Chapter 38

I'm shocked when Ranger tells me I'm with him for the exchange, rather than staying with the womenfolk. That night, when I saved his ass at the Andretti compound, must have had more of a lasting impression than I thought.

We gear up at the hotel. Maybe it's a motel? It has exterior entryways into each room, so whatever that falls under. I can never remember.

Laken tosses herself at me as soon as I'm in my tactical gear. She grabs the sides of my vest and legitimately climbs up my torso.

I chuckle, palming her ass over the leggings she's wearing. "It's sexy as fuck when you do that."

"You make my insides all melty." She slams her mouth to mine, wiggling against my chest. She pulls back slightly, and her lips brush my cheek. "Be safe, okay? I love you, and I need you to come back to me in one piece."

I growl, spinning and slamming her back against the wall as I devour her mouth all over again. It's hard to fight the fog enough to remember we don't have time for a quickie.

I peck a final kiss on her lips. "I love you too, firecracker. And I'll do my very best."

If heading to the Andretti mansion was nerve-racking, the trip to the meet-up location is downright disturbing. We stop seeing streetlights five minutes before the paved road ends.

"It feels strangely like they're leading us to slaughter." Grady chuckles. "I fucking love it. There won't be anyone around to hear them scream. We won't even need to dispose of the bodies."

Sometimes I wish I had the capacity to mentally compartmentalize the way Ranger and, apparently, Grady can.

"Pull the mask over his face and lock him up," Ranger says as the SUV comes to a stop.

I yank the black mask down over Grady's face, but he slaps my hand away when I try to click the cuffs closed. They're in the weird clicking phase before being locked into place.

"No."

"Got it," I grunt, moving to check the assault rifle hanging around my neck. Both thighs have ready-to-go handguns. This should be relatively simple.

"Two males. No visual on Lyra. One car," Kane says from the front seat. "Tell me they were dumb enough to only come two deep."

"That's the hope," Ranger says, tossing his door open.

"We'll be back for the two of you when we're ready." Kane throws his door open and pops out, slamming it loudly behind him.

The car lights and one old-as-fuck yard light on the front of the barn to our left provide the only lighting.

"Better lose that fear before the door pops open," Grady says, bumping his shoulder against mine. "I can smell it from under my mask."

My eyes cut to the side as I glare, but Grady can't see it because of the fabric. It does have eye cutouts, but hopefully, that won't give away that he's not Braxton.

"I'm just playing. I can't really scent your fear. But damn, man, do you ever wear deodorant?" Grady chuckles.

I snort. "You're such a dick."

"Yup, but you're finally out of your feelings. This is like a two on the difficulty scale."

"Let's hope so," I say, studying Ranger as he saunters toward the car without even a weapon in his hands.

Kane kneels a few feet away with his assault rifle aimed to give Ranger cover.

I can't tell if Ranger has unwavering faith that Kane will have him, or if the man is just completely incapable of experiencing fear.

There's some shouting back and forth that I can't quite understand.

Kane pops up and backs toward the driver's side front panel. He doesn't lower the weapon as he bangs on the metal to give me the signal to bring Grady out.

My door flies open, and I use it as cover to tug Grady from the car before tossing him into view first.

It's what they told me to do.

Grady chuckles, struggling to his feet from his knees.

"Whoa, what's with the guns?" Kane calls out, and my gaze pops up.

The guy on the right holds his gun to Lyra's head. Her hands are bound in front of her, and there's a gag in her mouth.

It throws me off, seeing how much she looks like Laken.

Jesus Christ.

They look eerily similar.

The guy on the left steps forward. "Show us his face. Why is it covered?"

Ranger shrugs. "He wouldn't shut up." He looks at me. "Bring him over here."

Kane moves back to his one-knee-down crouch as I tug Grady toward Ranger.

It's hard to keep from accidentally popping open his cuffs, since I know they aren't fully locked.

"On your knees," Ranger growls, grabbing Grady's shoulder and shoving him down.

We're only separated by ten feet, and seeing the abject terror on Lyra's face has my impulses going haywire.

The guy on the right slams the tip of his gun harder against Lyra's temple. "Do it now, or this deal is off."

"I'm increasingly confused as to why you're convinced you're in charge," Ranger says blandly. "But here you are."

Two things happen as Ranger rips the cover off Grady's head.

Grady hits his feet as both arms fling past him, and Kane takes one shot right after another.

It takes me an additional second to spot the daggers in each man's neck, which must have come from Grady. They've also got holes in their chests from Kane. How the fuck did Grady move that fast?

It's a whole lot of carnage as they drop to the ground.

