Chapter three

Ihave to take a piss, but these cocksuckers won't let me out of this cold-ass room. I'm tempted to whip my dick out and do my business in the corner.

I glance around the room, looking for cameras, but don't see any. Just a two-way mirror that tells me someone is behind the glass…watching me. I hear the soft hum from the lights above me and nothing else.

After the cops arrived on the scene, they brought me in for questioning. One of the cops read me my rights and cuffed me like a criminal. Maybe I am since it was my gun that shot him in the head.

Ask me if I give a fuck.

I didn't hesitate to take Frankie and his guys out after seeing Shorty and Tia tied up and looking lifeless on the dirty floor. An image that will forever haunt my ass.

When we heard the sirens, I didn't want my guys to get caught in the crossfire, so I forced them to leave, much to their protest. But I didn't give them a choice because only one of us had to take the blame. And I wouldn't regret it.

The door opens, and Detective Carter enters the room with his partner. The other man throws a file on the steel table and sits across from me. He crosses his arms and stares at me as if trying to intimidate me. It's hilarious if he thinks it's going to work.

Newsflash—it doesn't.

"Why were you at the warehouse?" Douchebag asks.

I don't respond but give him a bored look.

He smirks.

I smirk back.

Fuck this guy.

He leans forward and opens the file.

"Two men are dead, two injured, and two girls beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, and left for dead."

I freeze; not even an avalanche could force me to move.

Did he say they were sexually assaulted? I turn to Carter for confirmation, but he stares at the photos with a pained expression.

"Why were you there, Sebastian?" Douche asks again.

I face him but clamp my mouth shut.

"We know you weren't the only one there. There is no way in hell you took out all those guys."

I pull on the cuffs as they cut into my skin.

When he doesn't get a response, he pulls out his phone and dials a number.

"Bring it in," he says to the person on the other line and hangs up. He gives me another smug smirk.

The door opens, and a lanky cop hands a clear plastic bag to Douche. He tosses it on the table. "Do you know what this is?"

I shrug, not giving a shit; I already know what it is.

My gun.

"You must be the dumbest criminal I've ever met, leaving evidence behind." He scoffs.

"Sebastian, how did you know the girls would be at the warehouse?" Carter finally speaks.

This time I break my silence and turn to Carter. "One of Frankie's guys gave up that information."

"And how did he do that?" Douche leans forward and cocks his head to the side.

"I didn't have to do anything. He willingly gave it up."

Total. Fucking. Lie.

"Just like that, huh?"

I give him a nod.

"Two guys are unaccounted for."

What?

My head shoots up. "What do you mean, unaccounted for?"

Hector and his guys scoured the area and told me they didn't find anything or anyone else.

Goddamnit. Did we miss something?

Carter clears his throat. "One of our officers saw movement at the back of the warehouse. We heard gunshots, and by the time we got to him, he was fading away but not before he told us about the two men who escaped."

"What the fuck! And you didn't catch them?" I stand up from my seat, pulling on the cuffs. Panic starts to form deep in my gut. If these guys were at the warehouse, then they could be after Shorty.

Goddamnit to hell.

"Sit down!" Douchebag snaps.

"Davis," Carter warns his partner, then turns to me. "Seb, please sit down."

Without saying a word, I do as I'm told because Carter is good people.

"By the time we had other officers search the area, they were long gone. We were hoping you would help us out."

"We only saw four guys when we entered the building. We didn't see anyone else," I say to Carter.

Carter pulls out mugshots from the file and lays them in front of me. "We know for a fact these guys run with Frankie and Christian. Do any of them look familiar?"

I slide the photos closer and notice six of the faces have a black X marked over them. I'm assuming that means they're dead since four of the six are the ones we took out. I glance at each unmarked picture but don't recognize the two men.

I shake my head and slide the photos back to Carter. "No, I don't know who these guys are," I say.

Carter nods.

"That's bullshit. You're related to two of these men, for Christ's sake," Davis spits pointing to the photo.

