Page 28 of Caught in the Crossfire

“You’re far too agitated right now, anyway.” She sat back in her chair, frowning, with her arms crossed over her chest. “I can transport you, but you have to listen to every word I say. I won’t have an infection setting in, and I won’t have you setting back your progress. You almostdied, Wynn.” She held out her arm, showing me the bandage wrapped around the pit of her elbow. “I had to save you, and you’ll not waste my blood.”

I closed my eyes and tried to will back the tears. She’d saved me. Again.

When we were in that house together, and I’d killed the man who held us captive, Willow was the one who led us to safety. Willow was the one who held it together, who kept us alive, while I crumbled. Willow was the one who negotiated a place within the Irish Mob for us.

Why was I always the weakest link?

What if Leona never forgave me?

If I could get home, I could try to fix this. I didn’t give a single shit about my body. All I cared about was getting her back. There was nothing I could do sitting in a bed strapped to machines.

I had to. Helping Leona over the past few months made me feel good. Using my skills for her was a step toward redemption from all the sins of my past. But with this failure, I was so far in the red, I feared I’d never rebalance the scales. I’d never find goodness again.

The pain in my stomach throbbed. I didn’tdeserveto. When Leona and my brothers finally realized that, I’d have no place among them.

“Promise me, Wynn. You’ll rest and heal.”

The lie slipped from my tongue easily. “I promise.”

11

RYUJI

Idouble-checked that the rope was coiled properly, and the hook was secured inside the harpoon’s barrel. Beside me, Cas and Obi were getting their own harpoon guns ready, and loading up our rigid hull inflatable boat—the RHIB—with the rest of our supplies and equipment. The RHIB was a smaller ship used in military operations to board other boats, which we stole from the Coast Guard, and we’d towed behind our superyacht all the way here to the middle of the fucking ocean.

The plan was to catch up to the Albanian freighter, and then come along the lee side of the ship with the RHIB. We’d use our boarding equipment to climb aboard, rescue her, return to the RHIB, and then take her back to the superyacht. Easy.

I’d never boarded a boat like this before. We’d used helicopters to repelontoa ship, but with this distance from land—and the fact that we didn’t know what Leona’s condition would be—the two-boat rescue operation seemed the safer choice.

Obi had arranged everything. He’d called in one of his infinite contacts to secure this yacht—one of the fastest in the world—and drive it while we carried out Operation Rescue The Queen. Edward was his name. The boat man. Ciel was in the bridgenavigating with him now while the rest of us prepped the RHIB for boarding. We’d be ready to approach the Albanian ship in just a few minutes.

Edward had done missions with us before. Obi saved the life of his wife, and now the boat man was forever in his debt. We’d used his services dozens of times, and we knew the boat man could always secure us reliable transportation by sea whenever we needed. He’d do the job, and he’d keep his mouth shut.

Getting here had just taken time. Time we did not fucking have.

It had been three days.

I was so fucking ready for this to be over. Despite Cas’s words in the gym about not keeping her locked up in the penthouse, I wasn’t convinced. I’d aged ten fucking years in the last three days.

I loved her. And there was no fucking way I was losing her now.

We were out for blood. Nobody fucked with the Shadows, and especially not our queen.

The freighter loomed ahead as we finalized the plans. We were bursting with impatience, but this had to go perfectly. I double checked the RHIB was ready, then made sure my knives were secure in their sheathes.

“We’re at a safe distance,” Ciel’s voice crackled over our radios. We were locked into mission comms, with Ciel handling the tech as usual. “I’m heading down. Time to go.”

The boat man’s voice came through my earpiece. “I’ll hold the yacht here until you’re ready. Keep me posted on the radio.”

“Will do.” Obi gave the signal to Cas and me for the three of us to step into the RHIB. He hooked an assault rifle onto a strap over his shoulder. We gave a wave to Edward, who watched from the windows on the bridge. Ciel hopped in as soon as he made his way to the stern. “We’ll be quick. If you feel threatened, take the boat out and circle around. We don’t know what safety measures they’ll deploy.”

Edward saluted. “Copy.”

Obi drove the RHIB closer to the freighter, aligning it with the lee side of the ship to minimize the swell and wind.

“Brothers,” Obi said through all our headsets when we got close. The four of us turned to follow his gaze, looking up at the bow. Mountains of containers were stacked across it like bricks stretching toward the sky. It was a huge fucking cargo ship, but we’d scale it easily. “Are we ready?”

“Let’s get our girl back,” Cas said.