Kyle

The information came in five minutes ago. Adonis’s facial recognition system spotted Walker entering a convenience store at a gas station on the outskirts of Mexico City. From there, they tracked him to a house on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
I woke Raffi up when I left the room, and now he was contacting one of our former teammates, Paige O’Leary, who had served with us and now worked as a private pilot. We’d need her services if we wanted to reach Mexico City before the three of them managed to slip away again.
I hesitated in front of Seth’s room. I didn’t want to wake Brooke if she was still sleeping, but when I heard her voice, even though I couldn’t make out what she was saying, a weight lifted off my shoulders. Seeing her unconscious in the youngest’s arms earlier had made all my fears surge to the surface. Even after understanding what had happened, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had failed her again.
I knocked on the door, and the conversation on the other side stopped.
" Seth?"
" What is it?" the impatience in his voice made me think I was interrupting something, and I couldn’t hold back a smug smile. See how it feels, Seth?
" We found them." The smile vanished. " We need to go now."
" We’re already getting ready," he said.
Brooke was the first to come out, and my arms wrapped around her, pulling her to me. Her sweet scent was the final piece to calm all the anxiety I’d felt earlier. She hugged me back and whispered:
" I’m okay."
" I know, I just missed you," I replied. She pulled back slightly so I could see her eyes roll.
" You saw me less than 12 hours ago."
" And it felt like an eternity," I shot back simply. She stood on tiptoe and gave me a quick kiss.
" Where?" my brother asked, and the sense of urgency came rushing back. Every time we found a lead on those three bastards, we were always too late, missing them by mere hours.
" Mexico. Raffi is already arranging transport with O’Leary. We’re leaving in half an hour."
" I’ll get ready," the reply surprised me because it came from the blonde at my side. She must be trying to give me a heart attack.
" Brooke, don’t you think it’s better to stay home?" Seth said. " After today."
" It’s *because* of today that I want to go. I can’t stay home again, waiting to hear whether all my boyfriends—" My heart skipped at the title. "—are okay, if they’re going to come back safe to me. I can’t handle the stress and anguish of not knowing. And how safe is it to leave me behind with a stalker after me?"
" The house is secure, Brooke," I replied. " We’ve increased security since the threats started, and after it became clear you have a stalker, we tripled the original security."
I wasn’t sure which of us I was trying to reassure and convince.
" You don’t understand what it’s like to wait, staring at that door for hours." She gestured toward the entrance downstairs. " Every second turns into an hour. My brain keeps conjuring a thousand scenarios, each worse than the last. I won’t be able to take it this time. Not today."
Her eyes met Seth’s, and a silent understanding passed between them, making the youngest nod in agreement.
I held her hands in mine, drawing her attention back to me.
" I can’t put you in danger, Brooke. I can’t take that risk."
" What makes you think I’m willing to risk one of you? Or worse, all three? But I never asked for a team to be sent in your place," she shot back quickly. " And you could’ve, right? Hades’ Men has the resources. But this is personal, isn’t it?" The blonde stepped away from me, pointing from me to Seth.
Of course it was personal. The cowardly bastards didn’t have the guts to face me and my brothers head-on to get the revenge they thought they deserved. No. They decided to drag an innocent into the middle, they ordered the kidnapping of the woman I love, tortured her, and for that, they would pay in blood.
" O’Leary’s already on the way," Raffi announced, joining us. " We need to leave soon. Why aren’t you ready?"
" How are you, babygirl?" he asked, approaching her and kissing the top of her head.
" I’m better, and I’ll get changed so we can go," she declared, and Raffi looked from Brooke to me, then to Seth.
" You’re going?" he asked hesitantly.
" Brooke, I understand your concern," I began, and her determined expression faltered. A glimpse of the desperation she worked so hard to hide seemed to slip through. " We’re trained, we’ll be fine. They’re not on our level."
" You can’t keep me locked in here."
" You’re not a prisoner," Raffi replied.
" Then why are we still here wasting time? I thought you were in a hurry."
" Because it’s not that simple, Brooke," Seth explained.
My brothers turned their attention to me, and our girlfriend didn’t miss it. She placed her hands on her hips and arched a brow. I felt like my body was being pulled in two directions: my protective side wanted to keep her home at all costs. But the other part—the one that always gave her everything she asked for—wanted to give in.
I rubbed my face. Fucking hell, was I actually considering taking Brooke into the field? Not necessarily. She said she wanted to go, but she didn’t necessarily have to be part of the operation.
" Like Raffi said, you’re not a prisoner, but it’s complicated. The situation calls for caution." Brooke opened her mouth to protest, but I raised a hand, asking her to let me continue. " But if you’re truly set on going..."
" I am," she interrupted me.
" Then you have to promise you’ll do everything we say." My brothers muttered their approval and nodded. " No matter what’s happening, if one of us tells you to hide, you hide. If we say run, you turn around and run as fast as you can."
" Okay," she agreed quickly.
" I need you to promise, Sunshine."
" I promise."
" Then let’s go. We’re already late."