16. Felik

FELIK

Once I left my brother"s house, I worked on shaking whatever tail had been on me. I hadn"t noticed one when I left, but that didn"t mean Vince didn't have one on me as soon as he could. Not that it really mattered. They knew where the Ferrinis lived. They didn't need to follow me back.

It was a flex to remind me that he was in charge.

The drive back to the Ferrinis was long, but I wanted to stop at a bookstore to pick up a little something for Jeremiah. There was a little bookshop I enjoyed going to when I was younger and needed to get away from my family. I would sit in there for hours, just reading whatever random books I could find.

It had been a long time since I"d been there, and I looked forward to the day when I could take my mate and show him the collection of used books that brought me so much joy in my youth. He would likely get lost in the stacks, combing through all the books they'd collected, just like I did.

It sounded like a perfect date to me.

Unfortunately, I didn"t have all the time in the world to go through the books, but I found a few that I knew my mate would enjoy. And before I knew it, forty-five minutes had passed with me just looking through the genres I knew he enjoyed. It was well beyond time for me to return to my mate.

He would likely be up and around now. Probably playing with the little ones.

I couldn"t wait until the two of us were fathers. Perhaps it would be smart for us to be married, especially since I knew Jeremiah was it for me. He was my one and only. I didn't need a wedding band or ceremony to say as much, but it was important for the family image to publicly declare that we were united and in love.

Or else it may look like just a marriage of convenience to ally our families, as most marriages in families like ours were.

When I left the bookstore, I noticed a jeweler had opened up next door, and it seemed like an omen. When I was a kid, all the shops had been empty, but now they were filled with new stores. A white banner with gold lettering that said "Grand Opening" was hanging over the front window.

I stepped inside and began looking through their collection. A simple black band caught my eye. Inside was the word "Creativity" and the matching band said "Courage." Just like the quote Jeremiah loved. I didn"t need to look any further.

That was the set I wanted. It was fate.

I didn"t know what Jeremiah"s ring size was, but I guessed, and within a few minutes, I was walking out of that place with the ring and its partner in my pocket.

Things were looking up, but I should have known it wouldn't last.

My phone rang, so I answered it immediately, surprised to see that Cord was calling. "Hello."

He was whispering. "You better get back here."

"What? Why? I"m on my way to see Jeremiah."

"No, Jeremiah is here."

"What?" My blood ran cold, and I started to run toward the car. "How?"

"I don"t know. But he is, and I didn"t get a good look at him, Fee, but he was covered in blood. Get back here now."

I stopped in my tracks. "Keep him safe, Cord. I"m coming."

I wouldn't get any answers until I arrived, so I needed to get there fast. I hung up the phone and I got into the car, immediately calling Andro before I even pulled out of the lot.

He answered on the second ring. "How did things go with your brother?"

"Not great." I took a deep breath and tried to think clearly. "Where the fuck is Jeremiah? Is he at the house?"

"Of course he"s here. He"s been in his room all day."

"Are you sure? Because Cord just called me and said they have Jeremiah there."

There was commotion on the other line, and I could hear Andro swearing. "Hold on. Something's happening downstairs."

I held my breath as I listened to Andro walking and shouting. The helplessness of the situation consumed me. Here I was in my car, far away from either house and not knowing where Jeremiah was. I never should have left him.

"Trev! Fuck." Andro's voice took on a panicked edge. There was a thud like the phone had been dropped.

"What's going on?"

"Trev's here. He's been shot. Fuck."

"Where's Jeremiah?" I shouted.

There was more noise, and it felt like the world stood still for hours while I waited to hear more. I was at a standstill. Did I return to the Ferrini home or did I go to my brother's place? What if it was a trap? What if they really had Jeremiah? I couldn't leave him in Vince's clutches.

"Felik?" Andro said.

I nodded as if he could see me through the phone. "Yeah, I'm here. What's happening?"

"One of Vince's men cornered Trev and Jeremiah outside the hospital."

Hospital. Why had they gone to the hospital? "What–"

"Trev says they took Jeremiah. He passed out before he could say more, but he had an ultrasound picture on him. Jeremiah's pregnant."

The world slowed to a crawl as the sound of blood pounded in my ears. My pregnant mate was in the hands of my sadistic brother?

"I"m going back to my house." I pointed the car toward the highway and hit the gas.

"This could be a trap," Andro said. "Come back here so we can figure out a plan. If they do truly have Jeremiah–"

"No, I'm going there. I won't let Vince have him for even a second longer than necessary."

Andro remained silent, so I hung up the phone and headed home. I broke several laws on my way, but I didn't care. The more police that followed me there, the better.

I wasn"t even sure if I turned the car off after I shoved it into park and got out before I burst through the front door.

