Page 37 of Savage Promises (Quinlan Empire #2)

Shane

T he next night, the winding road in the industrial complex of warehouses seems to go on forever.

Using a ghost car, a piece of shit Honda, I’m following the box truck, driven by Garrett.

Through a camera attached to the truck’s rearview mirror, I see him in the driver’s seat.

His hands grip the steering wheel like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded.

Wired for surveillance, I hear his raspy breaths.

Inside the cargo area of the truck, Trace, Rhys, Connor, and an array of Quinlan soldiers are locked and loaded.

The dangers of this mission weigh on my mind.

Working with my brothers and cousins up the stakes to these missions.

For a moment, I consider aborting the operation.

This is not the streets of Astoria where the king, Kieran O’Rourke is feared by the Italian Mafia and the Russian Bratva.

This is a whole new game with serious consequences. My mother barely survived losing one child. She won’t survive losing another one. Then thoughts of my angelic sister Norah vanish when I see the smoke billowing around the bend.

What the fuck?

Using a mic connected to Garrett’s earpiece, I say, “Donnelly, what is that?”

“I... I don’t know. A...chimney from another warehouse, I think.”

But we turn the corner and the Albanian warehouse is engulfed in fire.

I stop the Honda and watch Garrett climb out of the truck, his face pale against the roar of the flames.

“Fuck,” I mutter and look around .

When I’m not gunned down from an ambush with the burning warehouse as a distraction, I hop out of the Honda and quickly open the back of the box truck. Trace and Rhys storm out in a military formation, their strongest fighters, Blade and Jett behind them.

Connor follows, staring in disgust.

“What the fuck is this?” he growls, his weapon trained on Garrett’s head.

He stumbles back, hands up. “I...I don’t know!”

I grab him by the collar, shoving him against the truck. “Did you tip them off? Did you fucking betray us, again?”

“No. I swear!”

Connor prowls the edges of the scene. “Makes no sense they’d torch the place themselves. Maybe the menthane dump behind it ignited everything?”

“There’s no way to know.” I shove Garrett away from me, and he crouches, holding his head.

Connor speaks quietly just to me. “Something’s not right. If this place had all those weapons we saw from the drone footage a few days ago...”

My guard back up, I glance around, piecing it together. “This whole complex would be leveled.”

“Someone had to have emptied the place,” Connor comes to the same conclusion as me.

We need to get our intel straight, but I’m rattled by the intense desire to beat the hell out of Garrett here and now. Christ, this bastard is my wife’s brother. She loves him even if he doesn’t deserve it.

“The Albanians are at war with the Italians,” I remind everyone. “A war we started with lies.”

I glare at Garrett and wonder what would he gain if he set this up. The guy looks ready to throw up.

“Everyone back in the fucking truck,” I order. “Trace, you drive. Garrett is coming with me.”

“The fire department is on their way,” Connor announces, checking his scanner. “Get the fuck out of here.”

“There’s a dirt road to the parkway through there.” I already disabled all the cameras in the area. “Go that way. I’m right behind you.”

Rhys, Trace, and Connor leap into the cab of the truck and drive off with Blade and Jett in the back once again with the door closed.

Garrett stands, watching his ride leave without him. Then it’s just us. He and I and a burning building. I grab his arm, my other hand still squeezing the gun. I could use it to make so many of my problems go away right now.

But I don’t...

“Let’s go.” My grip tightens on his arm.

Before I can say another word, Garrett blurts, “Are you going to divorce Lennox because of this? Because you didn’t get what you wanted?”

His question hits me in the chest. “Was that your plan? Burn down this place so I would leave her? Is your father already scheming to marry Lennox to someone else?”

Garrett shakes his head, looking stunned.

I exhale. No, he and his father wouldn’t come up with anything that devious.

Against the sound of the crackling flames and the splintering of beams inside the translucent shell of a warehouse, I get in his face.

Hissing, I say, my voice dripping with menace, “The joke’s on you and your old man if you did set this up. I will never let Lennox go. But you? You better watch your back. I’ve got eyes on you. And if I find out you had anything to do with this, you’ll wish you were never born.”