Page 49 of Their Stolen Obsession

I took one step forward. Sin followed my lead. He knew shit was aboutto get heated.

“She’s short. Comes to about here.” I leveled a hand against my chest. “With black hair and blond highlights. Has a scumbag for a fiancé.”

“Ex-fiancé. Liv belongs to us now,” Sin added.

Zane cursed.

“You two are here for her, huh?” Zane asked as he rubbed a hand over his jawline and glanced behind him. “I can help you get in.”

“How?” Sin asked, intrigued.

I kept my guard up.

“I work for Preston Pitrone. I know my way around the place,” Zane answered.

I didn’t trust Zane. Not yet. No matter how much I wanted to hope he was on our side, I needed more answers. Liv’s life was on the line.

“Why the fuck would you do that for us?” I asked, my chest puffed. “You’re with the enemy.”

Zane shook his head. “I’m undercover. I work for the good guys.”

I was still wary. “Bullshit.”

This could be Zane’s tactic, a deflection to distract us because we had a past with him. A personal connection no one else knew but us. He could use that to his advantage to ruin our mission.

I took two more steps forward until I was in Zane’s face. I needed to make him talk. Blood was essential, suffering and even death. I didn’t want to,but we had endured the worst pain of our lives without Liv, and we had to make the Pitrones hurt. We had to make them rot down to their core just as we had.

“Now wait a minute, Saint…” Sin cut in with an arm between us, facing me. “Let Adler finish. We owe him that much dignity.”

I grumbled, my teeth clenched. “Fine. Make it quick.”

“You haven’t changed, Sullivan. Always standing up for what you believe in. I’ve got mad respect for that.” Zane half grinned.

I huffed. “You got sixty seconds, Adler.”

Zane locked eyes with me and Sin. He knew he had to convince me more, but we were a package deal. Screw with one of us, fuck with us both.

“I’ve been flying under the radar for a year, and the Pitrone brothers have no idea I’m a cop. I’m corrupt as fuck, but I still have my badge.” Adler appeared serious. “But that’s a conversation for another time. Listen. Liv is in there, and I can help you get her out.”

Sin turned his full attention to Zane with his hand on his chest as he backed him up. I followed his lead and took my place beside my best friend. We were unyielding in the face of whatever was to come. I’d hate to kill a man I once considered a friend, asoldier I respected, but I’d do it in a heartbeat for Sin. We would do anything for our trapped girl.

Zane had a tall stature. He was as giant as us as our eyes searched one another’s, seeking a true understanding. We wanted to come to an agreement, but we had to be sure Zane wasn’t playing with us.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “You’d help us. Just like that?”

Zane gave a brief nod. “In a fucking heartbeat.”

“You’d blow your cover for us?” Sin asked a valid question.

“You know me, fellas, I don’t play by the rules.” A wide grin spread across Zane’s face. “Besides, I’m down for some double-crossing. These assholes have it coming. Especially that sick motherfucker Preston Pitrone.”

As vigilant as I was, Zane was dead serious, and I dropped my guard. All the walls I had built up to protect us were gone. He understood our mission for vengeance and the thirst for blood. He was as trustworthy as he was all those years ago, and he hadn’t changed that side of him.

I sighed, blew out a breath, and slapped Zane on the back. “You had me worried I’d have to kill you.”

Zane winked at me. “Not if I beheaded you first.”

I chuckled, squeezed his shoulder, and pulled Zane in close. “I’d haunt you like a motherfucker.”