"No, it's not bullshit. I'm not a fucking gangbanger asshole. Just because we're related by blood doesn't mean shit. My real family is lying in a fucking hospital bed fighting for their goddamn lives. You don't know shit about me, so don't assume otherwise."

"Oh, but I do know you," Davis says with a sneer.

"Davis, stand down," Carter warns.

"You don't think I read your rap sheet?" Davis pulls a document from the file and reads it to me. "Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, probation violation, and…attempted rape."

He tosses the document toward me.

"I was cleared of that charge," I hiss. "She was a cracked-out whore looking for a dick to suck in exchange for drugs. When I told her to fuck off, she cried rape."

"And now murder will be added to the list."

I throw my head back and laugh. "Seriously?" Leaning forward, I glare back at Davis, trying to control the urge to rip the fucker's head off his body.

"It was self-defense. So go fuck yourself." I lean back and grin.

Davis's eyes burn with rage, nostrils flared. He looks like a rabid hellhound, waiting to be unleashed. I keep my eyes on him, not showing him how much his arrogance and bullshit are affecting me.

"How did you know Frankie would be at the factory? Huh?"

I remain silent.

He scratches his chin. "Did you give the girls up to trap him?"

"Davis…" Carter says with a threatening tone.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I sneer, but the asshole just smiles.

He fucking smiles.

A wave of violent fury rises inside me.

"No, wait." He snaps his finger like a lightbulb has gone off. "I bet you fucked them both, didn't you? Didn't want Frankie to—"

"You sick motherfucker!" I roar, leaping from my seat and tipping it backward.

"That's enough, Davis! You're out of fucking line!" Carter pushes him back against the door.

"You're lucky I'm cuffed to the goddam table," I growl between clenched teeth.

"You going to do something about it, tough guy?" Davis mocks.

"Get. Out." Carter pushes Davis out the door.

I'm breathing heavily, trying to tame the beast inside me. If only the fucker knew what was going on in my head.

"You all right?" Carter asks while loosening his tie.

I ignore his question.

"Is it true? Were Sadie and Tia…" I can't say the words. My stomach churns over at the thought of Frankie and his men putting their hands on the girls.

"You know I can't release that information, Seb. I'm sorry."

Angry tears threaten to spill but I blink them away.

"Why don't you just arrest me, Carter? I pulled the trigger and I'm not sorry about it." I sit back down and lean back on the chair.

"Because," Carter says as he takes his seat across me, "I know it was self–defense."

"Really? Because your partner doesn't seem to think so."

"Don't worry about him. He won't be a problem. But I do need to talk to you about these two men."

Carter pulls out his phone and shows me a picture on his screen.

"Why do you have these photos on your phone and not with the rest?" I tip my chin toward the folder on the table.

"Because these two men are unaccounted for. The Romano brothers—Vince and Neo. They run a highly lucrative underground gambling and drug ring. During our investigation, we found out that Frankie and Christian were heavily involved. We believe these two were at the warehouse, ready to take Frankie out."

"Fuck," I breathe.

"We also learned that the Romano brothers gave the order to kidnap the girls and kill them."

"Why?"

This doesn't make any fucking sense.

"We have reason to believe that Sadie's father is connected."

"How?"

"We're still figuring that out."

"What does Tia have to do with any of this?"

"She's collateral damage."

I feel like I'm in an episode of Chicago PD.

Before he can respond, there's a knock at the door and Carter slides his phone back into his pocket.

"Yeah," Carter calls out.

The door opens and a female cop peeks her head through the crack. "Carter, the boss wants to know if you're going to process the suspect?" She flicks her head at me.

I scoff.

Carter shakes his head and stares at me. "He's not a suspect, and he's free to go."

She nods and walks out the door.

"Come on, I'll walk you out." Carter leans over and unlocks the cuffs from my wrists.

"Is Sadie in danger?" I ask Carter, rubbing my wrists as I follow him out the door.

"Yeah, she is, but you need to keep quiet about this. And don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her."

His words bring me no comfort, but I plan on looking out for her anyway.

SEB THE RESCUE SQUAD

Before

I tried calling Donnie and Ash's phones, but they went straight to voicemail.

