Page 72 of Protecting his Heart

“Hayden, as much as you need to take orders, if you do not open this gate, I will crash through it, leaving the royal family at risk. You don’t want that, and neither do I. Just let us go.”

Hayden bit his lip, hesitating, but finally nodded and lifted the gate. The poor guy would be in so much trouble for that, but he’d made the right choice. As much as Owen wouldn’t want to risk the royal family, he needed to get to the location as fast as he could.

The drive took about fifteen minutes, and he parked down the road, just able to see the house from where they were. In his boot, he had two bulletproof vests and two hand guns with several clips of bullets.

“Stay alive,” Evan said. “You die, I’ll bring you back and kill you myself. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Owen said. “Be safe.”

“Always am.”

They shared a tension-filled kiss and then headed for the property, using the trees and hedges as cover. There were no cars in the driveway, but that meant nothing. The closest house to it was around two hundred yards away, giving the property a sizable acreage for its location. They chose to approach the property from the corner of the house, hopefully as out of sight of the windows as they could be. Sliding along the wall of the house, Owen peered into the window but couldn’t see anything. He continued, Evan at his back. The second window held nothing, either.

He glanced back at Evan and pointed to the front door. Tension bracketed Evan’s expression, but he nodded. He motioned for Evan to go around the back, and he disappeared. Owen tried the door handle, and it opened with ease. His stomach roiled, but he continued forward, sweat dripping down his spine and face. Holding his gun out in front of him, he headed towards where he could hear a TV, his steps slow and soft, testing each move before putting his full weight on it. His eyes scanned around him, but he couldn’t see anything amiss.

Stopping in front of the door where the sound of the TV was coming from, he held his gun forward and twisted the handle. He got a glimpse of the room before there was a click, and he cursed.

****

Chapter 22

Dominic

Dominic’s phone chimed, and he reached for it before he had any idea he’d done it, putting his book aside. It was an unknown number, but that wasn’t unheard of in his line of work. He clicked it and it opened a photo. It was a dimly lit room with just a lit TV screen. But what caught his attention—what he zoomed in on—was the white square on the wall of the room with the black #2 written on it.

Flashes of the day he’d been shot and left for dead flew through his mind, and he glanced up at Randall, needing to double check he was with him and alive. Which he was and playing with that damn mini aquarium Owen had bought him.

He studied the picture again, seeing nothing else of importance. But he hadn’t been sent the picture on a whim. There was a message behind this one, and Dominic knew that whoever was behind his attack was behind this, too. Was it another attack or was it a threat?

He stood and headed to the door, poking his head out. “Colt, could you sit inside? I need to visit Brett. I’ll get him to send someone else if I’m not coming back.”

“Sure.” Colt stood and entered.

Dominic peeked his head in to Randall. “I’m just heading to see Brett. I’ll be back soon.”

Randall frowned at him. “Everything okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

He raced down the hallways to Sec HQ, almost forgetting to knock before entering. “Brett! I’ve just received—”

“Holy shit!” Felix yelled, raking his fingers through his hair. “It blew.”

Brett stood up, his chair cracking backwards. “Tell me it didn’t.”

Felix stared at him. “The house blew. I don’t know if Owen and Evan were there or not. I couldn’t get an answer from them.”

“Where are Owen and Evan? And has this got something to do with this photo?” Dominic held up his phone.

Brett gritted his teeth. “They went to the location we found from the proof of life. No backup.” He took the phone from Dominic, looking at the photo. “It’s the same as what was left with you.”

Dominic swallowed, not ready to believe something had happened to his best friends. “I think Owen and Evan have walked into a trap.”

“We need to get there! Now!” Brett ordered, and every available guard raced from the room.

****

Chapter 23

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