm willing to risk it for her, for Xander, I'd prefer a world where the three of us finally get to be together. A place where she and I can have a few more kids. A timeline where we grow old together, inseparable.

"Okay. I promise I'll stay in the car."

I reach down under my seat and pull out a bulletproof vest.

"Put this on," I say and hand it to her. "If you get shot, it'll hurt like hell, but at least you'll be alive to feel that pain."

She doesn't hesitate. She puts it on and I help her strap it down. It's a little loose on her small frame, but it's something.

"Five minutes out," Andrew says, then repeats it into a small walkie-talkie.

We start to see planes taking off and landing, the large roar of their engines filling the silence.

I take these final moments to prepare. Check my guns, and focus. I crack my neck, roll my shoulders, and let the darkness in.

They took my son.

And now I'm bringing death.