Where the hell are these guys?

After I called to inform them about the missing girls, he hung up on me. Minutes before that, I received a text message from a private number. My heart stopped beating when an image of Shorty and Tia splayed across the screen, both of them hanging in mid-air, hands bound with rope. Three words under the picture: "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Only one will go."

"Hey, I got something." Gio walks into my kitchen and puts his phone on speaker.

"I got Max and Seb here," Gio says to whoever is on the phone.

"I got a present for you," Hector says with amusement evident in his voice.

"What is it?" I snap, already losing my patience. Fuck knows what the assholes are doing to the girls the longer they stay missing.

"Word on the street is Frankie's old man owned an abandoned factory outside the city."

"How did you get the info?" I ask. There's no way in hell anyone in Frankie's circle would release that information freely. Unless…

"I cut the fucker's finger off since he didn't tell me what I needed to know."

Jesus.

"I'll text you the address. We'll meet you there."

Hector's last words before the line goes dead.

I turn to my guys. "Let's go."

I shut off my car's headlights as we get closer to the factory. When we pull up to the side of the road, Hector and four of his guys stand outside the metal fence.

My boys and I exited the car and grabbed the duffel bag from the trunk.

"What the hell do you have in that bag, hermano?" Hector asked with a grin.

"Backup." I smirked, pulling out three handguns with silencers.

He shook his head and laughed.

"All I could see are two guys posted near the front entrance," one of Hector's guys said, looking through the thermal night vision.

"How the fuck are we supposed to get over this fence?" Gio asked, inspecting the area.

"With this." Hector held up a pair of bolt cutters.

"Let's stop fucking wasting time," I say leading the way.

"Wait…" Gio pulled on my arm.

I look over my shoulder at him. "What is it?" I asked.

"What's the plan?"

"Since when did we ever need a plan?" Hector scoffed and walked past us.

Black clouds obscured the dark sky, and a mild gust of wind swept across my face. Tall trees leading up the dirt path provided us with cover. I scanned the structure, and surprisingly, there were no cameras.

I could see the factory clearly now with its smashed windows, and beer bottles and broken glass scattered on the overgrown grass. Vines wrapped around the outside of the rotting building.

As we slowly walked further, clouds of anxiety floated in my mind from not knowing the state we'd find Sadie and Tia in.

Hector carefully pulled on the steel door at the front of the building. When it opened, we heard yelling and Shorty begging Frankie to stop.

We're about to slip through the crack when Hector freezes and holds his hand up.

We come to a standstill, guns aimed and ready. Two of Hector's guys stand on each side of the door while Hector and I are in front, with Gio and Max behind us.

"Hey, did you leave the door open?" one of the guards said. Hector turned to us and raised his fingers to his lips.

Suddenly, one of the guards peeks through the door's crack. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he reached for the gun in his holster. But Hector's hands went to his neck and snapped it before he could move, and he lowered the guard to the floor.

Hector looks up to see the second guard fumbling with his walkie-talkie but doesn't get the chance to use it when one of Hector's guys pulls out a blade and, in a quick motion, stabs him in the neck. The guard's mouth fills with blood as he grabs his neck, gasping for breath. Within seconds, the guard tumbles to the ground.

Once we entered the factory, I looked around, assessing my surroundings, but I don't have enough time to process when I hear Donnie.

"STOP, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Donnie's thundering voice echoed in the air.

"Shit. Let's go!" Gio hissed.

"Say goodbye," Frankie said in a smug tone.

"NO!" Ash and Donovan yelled at the same time.

Hector and his guys broke off to the opposite side of the room in case we were ambushed, since we had no plan.

"Here comes the Justice League!" Gio's voice rings in my ear from behind.

Frankie holds a gun against Shorty's temple and freezes when he sees us. "Can't say it's good to see you, Frankie," I say calmly as I walk further into the room.

I know Frankie. Any sudden moves will set the fucker off. The best way to approach him is without fear because the asshole gets off on the challenge.

Max stands on the other side of me.