"You inconsiderate assholes," Ranger growls. "I needed at least one of them alive for questioning. There is such a thing as taking a non-lethal shot!"

"Sorry, buddy." Grady chuckles, dropping the cuffs that still dangle around one wrist. "At least you don't have to tell your omega you fucked up her sister's rescue."

I finally get my shit together, striding toward Lyra. She screams, dancing around on her bare feet and trying to shake the blood off her face. At least, that's what I think she's doing.

"No!" Ranger barks. "I need a moment to speak with Miss Spencer."

"What?" I scoff, stopping dead in my tracks.

Ranger continues past me as Kane and Grady chat in the background.

"That was so fucking smooth," Grady says, laughing. "We make for a killer team."

Ranger's hand wraps around Lyra's throat as he lifts her in the air and walks her backward until she hits the side of the barn.

"Do you think we should intervene?" Kane asks from behind me.

"Nah, I'm not a real big fan of Lyra," Grady says. "I'm pretty sure they're just having a friendly chat, anyway."

Friendly chat?

He's as much of a lunatic as Ranger is.

"You owe your rescue to Laken," Ranger growls, the sound echoing around in the night air. "Unfortunately, you've used up every ounce of goodwill I possess. Let me make myself blatantly clear. You've burned every bridge available to you with your poor choices."

I take a few steps closer, trying to feel him out in the bond.

Lyra is still bound and gagged, but she starts to kick and tries to use her shoulders to push off the wall.

"You're at the point of no return." He quirks an eyebrow as she squirms in the air with her feet slamming against the barn wall, like she's desperately trying to find traction.

"Ranger," I growl, coming to a stop at his side. "That's enough. Put her on her feet."

He glances at me, clearly unimpressed, but he allows her to slide lower until her feet touch the ground. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. You either accept my offer and go to a new rehab—this time, on the West Coast—or you can slither away to live your life as you see fit. Either way, if you continue to emotionally torment my wife with your poor decision-making abilities, I will remove you from the equation completely."

He releases her, rolling his shoulders back.

I step forward, grab her wrists, and begin to work on the cloth binding them together. It's tougher than I expected, but Ranger slices the material with his knife before shoving the thing back into the sheath on his cargo pants.

"I'm Tanner." I smile as she rips off her gag. "Laken and I are bonded. It's good to see that you're okay."

She glares so effectively that it instantly reminds me of my omega. It must be a family trait. "Are you really going to stand by and listen to that psycho threaten me?"

"Lyra, long time, no see." Grady comes up to join us. "I'm almost feeling a sense of déjà vu. Have you decided if you'd like to visit the West Coast on Ranger's dime?"

"It really is a generous offer," Kane adds.

Lyra frowns, shaking her head. "I want to see my sister."

"Of course, you do," Ranger mutters petulantly.

"Come on." I'm desperate to get us the fuck out of here. "We'll take you to Laken."

Ranger rolls his eyes. "It'll be a few minutes. We need to collect the bodies and light the vehicle on fire."

I wave my hand at Lyra. "I'll get you settled in the SUV."

She nods, sliding between Grady and Kane. We head for the vehicle while the others handle the cleanup.

"Can you tell me if they had any allies or another team that might be on the way?"

"Not that I saw." She folds her arms over her chest. "They wanted Braxton back, so someone would stop blaming them for his disappearance."

"How did they find you?"

"They snatched me out of the parking garage in Chicago. I was just trying to get back into Laken's apartment…" She goes on, but I'm starting to see a running theme of taking zero accountability for her actions. Annika started a whole bunch of shit when she ran from the Andrettis, but she also stepped up and tried to make it right as soon as she realized the hell she caused.

I get the feeling Lyra isn't about to have an ah-ha moment.

I hold open the door to the SUV and nod for her to get in the back row.

Once she does, I take a seat in the middle and turn around to face her.

"I'm sure you've been through it. The hard part is that Laken has been too." I glance around, grabbing the blanket from the floorboard and tossing it in Lyra's lap. "I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we all care about your sister."

"Yeah," she replies, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "I guess I should say thank you for saving me."

"It's crazy how much you remind me of her." I laugh. "You're the first thing she asked about when they dragged her out of that trunk in Boston, and she's been worried about you ever since."

"I'm fine." She shrugs, glancing out the window.

"I'm sure you are, but I think you've got to start thinking long-term. Do you really want to scramble at every turn just to survive?"

She scoffs, and it's pretty clear this conversation is over.

I guess we'll see what happens.

At least we successfully wiped the final lingering pieces of the Andretti empire off the map.

That's a win in my book.