Page 48 of Breaking the Alpha
The shrill ringof Serpent’s Tongue’s phone caught River’s heart in his throat and he swallowed hard as Birch snatched it up and hit the speaker button.
“Hello?”
The line crackled before the man on the other end spoke.“You have a cozy little family gathering going on today, Baker.”
Jocelyn moved toward the window and Birch sprinted ahead of her, closing the curtains tight.“Let me talk to Grey.”
“You’ll have your chance once we get our answer.”
Birch looked to him for confirmation and he nodded.“Yeah,” his brother said, his eyes hard.“We’re in.Both of us.Now put Grey on the line.”
There was a rustling sound coming through the speaker and he held his breath, exhaling when a familiar voice spoke.
“Birch?”
Birch’s entire body deflated as he knelt beside the desk to get close to the mic.“Yeah, Grey.I’m here.River is, too.”
“He’s okay, right?”Grey asked, sounding tired and weak.“River?You’re okay?”
His throat was so tight he could barely speak.“Yeah, Grey.I’m good.You’re gonna be here soon to see for yourself.”
There was more shuffling in the background and the first man’s voice filled the room.“If we have a deal, Bakers, we’ll release him tonight.”
“I said we have a deal,” Birch growled.“Where will he be?”
“He’ll be where we decide he’ll be.And remember we’re watching.Next time, we won’t play so nice.”
The line went dead.
No one spoke.Angelina clung to his arm, her head buried in his shoulder.“I didn’t ask,” he finally choked out, his chest heaving with a sob he was barely holding back.“I didn’t ask him if he was all right.”
Birch grunted in response, his voice strained as Jocelyn knelt down behind him and wrapped her arms around him.“He is.He will be.We’ll make fucking sure he—”
No amount of drugs in his system could numb the ache overtaking him as he looked at Birch and saw his steady-as-a-rock brother fighting to get a handle on himself for the second time in twenty-four hours.His shoulders heaved under Jocelyn’s grasp, his head bowed as he pressed his fist to his forehead.
He wasn’t doing much better when Angelina crawled onto his lap and cradled his head to her chest.Her silent permission toppled the precarious dam keeping him together and he broke down.The first sobs wracked his body painfully as she murmured softly into his hair.Her small arms felt like steel around him as he struggled to regain control, his breathing finally slowing to match hers.
Exhaling a shallow, shaky breath, he lifted his head and ran a hand over his face.“Fuck.I’m sorry.I—”
Her lips brushed against his.“Don’t you dare.I already warned you I have zero patience for apologies.”Smoothing his hair off his forehead, she adjusted her position but didn’t make a move to return to her chair, as if she knew he needed her there to anchor him.“Jocelyn?”
Jocelyn still had one arm tight around Birch where he sat on the floor, his head in his hands as her thumb flew across her phone screen.“I’ve alerted Fogerty and my friends with the Feds on this case,” she said, frowning at her cell.“Without knowing where Grey’s being held, they have no launch point.But they have ears and eyes everywhere, so wherever he’s dropped off, someone will be close enough to scoop him up and bring him home.”
Birch cleared his throat and straightened up.“So we keep waiting.”
“We keep waiting,” Jocelyn echoed softly.“And we get ready to welcome him home.”
Something in her voice spoke to his brother and Birch nodded, a visible calm washing over him.“Then let’s go.”He pushed himself off the floor and walked around the desk, coming up behind River and wrapping one arm around him.“You have an appointment at the hospital, right?”
“Yeah.”
Leaning in close to his ear, Birch muttered quiet enough to keep his words between them.“He’s coming home, okay?Love you, Riv.”With a quick squeeze, Birch released him.“Get going.Jocelyn and I will lock up and we’ll meet back at the house.”
*
River tugged hisshirt over his head while the doctor turned his attention back to Angelina to discuss his findings and review the changes to the medication doses.
It probably should have annoyed him, being treated like a kid in his own recovery, but seeing her taking notes and asking questions he hadn’t even considered only made him love her more.With his mind on Grey and Birch, there was no space left for him to concentrate on himself, so he’d tuned out gratefully, knowing Angelina was on it.