"How the hell did you find me?" Frankie asked, aiming the gun away from Shorty and pointing it toward us.

Instead of glancing over to the girls, I keep my gaze fixed on Frankie until my eyes shift slightly to Frankie's right. Christian lies on the ground, face down—unmoving.

"Don't worry, cuz. He's still alive," Frankie says, bringing my attention back to him.

"You're one dumb fucker, Frankie. It didn't take long to get one of your guys to break. He led us here."

"Let me guess, it was Niko. Fucker has always been a pussy." Frankie shook his head.

"It doesn't fuckin' matter," I snapped. "Stop playing your games, Frankie. You're never going to win, so let the girls go."

"You got a lot of nerve, cuz, showing up here like some fucking hero. Well, guess what, primo?" Frankie continues to point his gun at us.

"You can't save them. They deserve to die," he hissed, spit flying from his mouth.

"What did they ever do to you? They're fucking innocent."

"The hell they are!" Frankie shouted.

I stared at my cousin, trying to figure out why he changed. He used to love Shorty like a sister. What the fuck happened last summer?

"We had a job. One fucking job and Christian couldn't go through with it. He did whatever the fuck he wanted, not caring about the consequences or what would happen to us—to me," he added, pointing to his chest.

"I don't understand. What—"

"No, no! You don't get to ask questions! It doesn't fucking matter anymore. I'm dead either way. They took everything from me! If I don't kill her…" Frankie yanks Shorty by her hair. "…I'm dead. And there's no fucking way I'm dying over some pussy."

Frankie raised the gun to Shorty's temple. Tears continue to fall down her face. My fingers were itching to pull the trigger, but I had to be smart. One wrong move and the bullet could hit Shorty.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Gio and Max move closer.

"Don't fucking move," the other guard standing beside Tia said, pointing his gun at Max and then back to Gio.

The guys looked to me for direction and I gave them a look that said, "Not yet."

"Frankie, what do you mean ‘they'? Who's after you?" If I kept him talking, hopefully, he would take his attention off the girls.

"Now you care?" Frankie scoffed.

"You're my familia."

"Fuck you and your familia bullshit. You stopped caring about me a long time ago."

"That's because you came into my house and shot the place up, killing high school kids! Who the fuck does that? And for what? What the hell did you get out of that?" Just thinking about that night made anger burn inside me like lava.

"It doesn't fucking matter anymore. Once I kill your girls, my debt will be paid."

Frankie looks toward his guy. "Get her up." He tips his chin toward Tia. The asshole picks her up like a rag doll and points his gun against her head.

"Whoa, Frankie. Don't do this. You kill them, we kill you. And I don't want to have to kill you."

Frankie lets out a maniacal laugh. "Never thought I'd see the day Seb begged like a pussy." He shakes his head like it's the funniest damn thing he's ever heard.

I slowly took a few steps forward, Max and Gio following my lead, our guns still aimed at their heads.

"Stop moving," Frankie warns through clenched teeth, pressing the barrel of the gun harder to Shorty's temple.

"Frankie, don't do this. They're innocent. Just let them go and take me."

"What the hell do I need you for? No. They have to die."

"Frankie, don't!" I bellowed.

"Fuck you, mother—" Frankie roars, but he doesn't finish because I pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.

Another bullet goes off and I watch as the other guy falls to the ground. I turn to see smoke coming out of the barrel of Max's gun.

We rushed in and undid Donovan and Ash's restraints, but Donovan rears back and says, "Shorty and Tia first." His voice was thick with anger.

"Fuck. Max, get Tia, and Gio, help the guys." I barked the orders as I ran toward the girls.

"Are they okay?" Donovan's voice breaking.

I didn't respond.

My breath hitched in my throat.

What the fuck was I seeing?

Shorty's bloody and bruised face. Her body contorted in an odd position.

Tia was no better.

I was afraid to touch them, fearing one wrong move could fracture something.

"Seb?" Donnie wheezes, trying to catch his breath.

"Is she okay?" Donovan's voice was full of fear.

"Tell me, damnit!" Panic rises in his voice.

"No, she's not okay."