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35. Michael

35

MICHAEL

I was holding Claire to me, hoping she didn't pull away. If I had known she would meet my other son today, I would have prepared her a little for this. Instead, he walked into our lives and a bomb dropped.

I felt her pulling away, but I held her tighter to me. I couldn't let her leave. If she did, I wasn't sure I would get her back. "Stay," I whispered.

"He's your son?"

I looked at her, trying to explain, but I had no idea how. "He's Larissa's son."

"I'm your fucking son," Hudson hissed.

"You knew," Cash accused. "You know Cap, and you knew Knight worked for him. How the fuck could you not tell me?"

"I…I didn't know how to tell you."

"That I had another brother? What else are you keeping from me."

"I told you that you had another brother," I snapped.

"Yeah, but you failed to mention I already knew him. Does Rafe know?"

I shook my head slightly. "No."

"Don't feel bad," Hudson remarked. "It looks like he's not too big on sharing much of anything."

"Look, I fucked up," I admitted. "I know that, but?—"

"But what?" Hudson snapped.

"But there are bigger issues to deal with right now," I yelled. Fuck, this was not the way I wanted my kids to meet, but here we were. "Your sister is on that island with Zavala. And Rafe is down there trying to get her back. We need to work together to make sure they return to us."

"Why didn't you tell me to begin with?" Hudson asked. "I would have come if you had just fucking told me."

"I hadn't even told you that you had a sister. How the hell was I supposed to ask for your help?"

"Simple, you pick up the fucking phone and ask!"

This was going nowhere fast. I couldn't control the situation, and worse, the job at hand was slipping further and further from my grasp. "You can be pissed at me all you want, but right now, we need to focus on Rafe and Isabelle. They need us to come through for them."

I stared at Hudson, hoping he could set aside his anger to help us. There were too many obstacles in our way, and my sons—although very much like me—were each unique in how they dealt with dangerous situations. Between the three of us, we should be able to come up with something that would work.

Hudson nodded, "Fine. Tell me what we have?"

"We got a message to Isabelle. We have no idea if she'll pass it along or not, but our hope is that she'll trust us enough to know this is important."

"What was the message?"

"That Max is coming. She won't know Max, but if she tells Rafe, he'll know what he needs to do."

"Which is to find a reason for Max to get down there."

I nodded. "He's the pilot, and he knows the islands like the back of his hand. If we can get him down there, we can stage a rescue."

"Why can't you fly down there now?"

"Because it's heavily guarded. There's no way to fly over the island without approval. We'd get shot down."

I could see the wheels turning in Knight's head as he thought it over. "I need to see a map of the area."

Cash strode over to a screen on the wall and pressed a few buttons. In seconds, he had a map pulled up and the island in question circled. I was fucking amazed at the setup here.

"This is where we're going," Cash pointed out.

"We'll need a second plane," Knight said, studying the map. "If the only way on is to be invited, then we need a second plane flying low and tight to slip past the radar."

"Along with a good distraction," Cash added.

"It would be best," Knight agreed. "If we can get a second plane in, then we stand a better chance of beating their defenses."

"It's not just Rafe and Isabelle who are there. Nicholas's…girlfriend?" Cash said, shrugging. "She was taken there by an ally of Zavala's. Again, we have no idea where she's being held."

"We need schematics of the property," Knight sighed.

"We're not going to get that," I told him. "Rafe is the closest person who has ever gotten on the property."

"That's not precisely true," Cash said cryptically. "FNG did a job for Rafe about a year ago. I'm assuming his job was to get Isabelle out if he could."

"How the hell did he get onto the island?" I asked.

"Some kind of special flight suit. We're not sure on the details," Cash said. "We need to talk to him. If anyone can tell us anything about the layout, it's him."

"Call him up," Knight said.

"He's not here. He's with Nicholas and his team in the Caribbean."

"Then let's get to work. We don't have much time."

Cash and Knight started heading out, and I was about to follow when I remembered Claire had been with me. I looked around and found her sitting at the counter with her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" I asked, sliding my hand over her shoulder.

"It's just…a lot to take in. I never thought I would meet Cash and Rafe, let alone Larissa's son. And now they're all here, working together to bring Isabelle home. I'm very lucky."

"We're very lucky."

She smiled up at me. "All your boys turned out like you."

I could hear her unspoken thoughts as she stared at the countertop. "We'll find Isabelle and get her back."

"But will she be anything like she was before? What if it's too late?"

"Too late for what?"

Her watery eyes met mine. "What if there's already been too much damage? What if she's never our little girl again?"

I had been trying not to think about that since the moment she was taken. And for thirteen years, I prayed and hoped that she was still alive and would come home to us. Parents always said they didn't care if their child was the same after a kidnapping. They were just happy to have that child back.

But I had to wonder if that was really true. Not knowing what was happening was the worst part, but once they came home…I imagined that many times. Struggling to make a connection with someone who had been through something traumatic that no one else could understand. How did a parent even begin to help their child adjust to this new life?

And after thirteen years, I wasn't sure bringing her home would ever be enough to undo the damage that had already been done.

"I don't know. I wish I could tell you that everything will be okay, but we both know that may not be possible. All we can do is be there for her and try to help her find her way in the world. But first, we have to concentrate on getting her back."

She buried her face against my chest and wrapped her arms around my back. For years, this was all I wanted. She was in my arms, but how long would that last? If this job went sideways, I stood to lose so much. I couldn't stand the thought of never holding her again, but I knew that if I didn't get Isabelle back, it would haunt her for the rest of her life and mine.

"I need you to stay here."

"What?" she asked, pulling away from me. "But?—"

"We already talked about this. I need you to be safe. Please, just stay here where I know Zavala can't get to you."

"I want to go with you. I need to be there when you rescue her."

I would love to have her with me, but I couldn't do it. "I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the job if you were there. I'd be worried about you the whole time."

She shook her head, ready to argue, but bit her lip. She knew I wouldn't give on this point.

"I've come too far to lose you now." I slid my hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her closer. "I'll come back to you."

"You'd better."

I slid my lips over hers and memorized the feel of her against me one last time. I didn't know if I would ever see her again, but I would move heaven and earth to get back to her. We had too much life left to live.

With one final look, I walked away from her and prayed it wasn't for the last time.

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