Chapter 4

Tanner tosses open the door to my hotel room, stomping in with several duffel bags. "Listen, I slept on the floor last night in Annika's room, but I can't spend another night listening to the five of them fuck." He refers to my sister by her new name of Annika, but I'm afraid she'll always be Sparrow to me.

A shiver of disgust slides down my spine. "Do you want to die?"

He chuckles. "Not really, but at this point, it might be preferable to spending another night in that tiny-ass hotel room. Come on, let me stay with you."

"No," I say without looking up from the schematics I'm studying. "Rent your own room if the others are full."

"Come on, man." Tanner drops his bags on the bed next to the door. "I don't snore. You'll barely even know I'm here."

Sparrow knows how much I enjoy solitude. I believe she may be punishing me for something. She grew braver during the years we were apart, especially about testing my patience.

I spent three years searching for her, and I am happy that she's alive. She was also completely safe the entire time, making me annoyed I wasted so many resources on trying to retrieve her.

I've been told most people would be relieved to know their sister was safe.

I might, if I could experience that particular emotion. Mostly, I'm perturbed that she returned with pure chaos at her side. If her pack of alphas wasn't enough to test my patience, one of her men came with Tanner.

The youthful alpha may have worked security for mob boss Canton Forbes, but having Canton's trust does not equate to having earned mine.

Sparrow calls him Beefcake, and the name seems apt enough. All brawn, very little brains, is the impression I've gained of him since meeting.

"Need any help with that?" Tanner asks, leaning over my shoulder.

"Space, Tanner." I rip the Smith Wesson from my thigh holster and aim it at his throat. "Give me mine, or I'll teach you how I break bad habits."

"Yeah, they said you were crazy," he mutters, spinning around and heading back to the bed he placed his things on. "Do me a favor and dial it back a few notches. We're both on the same team. I'm an extra body to help you rescue Laken Spencer."

I sigh, studying the plans for the Andretti mansion.

If only it was that simple.

Tanner plays an obnoxiously loud game on his phone for so long that I pick out his location in my basement. If we were in Virginia now, he would already be down there. Since we're in Boston, he gets a bit of respite until we arrive.

After a while, he starts complaining he's starving, but I have no idea who he's speaking to, since we're the only two people in the room.

He eventually realizes I'm ignoring him and grabs his key before leaving.

I exhale in pure relief, enjoying the silence as my brain processes the information I have.

That peace doesn't last long.

The door once again opens, but this time, Maverick and Gunner come inside.

My eyes roll as the two massive German Shepherds jump onto my bed like they have the right.

I vaguely miss the days when they were puppies.

They feared me then. Even making eye contact could force a whine from the furry pair.

I'm not sure where I went wrong in asserting my dominance.

Everyone is testing my patience these days.

Perhaps it's time I remind them who I really am.

The humans.

Not the canines.

The thought nearly makes me chuckle.

I do love animals.

Unfortunately, they rarely like me.

It could be because I have a strict no-pets-on-the-furniture policy, but in general, I prefer critters to humans. There's a purity there that I've never found in humanity.

However, I have a physical aversion to animal hair sticking to my clothing in chunks.

"Those beasts have no manners." I gesture to the canines in question.

"They have more manners than you do." Maverick snorts, taking a seat on the bed Tanner attempted to claim. "They smell better most days too."

"We just drove four hundred miles with the pair of them whining in the back seat." Gunner tosses himself down on my bed, completely ignoring that he's now going to be covered in dog hair. "How long until we have to move? They're going to need to be fed and run off some of the energy they built up on the drive if we want them focused."

Nova and Haze tilt their heads like they know what those words mean.

Maverick and Gunner belong to the dogs.

All four are part of my team at Assurance Security.

I've managed to train a great many new hires, but very few actually stick around to work with me.

I used to find it tedious, but recently, I've found the convenience in all of it.

Only the toughest stick around for long, meaning the weak weed themselves out fairly quickly.

I am a fan of natural selection, after all.

"How long will it take to manage their necessities?" I ask, focusing back on the schematics of the compound.

