Page 18 of His Paradise

“Lovely weather, ain’t it?” He stops, tilting his head as he looks them over. “Have we met before? You look awfully familiar, miss.” He taps his chin. The man steps in front of Olivia, pulling her behind him protectively.

“Anything we can help you with, buddy?”

“Not my favorite,” Markus wrinkles his nose.

“Pardon?” The man asks, obviously confused by Markus.

“I prefer being called kitten, or maybe even Sir Sex God, if you’re feeling bold. Buddy just feels so bland, don’t you agree?” Markus Steps closer, finally egging him on to draw his gun.

“I don’t know what you’re on, but we’re done here. Let’s just go our separate ways.” I slip up behind them, slapping my hand over Olivia’s mouth and dragging her backwards and she screams and tries to cling to him.

“We can go our own ways once you tell me where your boss lives, Percival.” I tell the man, pointing my gun at him. He spins to face me, realizing Markus has also pulled a gun on him.

“She’s got nothing to do with this. Let her go.” His voice is full of concern as he holds his hand in the air. Markus steps forward and easily plucks the gun from his hand.

“Percy,” Olivia’s voice breaks as I pull my hand away from her face.

“You’re safe, Liv. We’ll get you back home.” I say, and recognition lights up her eyes.

“Aden?” She asks, throwing her arms around my neck. I hold her tight, not taking my eyes off of Percy while I rub her back and try to comfort her.

“He’s helping me, please don’t shoot him,” She steps away, wiping her tears as she gets closer to Percy. Of all the things I wasn’t expecting, this tops the list.

“Well, smurfy here is a good boy. Color me shocked.” Markus snorts, not lowering his gun.

“You want to fucking live? Tell me where my goddamn wife is,” I step closer, pointing the gun at his head.

“I’m gonna reach for my phone, I can pull up the coordinates from there.” Percy says, slowly pulling his phone out. He taps on the screen while I watch, finally showing me an address in his history. I have to close my eyes as I pull a deep breath through my nose. We drove down this road, and most likely went right past this exact house. Olivia grabs my arm, her grip surprisingly strong as I look into eyes the same shade as Nina’s.

“She did everything to get me out of there. Nina protected me, no matter what horrible things he did to her. She saved me.” I know what she’s saying. Nina sacrificed herself and as soon as they realize their leverage is gone, she is gonna pay for it.

“Gonna share what you know, or just leave us with blue balls? You should also know, I can’t access his phone because it’s being tracked. My guess, limp dick wants his people back.” Luna’s voice crackles through my earpiece and I roll my eyes.

“I’m sending the address now, meet us there.” I say, smashing the phone beneath my shoe before throwing it across the parking lot. Percy drops his hands, his jaw dropping open.

“What the hell, I’m not your enemy, dude.” He pouts, resting his arm around Olivia’s shoulder as she leans into him.

“I don’t want you on our side if you’re too stupid to realize you’re being tracked. Get on the ferry, and get the fuck out of here. You get on a plane and David is gonna have somebody waiting for you when you land. Don’t make me regret this.” I pick up his gun, slamming it to his chest before running towards my car. Nina will kick my ass for leaving her sister in the hands of a stranger, but I don’t have a minute to waste.

“Race you there,” Jared chuckles into my earpiece and I grin, excited as I slam the pedal to the floor while Markus barely has time to shut the door.

“You’re crazy, and if I’m saying it, then you’re batshit level.” He yawns, completely unaffected by my reckless driving. I can hear him and Alec chattering through the headphones, but their words don't pierce the haze I’ve sunk into. I knew that David was hurting her, but I didn’t stop to think about the extent that creature was willing to go. When we get close, I slow the car down to draw less attention but it drives me crazy to do it. By the time we finally park outside, my entire body is twitching.

“I have an idea,” Luna repeats, finally catching my attention through my earpiece. “I’ll ditch my shoes, rub sand all over me and go right up to the door and say I’m lost and need help.” There’s silence for a split second before Alec sighs.

“You’re staying in the car, and that's enough from you.” Jared snarls, and I see an interior light come to life down the street as Jared climbs out of his car and rips his earbud out. He approaches our car, leaning through my open window.

“We don’t have time to fuck around, we need to go in there.” I check my gun, making sure it’s fully loaded as Jared watches the house with suspicion.

“Damn it, get your ass back here.” Alec hisses, and Markus and I look up in time to see Luna shoot across the road. Jared still hasn’t noticed and I take a deep breath, sharing a look with Markus. Forming a plan has just become ‘follow the big angry motherfucker into the chaos’. Jared looks up in time to see her shimmering hair slip through the front gate.

“Luna,” He roars, charging after my sister. Markus grins as we follow them and somehow I find comfort that I’m with the most unhinged one out of all of us.

Chapter fifteen

Aden

Luna walks right up to the door and knocks on it. We all stay in the shadows, doing our best to hold back Jared as he watches every movement without taking a single breath. I am going to shake the shit out of her when we get out of this mess. After a few moments, the door swings open and the porch light flicks on to illuminate the man. He’s almost the same height as her, with a stocky build and he’s wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts as he stares down his nose at her.

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