Page 9

Nate

T he jet roared to life, and I leaned back against the seat, watching the clouds blur past the window as we lifted off.

Axel sat across from me, chewing on a protein bar like it personally offended him.

Neither of us spoke for the first half hour.

It was too damn early, and neither of us were excited about babysitting a couple of rich teenagers with TikTok addictions and trust funds bigger than our whole damn base budget.

Don’t get me wrong—I’d lay down my life to keep them safe. That was my job. But I preferred the kind of missions that came with adrenaline and chaos, not shopping malls and side-eyes from kids who thought they were smarter than the SEALs assigned to protect them.

They stayed on their phones for most of the plane ride. When we landed in Milan, Axel finally said, breaking the silence. “Then it's a private driver through Tuscany to the grandparents' estate.”

“Do we get wine?” I asked.

“Probably. You gonna drink it?”

I snorted. “Not if I’m on watch. But I’m not above stashing a bottle for later.”

My phone buzzed, and I fished it out of my pocket. A photo of Willa filled the screen—just her, standing in front of her farmhouse, holding a bar of soap with “Goat Butt” stamped on the label and a totally serious face.

Miss me yet?

I laughed out loud.

Axel raised a brow. “That her?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s cute. The goat soap thing still weirds me out, though.”

“She named one butt head. He headbutts everyone he meets.”

“Sounds like my kind of goat.”

I stared at the photo a second longer before replying.

Miss you like hell. The goat still alive?

Barely. He tried to kill me with a bucket this morning.

I grinned and slid my phone back into my jacket. Willa. That woman had cracked something open in me I didn’t know I had—a longing that went deeper than just lust. She made my world feel lighter. Simpler. Like maybe I didn’t have to always carry the weight of being on all the damn time.

We landed without a hitch. The kids, Chloe and Ethan, walked between us. Chloe had her nose buried in her phone, headphones in. Ethan gave us a nod and a muttered, “Cool.”

They were teenagers—awkward, moody, trying not to care while clearly caring a whole lot. I remember being that age. The world felt like a punch in the gut every day.

We loaded them into the SUV, Axel up front, me in the back with the kids. The drive was smooth… for exactly twenty minutes.

That’s when we spotted the tail.

“I’ve got a black Audi four clicks behind,” Axel said quietly into the mic. “Holding steady.”

I glanced over at Ethan, who didn’t seem to notice anything yet. Chloe was still oblivious, scrolling through whatever dance challenge was popular this week.

“Keep steady. Let’s see if they follow us through the next turn.”

They did.

And that’s when everything clicked. This wasn’t just a precautionary escort job.

Someone was after them.

“Change of plans,” I said. “We’re not going to the estate. Find a secure location off-grid. Something quiet. Abandoned if possible.”

Axel didn’t ask questions. He just drove.

I looked back at the kids, suddenly a hell of a lot more serious.

“New plan. You stick with us. Don’t argue, don’t panic, and if I say move—you move.”

Chloe finally looked up. “Wait, what’s going on?”

“Trouble,” I said. “And I plan to make sure it never touches you.”

I pulled out my weapon from the secure case, checked the rounds, and glanced out the window. My gut was tight, every instinct on red alert.

I didn’t know who was following us yet.

But I was damn sure they picked the wrong kids to target.

And the wrong SEALs to mess with.

The Audi didn’t just follow us through the next turn—it sped up.

“Axel,” I said, keeping my voice calm, “we’ve got movement. They’re closing the distance.”

“I see ‘em. If they pull up any closer, I’m punching it.”

I twisted in my seat just as Chloe let out a quiet, “Is this for real?”

“Dead serious,” I said, meeting her wide-eyed stare. “You’re not going to the vineyard. You’re in a potential abduction setup. Your job is to stay down and listen to me. Can you do that?”

She nodded, pale now, and tugged Ethan down with her. He looked like he was about to argue, but I didn’t give him a chance.

“ Down , now!”

Gunfire cracked behind us, a shot pinging off the rear fender. Axel swore and floored the gas.

The kids screamed. I reached over the seat and shoved them down flat as Axel veered off the main road and down a narrow dirt path.

“Hold on!” he barked.

I grabbed the handle above my window, bracing myself as the SUV hit a patch of uneven gravel. The trees on either side grew thicker, the path bumpier, the shadows deeper. Dust kicked up behind us in a swirling cloud. The Audi stayed right on our tail.

We burst out of the tree line and into the back entrance of what looked like an abandoned vineyard. Ivy-covered stone buildings loomed in the distance, their windows long boarded up. The gate was hanging off its hinges. A perfect hideout—or a perfect trap.

Axel jerked the wheel hard, swerving around a fallen tree, and brought the vehicle to a skidding stop behind one of the crumbling barns.

“Out, now!” I barked. I grabbed Ethan’s arm and hauled him up, Chloe right behind.