"Not more than an hour," Maverick says, shrugging.

I nod. "Handle that swiftly. We won't be heading to the warehouse district. I have another plan in mind."

Assurance Security is the perfect cover for the work we do on the side. The owner is a former spy for one of those secret service agencies the government likes to pretend doesn't exist. The upside is that he has a lot of high-level military connections. The local police also tend to be much more forgiving when they realize the company has such a stellar reputation.

I'm counting on many things to go my way, but I've played out every possible scenario in my mind until I'm confident I've accounted for every possible variant.

We need to get Laken back safely and neutralize Andretti's men. If all goes well, I would love to snag Lucien Andretti for my basement.

If not, I have three of his top enforcers in mind.

They'll do, in a pinch.

We need information on Lucien's business dealings. If I can't extract it from him directly, then I'll need to locate those who can possibly be of use.

I type on my phone, ensuring several moving pieces stay mobile and away from where they think they're going.

My sister altruistically offered herself up as a trade to Lucien Andretti to get Laken Spencer back.

Unfortunately for our new brother-sister bond, I'm not actually willing to put Sparrow at risk. Partially because she's the only family I have left, but equally because it's safer for everyone if she's not involved.

My sister and her other two alphas will only be told the details of our operation once all major threats have been eliminated.

I strategically placed myself in an SUV with the two packmates of Sparrow's that I can trust to ruthlessly and efficiently clean house.

Despite what Tanner implied while pouting, I do trust certain individuals. Mostly those I've worked with previously or trained myself, but in my line of work, it's a dangerous endeavor to go into a mission next to someone you don't trust implicitly.

If Tanner would like to gain my favor, he can help distract my sister and keep her safe once she arrives. If all goes well, Lucien will be neutralized and Laken will be safely recovered before Sparrow ever realizes the plan changed.

The mission goes smoothly, except it becomes blatantly obvious how much of a coward Lucien Andretti truly is. He and his brothers viciously murdered my parents, but now that it's time for him to be introduced to his karma, he chooses to hide.

How can anyone call themselves a leader when they won't fight alongside their men?

No one will ever find me issuing an order that I wouldn't follow through with on my own. In some cases, it's impossible for me to be in two places at once, but that's an entirely different situation than hiding in a safe room and expecting my men to fight my battles.

My disgust rises as the minutes tick by.

I specifically asked my team to snag any of Lucien's upper-level lieutenants and enforcers that they could grab without risking their own lives.

I leave two men guarding the door to Lucien's safe room and stride out the door to meet my men in the yard.

It's time I have a conversation with Lucien's associates.

Let's see how they feel about protecting their leader when they realize he quite literally ran and hid.

It's a quick trek through the house before I step out into the cool night air. I come around the corner to find an AR-15 pointed directly at my skull. Perhaps the dead bodies on the trip gave me a false sense of security.

I reach for my Smith Wesson, but a knife slices across the man's throat from behind before he can pull the trigger.

"That was unexpected." I blink, tilting my head.

"Fuck, man." It's Tanner, based on the voice alone. I can't see his face, due to the mask, but the tone is unmistakable. "That was close. I thought for sure he was going to get that shot off."

I gesture to my face. "No mask. He assumed I was an ally. By the time my face registered as unfamiliar, you were handling the situation."

"Yeah, what the fuck? You're supposed to be in a mask. I could have shanked you." Tanner bends down, burying his knife in the man's heart before wiping off the blade and shoving it into the holster on his belt. He proceeds to rip the assault rifle off the corpse.

"Come along," I say to avoid his question.

The masks are a necessity because I have five or six different groups all working in tandem. It quickly became apparent that they wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe. The masks alleviated that problem, but I'm the one face everyone on our side should recognize.

Also, I don't like the scratchy fabric. I've yet to find one my sensory issues don't find repulsive.

"Does this mean you trust me?" Tanner asks, jogging to keep up with my stride.

I scoff. "Don't push your luck."

If anything, he may have just saved himself from spot number three in my basement once I finally make it back to Virginia.