14. Holy

CHAPTER 14

Holy

S taring at the men around the room, I'm disheartened by the helpless looks in their eyes. Nobody knows what the fuck to do or where to find my girl. She's lost in the ether, and the longer I stand here trying to figure out who the fuck took her, the angrier I become.

"Nothing," I hiss. "We have absolutely nothing?"

Malice stands up, prepared to give me an outlet to release my rage. Fighting with my brother isn't high on my list of to-dos, though. "We're going to find her," he reassures, his own anger brewing from years of masked rage.

Carmine quietly hangs up the phone and clears his throat. "That was Carter. His connection in Italy, Benito Torres, has kindly agreed to help by connecting us with a government agent who turns out to be the king of some small country. Asher McCall is on his way here from West Virginia. Apparently, the material is too sensitive to discuss over the phone."

I know of Benito; anyone in the drug trade knows of the insane Italian who kills before he asks questions. The man is a force. One I admire. If he's offering help, then I know things aren't good.

"How long?" I ask. Waiting around isn't my strong suit when Della is in the hands of madmen.

"This evening." Nodding at Carmine, I move to leave. I need to get out of here, clear my head.

"Where you going, son?" My father stops me as I'm about to exit the office my brother and I primarily work out of now.

"I need to be in her space. I need to connect to her," I respond, and the sad look in his eyes is almost more than I can bear.

"Go. We'll call if there's anything new here." Thanking him, I head to Della's.

For hours now, I've felt this…tickling in my brain, like… fuck , I don't even know. But it's important, and I have this gnawing need to be closer to her, in her space, so I can feel less like I failed her and more like I'm going to fucking save her.

Cowboy is in the driveway, pacing as I park, and it's apparent from the look on his face, he's as pissed as I am. For years, he's been the one to watch her back, yet I'm the one who allowed her to be taken.

Despite being shot three times, I haven't allowed it to slow me down. I can't because if I do, it could mean Della's death, and I refuse to allow that to happen to my woman. Not in this fucking lifetime.

"We've got a man who's got a lead," I tell him as I exit my car. "He'll be at my place tonight. You coming?"

"Fuck yes, I'll be there. The question is, why aren't you there now?" He's pissed with me, and I get it.

"Because her presence is here." I give him a look, and he understands the power of what she can do.

"You think it could work?" His eyes flick up to the house.

"Gotta fucking try, man." Handing him my phone, I say, "Come get me when they call." He nods, and I head inside to find Carter screaming at someone in his office. I don't have the time or energy for his outbursts, so I continue up to Della's room.

Slipping in like a thief in the night, I silently close the door behind me and lean against it. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on breathing her in. I need this woman like air, and with her being snatched so viciously from me, I'm struggling.

I'll never admit it out loud, never tell a damn soul, but with Della in the hands of some maniac, I feel like I'm fracturing apart. I don't know how to live without her now.

For years, we tiptoed around each other, but I always knew she was there. Knew that when it was our time, we'd get it together and stop screwing around. I can still remember the first time I took notice of her. She couldn't have been more than sixteen…

"CJ, is that Holy Sinclair?" Della whispers to Carmine's oldest girl at her sweet sixteen party while I grab a plate of food.

"Didn't he grow up fine?" CJ snickers, and I roll my eyes. CJ is always saying shit like that, usually to try and get me in some kind of shit with her father.

I slowly turn towards the two, who sit huddled together at a small table. I've known Della O'Neill for years, but it's been at least two since I've seen her, and as my gaze skims across her now, I can't believe my eyes.

Her blonde waves cascade down her back, the freckles on her face are more pronounced, and when the fuck did her body turn into a woman's? This can't be the same gangly girl I've run into over the years. That Della didn't have hips that make my mouth water or a chest that has my hands itching to touch her.

And those innocent fucking eyes, as they meet mine, I'm struck right through the heart. This isn't the little girl who shyly hid behind CJ when she came over. This girl is turning into a stunning woman and making me extremely uncomfortable, given her age.

