Page 47 of Vengeful Lies

Just like that, his one chance at living went up like a puff of smoke.

September 7th

8:26 A.M.

This was crazy.

Never in her life had Gabriella been this close to anything this dangerous.

Growing up in foster care, she’d spent some time around kids who were lost and alone and searching for a place to belong and found it in all the wrong places. Some of those kids were into dangerous things, drugs, gangs, and fighting, sometimes with knives or guns as weapons.

But nothing to this level.

The anger rolling off the Charleston brothers was off the charts. They were furious that John Gaccione had been targeting their family and were ready to do something about it. It helped a little to know that part of their anger stemmed from what had happened to her and Essie, and she knew she was in no danger from them, none of them would ever lay a hand on her, but she was thinking maybe she should have stayed home with Essie, Jake, and Jax.

Too late to back out now.

Becca was already standing by the mall doors.

Connor and Cooper were hovering nearby but out of sight.

Cole was sitting in the car with her.

The wheels had already been set in motion, there was no stopping what was about to happen. While they all waited to see if John was actually going to show his face, Prey was running through every piece of information they could gather about the man including a list of properties where he might be holding Cade.

Please let us find him soon.

For some reason, Gabriella felt like time was running out. It was probably just because things were about to get serious, but she had this horrible feeling in her stomach just like she’d had the morning before she was beaten that said something bad was going to happen.

“Incoming,” Cole suddenly said into his comms, and she followed his line of sight to see a vehicle driving past them taking a parking spot a couple down from where they were, closer to the door.

From where she was, she got a perfect look at the driver and it was indeed John Gaccione.

Maybe she should have recognized him right away when she’d first seen him in that room, but honestly, she’d been too scared to focus on anything else. Still, her delay in identifying him could have cost Cade his life, and if it did she would never forgive herself.

Since she’d declined wearing a comms unit because she didn't really want to be involved in the actual takedown, she didn't know what the guys were saying, or what was happening.

Seconds ticked by.

Cole didn't say anything, but she could feel the tension rolling off him and knew he wished he was out there with the others instead of sitting with her.

Just as she was about to tell him she’d be okay on her own so he could go out there and do … whatever the guys had planned, she saw them.

John being walked between Connor and Cooper toward their vehicle. If you didn't know any better, you’d just see three men walking side by side through a busy mall parking lot, but she did know better and could see the bulges of the weapons the twins were wearing. She could tell how they were angled toward John even as they were hidden from anyone not specifically looking for them.

To his credit, John didn't look to be concerned, in fact, he almost had what she would consider to be a smug grin on his face.

That feeling she’d been having intensified a hundredfold.

Something was wrong.

Why wasn't John more worried? Why wasn't he even a little bit worried? He had to know he was likely walking into a trap because he knew he’d let her and Essie go and that she’d seen him and would tell people. Yet he’d come anyway. He had to have a plan, some reason he thought he was going to walk out of this alive.

Did he not realize how dangerous these brothers could be?

Mess with their family and they would do everything in their power to take you down. Cade and his brothers also had the entire might of Eagle Oswald and Prey Security at their back. While it was true that John had a lot of contacts through his job, it still wasn't comparable to Eagle’s contacts. She’d met the revered former SEAL a handful of times and Eagle was an intimidating figure, oozing confidence and charm, who was always so sure of himself and his decisions. She wouldn't want to be on the man’s bad side, yet John didn't seem to worry about it at all.

When their gazes connected, Gabriella couldn’t help but shrink away from the window. The intensity of John’s gaze brought back all those memories she didn't have time to deal with right now.

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