Page 91 of Betrayed

“I’ll turn it on before she gets in their car,” Doug answered.

I didn’t like it. “Too many things can go wrong.” I studied the marked up map. “Where’s the meet-up?” I asked.

“The first ‘meeting’ is here.” Jamie pointed to an X on the map. “They’re demanding we send one person with Blake to retrieve it and then bring her to exchange location,” John said.

“I’ll go,” Jack and I said at the same time.

“She doesn’t go anywhere without me,” I growled at Jack.

Jack got in my face and growled right back, “They. Have. Meg.”

“Stand down,” John ordered.

I found myself in a confrontational stare-down with my best friend for the second time in less than six hours. We’d always had each other’s backs, but this was different. The women we loved were in danger, and neither of us would back down.

“Now!” John stepped between us and forced us apart. “You're friends. Act like it!” John eyed us both, then continued, “Janerek will accompany Blake-”

“What the fuck?” Jack yelled.

John put his hand up. “Janerek will be with Blake in the car, the rest of us will be nearby. We’ll have eyes and ears on them the entire time.”

“They said no comms,” Jack said.

“They did, but we’re ignoring it,” John answered.

“What if they hurt Meg? Or the baby?”

“Meg’s pregnant?” Maxwell, Doug, Jamie, and Jay asked. We'd have time to deal with that shock later.

“She is.” The fear in Jack’s voice destroyed my anger.

“They won’t,” I said, ignoring the shock on their faces. “You heard Blake; they want her money. Hurting Meg serves no purpose now that we’ve agreed to the exchange.”God, it’s killing me to talk about this as if my future happiness wasn’t at risk.

“They have to know we’ll rain hell on them if they so much as chip her nail polish,” Jay added.

“He’s right,” Jamie said. “They're not stupid, at least not the decision makers.”

“You’d think they’d be smart enough to not take Meg,” Doug chimed in.

“If that’s the case, why do they think we’ll let Blake go without a fight?” Maxwell asked. It was a valid question.

John looked at me. “Because they don’t know AJ’s in love with her,” John answered, clapping my shoulder. “They think Blake’s just a client, but she’s family.”

Emotion burned in my throat.Family.

“We’ll bring them both home,” Jamie added, looking at Jack.

“We will.” Jack added, “We’ve faced worse together, Brother. And we’ll lay waste to anyone who gets in our way.”

“Ooh rah,” Jay said, adding the only thing he needed to say.

“Fucking men,” Maxwell said, this time without malice.

We all turned and looked at her.

She rolled her eyes before giving a deep, hearty, “Ooh rah. Now let’s quit talking and save your women.”

I was on board with that, but first, I’d have to watch the woman I loved walk into enemy territory.

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