Cord was walking down the staircase as I entered. "He"s in the living room."

"He"s here? He"s okay?"

Cord nodded but grabbed my arm before I could go toward the room. "Look, man, hold yourself together. If Vince knows how much Jeremiah means to you, he becomes a pawn, not just for you, but for the Ferrinis as well."

I shook his hand off and glared at him. "What the fuck do you know about these things?"

"More than you think. I don"t want Vince in power any more than you do."

I narrowed my eyes. Earlier I'd wondered if I could trust him, but now that Jeremiah"s life was on the line, I wasn't sure which way to lean.

"Trust me," Cord said. "If you want to take Vince down, I'll support you in that all the way. But we"ve got to be smart. Vince is deadly, and he'll take all of us out. Family means nothing to him."

There was a story there, I knew it. But at that moment, I couldn"t bring myself to care. I nodded and made my way to the sitting room.

Jeremiah was on the plush leather sofa and his hands, arms, and shirt were covered in blood. He had been crying at some point, but now, he just glared daggers at Vince, who sat across from him with a wicked smirk on his face.

"What the fuck, Vince?" I stood between the two men, ready to step in front of Jeremiah if needed but not giving away my allegiance quite yet.

"I"m glad you could join us, Fee. Cord ratted me out, didn't he? You would have figured out that I took your new boyfriend if you had just gone straight back to the Ferrinis' house. What did you do, get lost in your bookstore?"

"Fuck off." Was I truly that predictable? So much so that it could have gotten Jeremiah hurt or worse. "We had a plan."

"What does it matter if I waited for you to turn him over or if I captured him myself? Hell, I probably had him tied up in the back of a car before you even left here this morning."

"Why did you take him at all? You need to let him go or you're gonna have Andro, Louie, and Orsino coming down on all of us within the hour."

"Let them." He laughed, almost giddy at the idea. "I have this place locked down tighter than Fort Knox. They can't get through. Besides, you think they'd leave their own little omegas unprotected just to come for their brother? Not a chance."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I was finally seeing him for the monster he had become. He had always been an asshole, but now, he was truly deranged beyond comprehension.

"Nothing. We finally have someone leading this family with the balls to do what our father should have done. Their territory should be ours."

I met Jeremiah"s gaze. "Are you hurt?" I wanted to go to his side, to comfort him, but if Vince knew I cared, then we'd never get away. He couldn't find out how much Jeremiah meant to me.

He shook his head. "This is Trev"s blood. They shot him. I don"t know if he"s…"

"He"s probably dead, little omega." Vince leaned forward and pulled a decanter of whiskey off the table to refill his glass.

I swung my leg, kicking the coffee table and shattering it to pieces.

Jeremiah jumped in surprise, and so did Vince. I had the upper hand for just a moment, and then Vince was on his feet.

"I knew you were double-crossing me, Fee. You have no interest in taking down that son of a bitch Andro. You"re one of them now, aren"t you?" He launched forward, fists swinging. He caught my jaw, but I dodged to the left and sucker-punched him in the gut.

Vince doubled over but recovered quickly. He opened his mouth to yell for the guards, but Cord was there.

He had grabbed a piece of the broken table and cracked Vince over the shoulder.

"I"ll bar the door. If his personal guards get in here, we're dead. Unless we kill him first," Cord said. "If you"re going to kill him, do it now."

I had not woken up this day thinking I was going to murder my own brother. Yet, here I was, about to do just that. When I'd chosen my weapons for the day, I'd only picked a handgun and a knife. They were mostly meant for show. I didn't ever intend to use them, but I wouldn't hesitate to now, not if it meant getting Jeremiah free.

I didn't know what consequences would come after taking out Vince, but when he came up ready to swing again, I grabbed him by the throat. I was always the one who had taken our fighting lessons to heart. He had been too blinded by his arrogance to think an enemy would ever get so close.

But I knew it was a possibility. A probability. Even though I wasn't usually a fighter, all I had to think about was the scared, terrified look on my mate"s face to properly motivate me. He probably got covered in Trev's blood while trying to save the man's life.

So much pain and violence because Vince was a sadistic fuck.

What should have been a joyous day—the day we found out we were expecting—turned into something that would traumatize my mate for the rest of his life. Mine too.

"Yield," I said to Vince in the deepest alpha voice I'd ever used. "Let Cord take over, and you can live."

"Never." His eyes stayed locked on mine, not expressing an ounce of remorse for what he'd done or was planning to do.

There was no hesitation as I pulled the knife I kept on my side and stabbed it under his ribs, burying the six-inch blade as deep as it would go.

Blood gurgled from Vince"s mouth before he fell to the floor.