Page 85

DECLAN

C onan and Finn have been working tirelessly for the last two days with Mikhail, Drago, and Enzo.

Apparently they’ve mastered a plan.

Giving a mission to Conan is like giving candy to a kid. He gets all giddy and obsesses over it.

Finn, he’s the details guy. The one who assesses the risks and thinks of things no one else would.

And me? I oversee the madness. Keep them in check.

Finn requested Charlotte joins us, as she knows Vlad best to predict his actions.

In an ideal world, I don’t want her in the same country as that cunt. But reality says she has to be.

“Glad you could finally join us,” Finn grunts, looking up from his computer.

Conan greets us with a smile and ushers us inside my office.

“Take a seat, this is a good one,” Conan tells us.

So I sit down on the leather couch and pull Charlotte onto my lap.

My eyes go wide, and I jump up, taking Charlotte with me as Conan swipes every damn item off my desk and onto the floor.

Glass smashes, whiskey pours out onto the ground, and my blood fucking boils.

He pulls out a map that spans the entire desk and finally makes eye contact with me.

“Why the fuck did you just do that?” I shout, throwing up my hands.

Conan steps back and grins like a little kid. Except it ain’t cute on a six-foot-six beast, covered in tattoos.

I’ve seen him cave enough skulls in with his bare hands that I can’t see him as my little brother anymore.

At this point, I’m lucky the bloodthirsty maniac is on my side.

“I’ve always wanted to dramatically clear a desk and make a plan using a map. You know, like in the films.”

I look at Finn, who is just as clueless as me, and I glance down at the shards of glass near my feet.

“Most people want to clear one to fuck. Not for maps.” I keep my tone serious, despite dying on the inside looking at the confusion on his face.

“No. I disagree. Keep the fucking out in the woods and the maps on here. Much cleaner.”

That gets Finn, who bursts out into a fit of laughter.

“I’ll bring you back some sanitizer from the hospital, Con. Didn’t realize you had a thing for cleanliness.”

“Shut up. The map.” Conan jabs his finger on the wood.

“You’re lucky I don’t stab you with that glass, brother,” I tell Conan, letting the shards crunch under my boot as I step towards him.

Finn pushes between us and jabs his finger to Russia on the map, right where the red circle is.

“Don’t suppose you have a pen ready for this, Conan?” I bite back a grin.

I can’t let him know right now that I actually find him funny. I need him to engage the survival part of his brain rather than the clown.

“Don’t need one. All up here.” He jabs a thick finger into his temple.

“Great.”

Looking down on the map, I’m distracted as I see Charlotte intently studying it.

“So, he lives about an hour out from that location.” She presses her finger down on an area south, and Finn marks a cross.

“Good,” Finn replies.

“This location suggested, do you know of any ties? Drago didn’t.”

She chews on her lip.

“No. Closest I’ve been is about twenty miles west. But that was to take down the remaining men of Ivan.”

“Volkov?” I ask.

“Yup.”

“How active are they?” Finn asks.

“Pretty much all dead.”

Snaking my arm around her waist, I nestle her into my side, a sense of pride in my chest.

“Who owns this location?” she asks.

“Technically, Mikhail now. But it’s no one’s really. Just an empty warehouse used to store arms once upon a time.”

Conan rolls out another sheet.

This time blueprints to the warehouse.

“We will have men surrounding the building, hiding in the woods.”

“He will no doubt do the same,” Charlotte says warily.

“He has a big unit.”

“That is where Drago comes in. He knows where each is positioned.”

She nods.

“Is the plan bringing my daughter to a war zone?” She taps her finger on her forearm.

Conan looks to me for help.

“Well, we will allow him to enter with Isabella; we will not make a shot until she’s out of harm’s way.

“And if he makes a shot?” she counters.

“It’s a risk. We can’t plan for every eventuality, but we are all on the same page. You and Declan go in, we surround the area, and I’ll be the sniper. Drago will let us know Isabella’s location for the swap. In an ideal world, it’s a clean swap, and we simply follow your tracker to the location and gun the place down, all while Isabella is taken to safety. Right?” Conan finishes, almost out of breath.

