Page 151 of Nash

“I think he bet on it,” Grant answers.

“What if he was never here?” Jace wonders. “Our surveillance never saw him enter or leave. So, what if he jumped off the boat and never made it to shore, and his men have been sitting here with their thumbs up their asses, not sure what to do?”

“We know he’s alive,” Axel assures. “Yesterday, Two perfected the art of BDSM interrogation.”

“What the—” Nick looks at me. He stops his task of loading all the tech into duffels. In his off-season, Nick treats our missions like training camp. “What does he mean you perfected ‘BDSM interrogation’?”

“Why so curious, Six?” Sire laughs. “Would’ve guessed you and your Texas queen would be experts at it by now.”

“Jealous much?” Nick chuckles.

“No.” Sire winks. “Divinely inspired.”

Leave it to Sire to joke at the worst time. So I cut the shit. “The first guy we caught climbing over the fence at the Bonneau mansion has a torture kink. My queen warned me he would, so yesterday, I asked her what we should do. Apparently, hours of stimulation and orgasm denial with a large prostate massager will make any man cry to come … and confess Turner is alive.”

“Damn.” Nick nods. “Sure helps having a PhD in sex on our team.”

Sire laughs. “Two ain’t complaining.”

“Enough!” Axel booms before turning my way. His goggles are still on, but I swear I see the ice in his stare. “Call Seven and warn him. Turner’s still out there, and you’re still the bait.”

Carefully, we gather the latest group of Turner’s trafficking victims. In broken Spanish, I assure them it’s okay. I ride with them in the van, calling Nadine, who prepares for their arrival. Medical care. Food. A counselor fluent in Spanish. An immigration lawyer. Even diapers will be waiting for them.

Tragically, we’re pros at this.

As dawn rises, Axel and I secure the victims, leaving them safe in Nadine’s hands, while the others dump Turner’s men in the Atlantic, and I begin this fucking game all over again.

“I need to call off Alena’s wedding.”

Numbly, I stare out the window of Axel’s Jaguar. He’s driving me back to The Mercier. All I want is to see Vale and hold her in my arms. All I need is for my daughter to be safe, too.

“Don’t.” Axel’s tone is sincere. “Alena’s too excited, and I don’t know what bullshit excuse you can give that won’t break her heart. Just…” He starts to reason quickly because I can’t.

Something about those victims, that young mother, and her newborn, brought it all back to me.

Lainey and Alena.

It freaked me out at sixteen when Lainey breastfed her. I wince, remembering how I pressured her to bottle-feed. Not like it was my body or business. I was just an uptight fuckwad who wasn’t used to seeing what was perfectly natural.

No, it was beautiful.

But now I know what a good father will do for his daughter.

And what a real man will do for the woman he loves.

It makes me tell Axel to take the next exit. Before I see Vale, there’s someone I need to talk to.

“Just get Alena to one of the villas at the club,” Axel strategizes, obeying my order. “Her wedding is this weekend, so tell her it’s so she can be pampered. We’ll put the other queens in the villas and lock it down.”

“Secure Alena in a villa at the country club with her guard? Alright,” I agree, pointing left for him to turn toward the Daniel Island Golf Club. “Leave Vale alone without me protecting her? Fuck no.”

“We’ll all be there, protecting them,” he counters. “We’ll put you in an unlocked villa and parade your ass around the course, placing bets and winning. Make an obnoxious show of it, and Turner will come for you.”

I suck my teeth.It’s a bad idea. It’s the best idea.

It’s an idea I easily sell to Vale.

When I return to Zar’s suite at The Mercier, she runs toward me, leaping into my arms and wrapping her legs around me.

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