Chapter 32

32

Maddox

I 'm bigger and heavier than Keith.

Unfortunately, that means I am also slower. I lose the fucker just around the corner from the church, but those nimble little legs of his won't save him. He started a war he cannot win, and he knows it. I just need to find him and stop him before things really get out of hand. If he does any more damage to Dakota and her daughter, I will forget the concepts of legality. I will have no choice but to let my other side out—the dark side that has been itching to tear him limb from limb from the moment I met him.

By the time I'm back at the church, my breath is even again, but everything else is horribly out of place. Reed is awake but groggy and annoyingly slow on the uptake. Our mother sits with him, close to the altar, catching him up on everything that happened from the minute he passed out. To say that he is furious would be a major understatement. I've never seen my brother so angry, and while he may not be a fan of violence, I can tell from his body language alone that he's itching to kill somebody.

Trevor sits with Archer on the steps of the altar, trying to comfort him as best he can. I don't know when the roles shifted in our uncanny family, but it looks like the kid is trying to be the bigger man here, and he's actually succeeding.

"It's going to be okay," I hear him tell Archer as I walk down the aisle toward them. "We're all going to be okay, I'm sure of it."

"Where is he?" Archer asks as soon as he sees me coming.

"I couldn't catch him. But we will find him, don't worry," I say.

"I am worried. I have every reason to worry."

"Where's Dakota? Callie?"

"Well, Callie left before Mom could potentially disfigure her for life," my brother scoffs. "And Dakota ran off with Maisie and Chelsea."

"I couldn't stop them," Trevor says, giving me a worried and apologetic look. "I tried, I promise, I tried…"

I give Trevor a soft pat on the shoulder. "It's all right, little man; you've been a great support," I tell him. He doesn't even fully understand what went down here, yet he is still Team Faulkner all the way. I reckon the time he's spent with us has brought him closer to our hearts than we thought possible, and this is the silver lining I need to keep pushing until we save what we've been fighting for in the first place. "Dakota needs some time alone, and Chelsea will keep an eye on Maisie for her."

"We need to go into damage control," Archer warns me. "Callie and Keith were in cahoots."

"And you let her leave?" I turn and give our mother a harsh look.

She replies with an even harsher glare—a brief reminder that she is anything but intimidated. Nor will she ever be. I love her to the moon and back, and she loves me even more, yet she will knock my ass into the ground if I get out of line, kind of like I did just now.

"I'll blame your attitude on this volatile situation and pretend this never happened," she adds for good measure.

I give her a most respectful nod. "Yes, ma'am. Thanks, Mom."

"Besides, Keith dropped his phone," she says, pointing at the floor.

"He's got copies somewhere for sure," I reply but pick the phone up anyway.

As long as I have his phone, I might be able to break into it. We've got former Navy techs working at our company, all of them aces in counterintelligence and information technology. We have the resources and the staff to get ahead of this entire clusterfuck before it's too late.

"We need to get organized," Reed grumbles, rubbing his face as he struggles to regain full focus. "Like, really organized. Today was a mess from top to bottom, and two people are responsible: Callie Monroe and Keith Ellis."

Mom sighs heavily, fighting back tears. "I was really hoping today would be Dakota's day. From the minute I met her, I understood why she's got the three of you so smitten."

Our mother has been a guiding force of nature our whole lives. Fierce and unyielding. We've been quite the mission for her and our father since day one, and it's been hard work for her ever since. Yet she never batted an eye. She never hesitated. Just like Dakota, she worked relentlessly to make sure we were growing up into the best possible versions of ourselves.

Mom is one of the few people in this world who truly understands the way my brothers and I work, especially in terms of romantic relationships. She understands our unity, and she has protected us over the years. We did our best not to have any of our personal endeavors stumble back onto the family in any way, but what happened today threatens to destroy everything.

I'm not worried about our reputation or our finances. Even if the story gets out and it casts an ugly shadow over our adoption process for Trevor, we have an army of well-paid lawyers. We'll bounce back. Dakota, not so much.

Reed's right. We need to get organized and then some.

"Mom, can you stay with Trevor for a couple of days?" I ask.

"Of course. What are you boys going to do?"

"Damage control," Reed bluntly replies. "At any cost."