Page 125 of Thorns of Blood

“For fuck’s sake,” she mumbled. “I can hold my own, you know.”

“We know,” Cristiano grumbled. “But hold your own after we die. Until then…”

Yes, my brother was doing some major ass-kissing. But I had no time to dwell on it, because a military green Jeep with tinted paint appeared in front of us and came to a stop.

“Can you see who it is?” Lia whispered. “I can’t see shit through that tint.”

My eyes narrowed, and before I could answer my wife, the door opened, a familiar figure stepping out. Lia pushed her short frame between Romeo and me, glaring at the man with stubble, dark sunglasses, and salt-and-pepper head full of hair.

“Kian, you motherfucker?—”

I pulled her back, tucking her in closer to me and aiming my gun at Kian. At this moment, I wasn’t sure whether Kian was a friend or a foe.

“I didn’t know you were Albanian,” Cristiano hissed, pointing a gun at Kian. “I thought you were Brazilian.”

Lia’s gun was pointed at him too, her eyes flashing with fury that would make Titans proud.

“Put the damn guns down,” Kian instructed. “I don’t want the kids frightened.”

Lia froze, her eyes darting to the car, then back to him. “W-what? What kids?”

Kian issued a soft command to someone in the car, then made his way to us. His eyes were locked on Lia when he spoke, “I’ll give you one guess.”

“But Albanians?—”

Kian let out a dark chuckle, his eyes crinkling. “As you know, Perez and I didn’t have the same mother. Mine was Albanian.”

“Get the fuck out,” Romeo grumbled. “So you run the Albanian mafia?”

“Now I didn’t say that, did I?” Kian retorted.

An eerie feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Being head of the Cortes Cartel was power, but to head the Albanians on top of that was a superpower. Plus, it was a known fact that Kian had been collecting favors from a vast number of organizations and powerful people all over the globe.

“I don’t give a fuck what you run,” Lia said, taking a step forward, much to my dismay. I stepped behind her, keeping my gun aimed at the man who was a mystery. “I want to know where my kids are.”

Her voice cracked, so did my heart. She didn’t deserve any more pain after all she’d been through.

“They are here.” Kian tilted his chin toward the car. “And they are unharmed.”

Lia’s eyes locked longingly on the Jeep.

“You had them all this time?” I questioned. “That’s a pretty shitty move.”

“I kept them safe, just like you kept Amara safe,” Kian reasoned.

Lia’s eyes furrowed. “So they were your assurance that I’d give Amara back to her parents?”

“At first, no. They were just innocents that needed rescuing, and I was at the right place at the right time. I knew it wouldn’t be safe to reveal them as long as Sofia Volkov or Giovanni’s mother was alive. But once she was gone, yes… I kept waiting for you to reach out to Emory DiLustro on your terms.”

Surprise flooded Lia, her eyes going wild.

“If you’d told me—” She stared straight at the man, taking a step forward. She was significantly shorter than Kian, but the way she stood toe-to-toe, she appeared just as tall and strong. “You should have told me.”

“But I didn’t.”

“When you rescued me, you knew?” He nodded, and Lia’s lips curved into a bitter smile. “And yet you gave me useless information not to share.”

Kian let out a dark chuckle. “The Syndicator isn’t useless information. It’s the power. It’s what saved your children.”