Page 97 of Thorns of Silence

“Is everything okay?” Cesar asked, sensing my mood. I nodded, although nothing seemed to be fucking okay. “You think your brother’s taking them to the Philippines?”

Reina, yes. Phoenix, no.

But it was pointless to guess about it. I’d work through the process of elimination. If Phoenix wasn’t here and Reina was, then I’d question Reina about Father’s death and her sister’s location.

My private jet landed in Jolo and I disembarked with Cesar behind me. The hot temperature forced me to shed off my blazer and roll up the sleeves of my white dress shirt.

My usual vehicle waited for me along with a few of Amon’s guards I usually used when I came to visit him in the Philippines. Darius and River, two of Kian’s men, were here too. It would seem we were all following leads.

“Dante,” one of the guards greeted me.

“Alexander.” He was one of the expats Amon found that had no connections to the underworld. Ex-military. Efficient. Married to a local woman. Sometimes you wanted men like that on your payroll. They just wanted a paycheck and didn’t concern themselves with the politics of the mafia.

“Have you seen Amon?” His furrowed brow was my answer. But I knew he was here, because this was where Mother’s location pinpointed after jumping all over the globe. It was too much of a coincidence not to follow.

“Do me a favor, Alexander.”

“Sir?”

“Ask the border patrol if they’ve seen Amon, and if so, who was he with.”

As he headed to talk to the border patrol, I turned my attention to Darius. “You following me, stalker?”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s on your résumé, not mine.”

Touché.“You’re just jealous your stalking skills aren’t up to par.” He better not be stalking my dandelion or else I’d end him. I stared out into the distance, the afternoon sun simmering on the blacktop. “Were you able to get through to Reina or Amon?” I asked.

“No. You?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have a good feeling.”

“Ditto.” He brought out his gun and checked his bullets. I had a full magazine too.

“If you two girls are done playing, let’s get to Reina,” River announced. “If I have to listen to Darius’s whining for one more day, I’m going to lose my shit.”

I grinned, liking River a whole lot more already.

Alexander returned. It only took two bribes to get confirmation of Amon passing through here an hour ago with a woman. One blonde woman.

Fuck.

As disappointment sunk to the pit of my stomach, I realized that all along I had been hoping not to be right. Three years and my obsession with the oldest Romero daughter had only manifested itself.

Nix—my tough dandelion—was the sole owner of my desires. I even attempted to search for another woman to fuck, but my cock had reverted to its old habits, refusing interest in any other pussy. Every time I even thought about Phoenix, the little fucker jumped to life, straining against my pants.

I swiftly slid into the back of the car, Cesar next to me while Alexander took his spot behind the wheel with his associate in the passenger seat. River and Darius took the next car.

“We have the ammo in the back,” Alexander stated as he started the car. “We just picked it up and were transporting it to the compound.”

The feeling of doom I’d had since I’d started this journey just intensified.

As Alexander drove out, I kept my gaze sharp on the surroundings. There was only one way from the airport to Amon’s compound, and nothing ever happened here, but I was on edge.

The next moment, I knew exactly why.

The sound of explosions and screeching tires echoed in the air. The four of us went on high alert. I flicked a glance in the rearview mirror and spotted River and Darius coming to a screeching halt.

A stream of bullets sounded in the distance and it was then I spotted them. Amon. Reina. Crawling to each other, filthy and bloodied, surrounded.