“We need to move, get inside before they get eyes on us. Go! Axel, cover them!”

Axel hopped out, gun raised, sweeping the area as I ushered the kids into the barn. The place reeked of mildew and old grapes, but it had a loft, a few rusty tools, and a door that locked from the inside. We could work with this.

“I want you two in that corner, behind the barrels. Stay low. No sound unless I say otherwise,” I ordered.

Chloe and Ethan nodded, still shaking.

Axel came in, shut the door, and dropped his voice. “They stopped just outside the trees. Two men got out—light body armor, probably ex-military. Professional. But they don’t know exactly where we went.”

“Which buys us maybe five minutes.”

I checked my gun to make sure it was loaded, then looked out through a sliver in the boarded-up window. Sure enough, I spotted the Audi parked crooked under the trees. Two shadows moved around it, scanning the area.

“Think they’re after ransom?” Axel asked quietly beside me.

“Could be,” I said. “Or something worse. It could be that they were never supposed to make it to the grandparents. Maybe someone paid for a disappearance.”

Axel grimaced. “Damn.”

A long creak sounded behind us—floorboards above.

I spun, gun raised.

There was no one there. But something shifted in the shadows.

I motioned for Axel to follow and crept up the narrow staircase to the barn’s loft. My boots barely made a sound on the rotting wood. The air smelled like old straw and damp wood, and the silence was thick.

Then I heard it again. Another creak.

We weren’t alone in this barn.

I stepped forward, heart pounding, every nerve in my body coiled tight.

And that’s when I saw it.

A figure crouched low in the corner held something that glinted in the pale light leaking through a cracked window.

I leveled my weapon. “Don’t move.”

The figure froze.

And then slowly raised their hands.

It was a girl. Maybe seventeen. Wide green eyes, hair a tangled mess, a bruise blooming along her cheekbone. Her lip was split, her clothes torn.

“Who the hell are you?” I demanded.

She looked at me like she’d seen a ghost. “They took my sister. Please... don’t let them take me too.”

She was trembling, clutching a broken rake handle like it was the only thing keeping her alive. I kept my weapon trained on her, just in case—but something in her eyes told me she was more terrified than dangerous.

Axel stepped in behind me, gun raised, taking position just over my shoulder. “You know her?”

“Nope. But she’s not one of them,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Look at her—she’s been through hell.”

I holstered my gun and stepped closer, hands raised to show I wasn’t a threat.

“It’s okay,” I said gently. “You’re safe—for now. What’s your name?”

She swallowed hard. “Siena. Siena Ricci.”

Axel and I exchanged a quick glance.

“Any relation to Alessandro Ricci?” Axel asked. “The family we’re delivering the kids to?”

Siena gave a shaky nod. “He’s my grandfather.”

Shit.

I knelt down in front of her. “Start talking. We’re escorting his other grandkids—Chloe and Ethan. They’re downstairs. We were supposed to bring them to him.”

Her face crumpled. “You can’t. You can’t go to him.

That house—it’s not safe. The people working for him…

they’ve changed. They’re not his regular staff.

I heard them talking. They planned to kidnap all of us.

Me , Chloe, Ethan. Something about insurance.

I escaped two days ago. I’ve been hiding here ever since. ”

Axel muttered, “Well, that explains why we’re being followed.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” I asked.

“They’re in on it. At least the ones around the estate. I tried to flag down a passing car, but when they saw me, they sped off. I’ve been surviving on rotten grapes and rainwater.”

“Hell,” I muttered.

Chloe and Ethan. Grandkids of a billionaire. Suddenly worth more as hostages than as heirs.

“What about your sister?” Axel asked. “You said they took her.”

“She’s younger. Only twelve. They separated us. I think they kept her at the main house. They knew I was older, harder to control.”

The knot in my gut twisted tighter.

This wasn’t a job anymore. This was a rescue.

I stood up and motioned for Siena to follow. “You’re coming with us. We’ll protect you. But if what you’re saying is true, we need to move—now.”

We got back downstairs just as another bullet hit the outer wall.

The kids screamed, ducking again. I grabbed Siena’s hand and pulled her forward.

“Chloe, Ethan—this is your cousin Siena. She’s been hiding here. And she says you’re all targets.”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “What? No—Grandpa would never—”

“Maybe not,” Siena said, her voice breaking, “but the people around him will.”

“We’re leaving,” I told Axel. “We’ll circle west, head toward that rocky ravine we passed. Lose the car, then we go on foot from there.”

“With three kids?” Axel said.

“Better that than ending up in a body bag,” I said.

I slung my rifle over my back and opened the barn’s side door just a crack. The Audi was still there. The two men were closing in, one with a radio to his ear.

“We move in thirty seconds,” I whispered. “Fast. Silent. Follow my lead.”

I looked down at Siena, then at Chloe and Ethan.

“I swear to you—I’ll get all of you out alive.”

Even if it killed me.