Page 4

Present day

It was an extension of me—powerful steel with a multilayered interior. I wanted to test this baby out with Santari—and I would. But the ride from the showroom floor was mine alone, as I needed to bond with the machine before I whipped her around on it.

The vibration in my pocket came from my cell phone, and I tapped the earpiece to connect the Bluetooth speaker.

“I’ll call you back in five.”

“Meet me at the house, now!”

The order came from Storm. I’d had just about enough of his shit. He knew I hated fuckin’ orders. And yet, the nightmares plaguing him wouldn’t let him rest.

“This better be fuckin’ good.”

“It’s San!”

His response held fear that threatened my soul. Storm feared nothing, so this made my gut tighten, and my jaw lock.

“What about her?”

When he spoke, his voice was a phantom hallow.

“She’s been taken.”

Terror hit my soul like a tormenting devil, and I screamed into the line.

“What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“Meet me now!”

I disconnected the line, and the Mercedes AMG lurched as I cranked back on the throttle.

The tires squealed on the pavement when I cut through traffic, narrowly missing an SUV.

At red lights, I sliced between cars with my head down and focused on getting to The Omega House to find out what the fuck was going on.

Tires screeched behind me, and I glanced in my side mirror to seeCruz’sHellcat burning rubber as he swerved into my lane.We clocked each other simultaneously, and by the way he rode my ass, I knew Storm had called him, too.

Seven minutes later we whipped into theestate’sdriveway together, parking side by side, and launched toward the house.

“The fuck’s going on?” Cruz barked.

“I’mabout to kill this motherfucker,that’swhat.”I shoved through the door where Storm paced the grand foyer, his hands trembling. This was a man who never showed weakness reduced to visible trembles.

“Where the fuck is she?”Cruz snarled.

Storm’s eyes were wild and unfocused. “Gone.”

I stalked across the floor in three strides, grabbedStorm’scollar, and slammed him against the wall.“What the fuck does that mean, Storm?”

“I fucked up. Fuck. I fucked up.” Storm’s voice cracked.

Cruz yanked me off Storm, but his own rage was barely contained. He pointed at Storm.“Start talking. Now.”

Storm put some space between us and began pacing again.

“The job we did with Rev.”Storm’swords tumbled out.“I lost my university access keycard that night. Ididn’trealize until later.I’ve been looking everywhere, retracing steps?—”

“Yourfuckin’access key? The one that gets you into every part of the building?

”I lunged again, but Cruz tightened his grip on me.

“You’vebeen searching for weeks without telling us?

”My insanity was kicking in. I could feel the violence in my soul bellowing to the surface.

My skin warmed, and I balled my fists, aching for brutality, throbbing with hostility.

“Ididn’t think…” he paused. “I thought it was misplaced, not in the hands of anyone who would bring harm to her – or any of us. But this afternoon, when I got to my office, something was waiting for me.”Storm pulled out the missing access keycard with a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. “This was on my office desk.”

I snatched the note, and Cruz read over my shoulder:

“Found something you lost, Professor. What else might you lose?”

“Who the fuck wrote this?”Cruz barked as I cut my eyes from the paper back to Storm.

“Ihave nofuckin’idea. But it must be someone connected to our hit.It’sthe only thing that makes sense.”

I jerked out of Cruz’s grip, and my fist connected withStorm’sjaw, sending him staggering.“You stupid motherfucker!”

Cruz caughtStorm’snext stumble, pinning him to the wall.“How long was she alone?”

Storm angrily pushed back against Cruz.“Get off me, nigga!”

“Force me, motherfucker!” Cruz spat.

“Look, I knowy’allare pissed, and you have every right to be, but neither of you motherfuckers will get another chance to lay hands on me,” he angrily pushed at Cruz’s hold, “You understand?”

“Let him go, Cruz,” I snarled.“I want him, one on one.”

“Oh yeah, fuck you too, Titan!”

“Let him go!”

Cruz released him and slammed his palm against the wall next toStorm’shead, then barricaded himself between us.

“The fuck out my way.”

“We’re not fighting!”

“Yes, the fuck we are!”I grabbedCruz’sshoulders, and he grabbed me. The strength between us was the force of a stone wall, neither able to overpower the other.

“Stop this shit!” Storm screamed.

Cruz and I took our hands off each other and turned on him, nostrils flaring with rage burning between us.

“Every minute counts.We’vegot to find San!”

“I can’t fuckin’ believe you let someone take her!” I barked.

Cruz cracked his neck, his voice a menacing growl when he spoke.“How long was she alone?”

“She works on campus.She’sbeen alone most of the day. But I’ve been texting her own and off all day.”

“How can you be sure it was her you were texting?” Cruz asked.

“And more importantly,” I added. “Do you have any idea how longshe’sbeen gone? Was it all day? Midday? What?” I shouted.

“It’sbeen less than an hour now. I saw…” His eyes widened and his color paled.

Cruz grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “You saw what, motherfucker?!”

“When I got the note, I went looking for her. Her car is still on campus grounds – her personal items are still in her office. I made security show me the cameras. She’s there. I saw them take her.”

“Fuck!”I tightened my fist and worked overtime not to swing at him again.

Cruz paced like a caged animal, and while wedidn’twant to fight amongst each other, Storm had put us in a position to take his head off his shoulders.