Finn nods.

“Yeah, that's the plan. Secure parameter, clean swap, and a tracker. To put it simply. Getting Isabella out is our main priority.”

Charlotte gives them a sharp, approving nod.

“When?” she asks.

I hug her tighter.

“Waiting on the go-ahead from Drago. Any day. Mikhail and his men with Enzo will meet us there. We need them to keep us safe with the general unrest since Ivan’s death. Plus, he has safe houses dotted around.”

“Good.”

I’m proud of them. Vlad won’t be getting anywhere with either of my girls.

I don’t have a good feeling about this, and looking at Charlotte's blank expression, neither does she.

“What do you think, baby?” I whisper in her ear and feel her shiver against me.

“If we’re smart, have the manpower, and Drago protecting Isabella, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.”

“See. Told you. Awesome plan.” Conan proudly picks up his blueprints.

“Make sure we arrive before Vlad does,” I tell them as Charlotte and Finn study the blueprint.

“There looks like only one way in and one way out. I say me and Declan head in there and wait for Vlad so we have the advantage if he does come in guns blazing for me.” She points on the table.

I squeeze her shoulder.

“Vlad will be heavily armed for this,” she says sternly.

“And so will we,” I reassure her.

“Mikhail has guys going over there now to check it out, Jax and Alexei. They’ll report back tomorrow and can lay anything out we need before we even confirm with Vlad,” Finn informs us.

“We’ve got this.” I hug Charlotte tight to reassure her.

The pressure I feel must be nothing in comparison to her.

“We will catch up with you later,” I tell my brothers, leading Charlotte out.

“What are you thinking?” I ask her, guiding her by the lower back.

“I need to get some training in. I’m feeling weaker than usual.” She spins to face me with a grin.

“You got any throwing knives? Machetes?” she asks.

That glimmer in her eyes makes my cock throb.

“Let’s head to the cabin. Conan has everything. Can even throw some axes if you want.”

“I’d love to.”

She nudges into my side and grabs my hand.

“That’s what gets you going? Violence?” I chuckle, and she stops.

“I suppose so. It’s who I am now.”

“I like you just how you are. Never change. Just no throwing knives at me.”

She nods and giggles, making my heart swell.

“If you behave, Mr. Quinn. You won’t become another flower tattoo.”

I let out a groan as she takes off into a jog towards the woods. I speed up to match her.

“Your next flower can be your last, if that’s what you want.”

She rubs a hand over her forearm and slows her pace.

“I have a special spot saved especially for that asshole. I’m ready. This is the closest I’ve gotten to ending it since I ran before.”

I stop and rub my face.

“What happened when you tried to leave?”

“I was five months pregnant. I knew it was only a matter of time before he realized she wasn’t his. I’d been protecting my father for years by staying, but then I had something more important to fight for. But it wasn’t successful. I managed to take out the guards and get out of the compound; he always had one over on me. He stopped me in my tracks. I lost my father, and I lost my freedom completely, but Isabella, she was free from harm, so that is all that mattered. I never saw a way out, not with the threat he put on her life.”

She takes in a shaky breath, and I squeeze her shoulders, pulling her into my embrace.

“Until now.”

I’m fucking murderous, he threatened my baby.

Oh, he’s going to die a slow and painful death.

Stepping forward, I stroke her cheek.

“No matter what, our little girl will be safe. Okay?”

It’s strange, having never even met her, I love her so fiercely.

She is a piece of me, and she deserves everything I can do to save her.

“I know.”

“Let’s go throw shit, ay?” I kiss her forehead.

“You think Conan and Finn want to join us? I might be able to teach them a thing or two.”

Hmm. It would be nice for my brothers to get to know her. See what I see, rather than a threat.

“I like that.”

Plus, I’d love to see her wipe the smugness off them. I have no doubt my girl has the skill.