Page 62 of Veiled Vengeance

But you know he totally would.

Rio beats me to it and hands over my very own badass outfit. They leave me alone to put it on and move to the kitchen. When I’m done, I look at my reflection in the mirror. I’m not the same woman I was a couple of months ago—she wouldn’t recognize me.

As I enter the kitchen, they all turn to me. Asher’s expression is one of pride, Rio’s is seductive, and Zane’s is admiration.

Before we can exchange words, there’s a pounding on the door. The weight of tonight returns as we all feel the pressure return to our shoulders.

Rio opens the door. “You’re late.”

Gabriel swaggers in, followed by Diego and Mateo. “I didn’t know there was a time constraint,amigo.”

Mateo spots me and winks, intentionally trying to ruffle some feathers. Diego scans the room, committing every detail to memory.

“Why don’t we all sit down,” I suggest, motioning to the large couch.

Gabriel’s eyes turn calculating and he smirks. “It’s nice to know someone here still has some manners.” He crosses the open room to the couch and takes a seat on the cushion closest to the door. Diego and Mateo don’t sit, and instead spread out, taking up sentry strategically in the space. Zane and Asher take up position next to Diego and Mateo. Rio grabs the manilla envelope from the counter and follows me as I sit on the sectional a few feet from Gabriel.

No one speaks for a solid minute. In silence, they exchange threats I’m sure they’ve made countless times.

This gangster act is frankly annoying.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I snap. “If you need a measuring tape to make this go faster, I have one downstairs in my studio. But if we can skip past that part and get to the part where we decide how to rescue Carmen, that’d be convenient.”

Mateo and Diego react instantly. Gabriel keeps his composure, but his eyes give him away. He’s freaking out.

I figured they didn’t know, but now it’s confirmed.

“What are you talking about?” Mateo grills.

“Where is she?” Diego’s voice borders on the line of anger and desperation.

My men struggle to get the words out—I don’t blame them. Rio has been here before, and it didn’t have a happy ending.

I sit up taller and grab the envelope out of Rio’s hands, tossing it to Gabriel. “It’s all there. We need your help getting her back.”

“We don’t need them,” Zane comments.

“Yes, we do,” I push back.

When neither Asher nor Rio agrees with Zane, I know I’m right. I’ve never planned something like this before, but even I know we can’t do this on our own. It was a miracle that Rio and Zane were able to pull off that rescue without getting a scratch on them.

Gabriel scrunches his brows as he empties the contents onto his lap. The pictures fall, and Mateo’s and Diego’s eyes drop to the pictures, clearly on display.

“Ay dios mio,” Mateo whispers.Oh my God.

Diego’s face turns red.

Gabriel takes his time examining each photo and reading the note. He keeps his face empty of emotion, but his hands shake with suppressed rage. When he’s done, he places everything back in the envelope. “We’ll take care of it.”

“Fuck no,” Asher barks.

“Not without us,” Zane protests.

“That’s my sister!” Rio moves to stand, but I place my hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit back down.

Guess it’s up to me to be the rational one.

“You won’t get far without us,” I inform Gabriel.

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