Cruz stopped suddenly and turned back to Storm.“Whydidn’tyou tell us your access keycard was missing?”

“Ididn’trealize it was left at the scene. I thoughtI’dfind it later but became restless because something felt off. I knewI’dfucked up somewhere, andthat’swhat’sbeen keeping me up at night.”

My nostrils flared.“Why the fuck would you bring your keycard to a hit, Storm?You’resmarter than that!”

“I’dplanned to swing by the school later that night, and I meant to leave the card in the truck, but Imust’vekept it on my person because when I searched for it, Icouldn’tfind it.”

“Santari is your main priority.You’veknown all this time that your keycard was missing.You’veknown something was off, yet youdidn’tkeep your eyes on her when she needed you most, and for that, I should snap yourfuckin’neck.”

“Titan—”

“You had one job, motherfucker,”I continued, ignoringCruz’scaution.“Andthat’sto protect her at all costs!”My next words came out in a snarl.“Instead, you let your mistake walk right in and take her.”

Storm’s head dropped. “I know.”

“You know?”Cruz laughed, the sound echoing ominously from his throat.“Oh, he knows, Titan. That makes it all better.”

I gritted my teeth as my mind cycled through scenarios. This was the worst possible thing that could happen. Santari was at the mercy of whoever this fucker was, and her words from the previous day’s came back to haunt me.

“You can’t protect me from everyone.”

My gut tightened, my shoulders tensed, and a knot formed in my throat.

What if they beat her, tortured her, raped her?

Bile rose in my throat as her face filled my thoughts.

I blinked and her face changed to her brother’s – Rev.

Blood spilled from his gut as he grunted and took his last breath.

Every muscle in me clenched and my jaw locked.

Santari was right. I couldn’t shield Rev.

And I couldn’t keep her safe. He was gone, and so was she – by the hands of our enemies.

How could I call myself her protector when I had failed to… .

“Titan!”

I blinked and cut my eyes at Cruz and Storm, staring at me with dark, narrowed eyes.

“Youdidn’thear me calling you, nigga? We need your head in the game. Snap out of it now!”

My footsteps took me across the room to a community computer station.

I tapped along the keys, entering the dark web, where I could break the rules and gain access to theuniversity'ssecurity system.

The security feed loaded, and multiple screens appeared from different angles of the university grounds.

“Which building?” I asked, fingers hovering over the keys.

“Anderson Hall. Administrative building. Second floor.” Storm moved closer. “Her office is near mine.”

I typed in the location parameters, rewinding through the footage. The timestamp showed two forty-seven when Santari walked down the hall, her hips swaying in that fitted pencil skirt that ignited my libido. She disappeared into her office.

“There.” Cruz pointed to a man in a suit entering the frame at three fifteen.

The man knocked on Santari’s door. She opened it, and her body language instantly changed.

“Sound?” Cruz demanded.

I shook my head, scanning through more angles. “No audio.”

The suit grabbed her collar and dragged her into the hall then pressed a gun to her side.

Santari fought – landing a solid right hook that made pride surge through me even as rage clouded my vision.

But then a second man appeared behind her with a cloth.

He said something that caused fear to ignite her eyes.

She nodded then walked with them out of the frame.

I clicked to outside cameras and watch them cover her face with a cloth then load her into a black SUV with dealer plates.

“Chloroform.” Storm’s voice was hollow. “It’s a professional job.”

“Run those plates.” Cruz was already on his phone. “I’ll have my street contacts watching for that vehicle.”

I expanded the view to the parking lot cameras, tracking the SUV’s exit route. “They turned north on Collins.”

“There are multiple traffic cameras along there,” Storm said. “We can?—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snarled, not taking my eyes off the screen. I drew in a breath. I knew it wasn’t the time to fight, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to break Storm’s jaw.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, accessing the city’s traffic system. The SUV appeared on three cameras before disappearing into a blind spot near the port.

“They’re keeping her close to water.” I stood, and my mind drew a mental blueprint of the area. “There are warehouses, shipping containers, and abandoned buildings with dock access.”

“I’ve got contacts at the docks,” Cruz said. “I’ll make some calls and see who’s noticed any unusual activity.”

Storm moved to another computer, pulling up files. “I’ll dig through everything on our mission with Rev to see if it leads me to someone - any fuckin’ one.”

I spoke through clenched teeth. “Good. I’ll take the north side of the port and work my way down. Cruz, you start south and move up. Storm, coordinate from here - feed us any intel you find.”

“They’re professionals,” Cruz said, checking his weapon. “They won’t leave obvious trails.”

“Then we make our own trails and led them to us.” I headed for the door. “We find who has her, then paint the streets red.”

Storm’s voice was steel when he spoke. “I started this. Let me help end it.”

“You didn’t start shit. The motherfucker who came for us and took our brother started it. And you will help us end it.” I turned back to him. “Find us a target. When we locate her, we’ll need you for extraction.”

Cruz fell into step beside me as we headed out. Storm was already working the computers behind us. “If they touch her...”

“They already have by taking her. Let’s make them beg for death.”

Two engines roared to life in the driveway - my Mercedes, Cruz’s Hellcat, and Storm’s voice was in our earpieces as we split off in different directions.

Somewhere in this city, Santari was waiting.

And the stupid motherfuckers who had taken her didn’t know they’d just invited hell into their homes.