Sweet holy hell.

One day, this woman will bring me to my damn knees. If she doesn't by the end of the night.

I only look away because she breaks eye contact. Forcing my feet to move, I leave the party and don't return until the next day, but Della's soulful eyes haunt me for years to come.

To this day, they still do, but for different reasons.

Moving to her bed, I lie down and stare up at the ceiling, waiting for word from someone that we have her location and I can bring her home.

I'm unsure how it happens, but I drift off into this state of unconsciousness but am still aware of my body when I feel her in my head.

She's reaching out to me, begging me to find her. Sharing what's happening to her, and the longer I'm immobile, the angrier and more irritated I become. She's being tortured, and there's no one there to stop it from happening, no one giving two shits about my girl.

"I'm coming, Della," I whisper into the empty room just as a pounding on the door startles me out of my dream-like state.

"Holy, let's go. They've got something!"

I'm on my feet in the next second, feeling slightly drugged from what just happened. I have no idea if it was actually Del or if my head was making shit up, but either way, I'm bringing her home and ending the lives of those who took her.

* * *

"What do we know?" Pushing my way through Malice's office door, I see four new faces.

"Holy, this is Asher McCall and his team: Brave St. James, Wilde West, and Carson Shay." Malice points each out.

I don't give a fuck who they are. "Where's Della?"

Asher grins. "You were right, Carmine…single-minded. It'll help. From what Wilde here was able to find out, it looks like Della was taken by the Global Initiative Group run by one Dr. Amber Graves." A fucking woman? I wasn't expecting that. "Dr. Graves has spent the last twenty years looking for and experimenting on other people like Della. Trying to dissect and replicate her empathic abilities."

"How many?" Two fucking decades. How the hell is she still operating? "Who's funding her?" With the way those men came in, they aren't cheap.

"From what we've found, several hundred," Wilde answers me, his next words reluctant. "She's never been successful in replicating their abilities, which usually leaves her captives drained and weak."

"Della might not survive." Carter verbalizes what Wilde does not.

"How do they know about her?" I ask. It's something that doesn't make sense to me. Even if Sean Smith had spoken to them, her kidnapping happened a lot more quickly than I would have expected.

"Her mother." Once Asher reveals this, all heads swivel to stare at Carter. "Before abandoning the girl, she sold her to them. Della would have been their first project if the woman hadn't grown a conscience at the last minute." Carter pales slightly. I know he killed the woman for leaving Della the way she had—on his steps in the middle of the night.

"Where. Is. Della." I don't fucking care about the details, I just want to bring her home.

Asher's head shakes before nodding at Brave to give me the details. "An old government training facility in Bergen County, New Jersey." Handing me a paper with the address and map of the building, I head towards the basement. I need weapons and lots of them.

Malice, Cowboy, Johnny, and Nico are on my heels as we silently strap up and get in the headspace we know we'll need in order to rescue Della.

"Nobody leaves that place alive." I look at each of them as I finish strapping on a Kevlar vest and attaching the knives in the pockets.

"Not a soul," Malice grins back at me. My little brother is in his element and happier than a pig in mud. Whether Odette will be pleased with me about that or not remains to be seen. I can't let her feelings be a concern if I'm to get Della out alive.

As we head back upstairs, Asher and his team block the doorway. "You can't just go in there; they'll see you coming."

"Good. It'll be a fair fight then." This guy has no idea what I'll do to rescue Della.

"You don't fucking get it! You'll make it worse for her. They'll know it's you, and before you can breach, they'll have your girl in a chopper and out of the country before you can finish your search of the building," Carson growls, annoyed that I don't give a fuck about a plan.

"What do you suggest, then?" Johnny asks. He's more level-headed than the rest of us.

"I have a plan," Wilde grins, and I get the feeling he's a little more unhinged than he lets on.

"Let's have it," I say. They know more about this shit than I do. I'm not about to ignore a solid plan and lose Della forever.