Page 54 of Kade

The click of the lock startled her so much she almost dropped the gun. Almost. She stepped to the side and got ready. When it swung inward, she pressed the gun against the man’s side, preparing to shoot. He caught her wrist and twisted until she dropped the gun. Anger fueled adrenaline, and she rushed him, pounding anywhere her fists could find purchase.

“Dammit, Angel, I don’t want to hurt you.” Conner’s irritation cut through her anger, and she paused, looking up into eyes so cold they chilled her more than anything Tomás could have done to her.

“How…” She took a deep breath. If Conner was here, so was Kade.

“We had people watching you and Matthew. We were never more than a minute or two away from you. It’s okay now,sestra. No one is going to hurt you.”

“They didn’t hurt me.” They didn’t have time to, but she didn’t say that out loud, though.

“They put their filthy hands on you.” Conner’s eyes burned with an unholy light. “If the police hadn’t arrived, I would have killed them all for touching you.”

“You…you saw that?”

“Yes, little sister. It will never happen again, not as long as I’m here. No one will touch you. I will kill anyone who does.”

She believed him. Kade would kill for her, she knew it, but the difference was Conner would enjoy the act while Kade wouldn’t. That made Conner the deadliest of all the brothers. “Insane” was the word that came to mind as she looked into the black abyss of his soul. God save anyone who got in his way.

“Matthew…have you found him?”

“Yes. That is why I wasn’t downstairs sooner. I had to find the boy’s room. Once I located it, I was on my way to slaughter them all.”

Angel shook off the nausea Conner’s statement brought. Not that she’d mind seeing them all slaughtered, but at the same time, Conner disturbed her. Gone was the flirty, charming man of earlier, and here stood a serial killer in the making.

“We need to get to him before Tomás decides to use him as leverage against Kade.” She picked up her small gun. “Let’s go.”

Conner stepped out into the hallway, cautiously listening. Three men lay on the hallway floor, dead or dying. Angel didn’t let herself focus on them. She had to get to her son. Conner led her down the hall that turned the corner and continued. Matthew’s room was at the end, “Mateo” spelled out on the door in bright red letters.

The door wasn’t even locked. She found Mateo watching a cartoon, sitting quietly on his bed. He looked up when she came in, surprised.

“Shh.” She put a finger to her lips until Conner followed her in and closed the door. “This is your Uncle Conner, your father’s brother. He’s here to rescue us.”

The little boy cocked his head. “Rescue?”

“Rescate.” The word came after a long second of searching. She was going to have to brush up on her Spanish, not that she’d been very good at it in the first place, but it was her son’s first language.

Matthew’s confusion grew. “No, Mama. Norescate.Estamos en casa.”

“No, Matthew,no estás en casa.” Conner’s brusque manner softened. He clearly understood Spanish. “Esto no está en casa. Nos lo robaron y estamos aquí para llevarlo a su verdadero hogar.”

“Matthew?” The little boy grew upset, clearly not understanding what was happening. “Mi nombre es Mateo.”

Even Angel understood that. She sat on the bed beside her son. “Of course your name is Mateo. We named you Matthew before you were born. It is your name, but if you want us to call you Mateo, we will.”

“Mateo.” His little shoulders puffed up, angry. She’d worried he wouldn’t want to be called Matthew, not after being Mateo since he was born.

“He understands English?”

“Sí,” Mateo answered for himself. “Not good.”

“It’s okay. You’ll learn English, and we’ll learn Spanish, but we need to go.TíoConner is going to get us out of here now. I know you’re afraid, but we’ll keep you safe. No one, including Tomás or Juan, will ever get near you.”

“Juan?” Fear pooled in her baby’s face. “Juan is bad man. He hurts me.”

Conner clenched his fist, and Angel saw the struggle for him to remain calm so the little boy wouldn’t be afraid of him. “Juan will die, Mateo. I promise you he will die for hurting you.”

Mateo stared up at his uncle for a long moment before nodding, his expression solemn. “Good.”

“We have to go.” Angel took his hand and helped him off the bed. He was small for his age. She was guessing it had to do with how premature he’d been. “Is there anything you want to take with you?”

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