Page 149 of Thorns of Silence

Sasha and I winced and then reluctantly disentangled from each other, still poised to attack.

Nix smiled shakily. “They’re playing rough. Boys do that sometimes when they’re feeling silly.”

Judging by the look in her sapphire eyes, Skye didn’t believe her. Then the lights went off and blackness fell upon us. My phone started beeping, signaling the central control system had been penetrated.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. Moonlight streamed through the windows, and soon more shapes appeared in the distance.

“You expecting more men?” I asked, staring at the dark shadow on my left.

“They’re not ours,” Vasili hissed.

“Come on,” I said. “I’ll fight you later, but let’s make one thing clear, you’re not taking my daughter from me.”

“She’smydaughter.”

“Shut the fuck up, you two.” I wasn’t sure if it was Alexei or Vasili who’d grunted those words, but we did as instructed. I whispered instructions to the men, telling them to follow me as I had the cabin’s blueprint mapped out.

We crouched behind some low shrubbery when we finally got outside. Vasili pointed to the far left corner of the woods where five men were positioned, guns at the ready. They hid behind a massive rock that I’d been meaning to remove for years because of this exact reason. Skye loved playing on it since we arrived, so it had fallen to the bottom of my priority list.

We raised our guns and fired. “Dante, you better be alive, you motherfucker, or Reina will have my balls.”

I froze. “Amon?”

“Who the fuck else would come to save your ass?”

Cesar and I were quick to think on our feet. We both turned and aimed our guns at the Nikolaev brothers.

“Well, this has been the quickest stab in the back I’ve ever experienced,” Alexei drawled, annoyance flaring in his icy tone.

“Ditto.”

“What else can you expect from Italians,” Sasha interjected, aiming his gun at me.

My brother had the Nikolaev men surrounded. He flashed them all a smile. “Gentlemen.”

“Fuck off,” Sasha deadpanned.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Considering you’re on my brother’s property.” Amon took a few more steps, and to my surprise, Luca DiMauro and Aiden stood by him.

“He snatched my kid,” Sasha gritted, clearly fed up. “And you two stand by this fucker?”

“I had a debt to repay,” Luca explained, his hands casually in his pockets. “Aiden too. It’s some two-for-one kind of shit.”

Amon helped Luca’s wife several years back, and it would seem he wasted his favor on me. Jesus, I’d owe my brother big-time for the remainder of my days.

“That’s right. It’s shit.” Sasha glared at him. “Don’t ask me to save your ass ever again.”

Luca shrugged. “A debt’s a debt.”

A small shadow appeared behind me, and judging by the men’s expressions, I knew who it was.

Nix came to stand next to me, Skye’s arms wrapped around her neck, her face buried in her mother’s hair.

“Put the gun down, Dante.” The voice she barely ever let anyone hear pierced through my heart and told me exactly how scared she was. She’d rather let strangers hear her speak than put Skye down and sign. I didn’t move. I couldn’t let anything happen to them. She closed the distance between us and handed me my daughter. “Hold her.”

Once my arms were full, Nix’s eyes found Amon and then darted behind him. “Is my sister here?”

He shook his head. “No, I thought it was probably best that she didn’t witness this.”