Page 126 of Ruthless Secrets
We both draw our guns as we charge up the front steps of the cabin.
My heart slams against my ribs in a brutal rhythm as I brace myself for what I’m about to find.
Please don’t be dead.
The cabin is too quiet as I cross the threshold. Nothing seems different or out of place except for a blood stain in the middle of the floor.
That wasn’t there before.
I bend down and run my fingers through it, cursing under my breath when my fingers come away wet. “It’s fresh.”
“Fuck. How the hell did they get inside?”
“Looks to me like brute force. So much for this being a safe house.”
Andre looks around. “Lila?”
An answering sob has my brother almost stumbling.
I get to my feet and follow after him as he throws open a door to one of the bedrooms and almost collapses to his knees.
“Lila…”
Her arms are around his neck in an instant, her body trembling with the force of her sobs as she clings to her husband.
I can’t find it in myself to feel relieved at the sight of my sister-in-law, not when I’m yet to hold Clara’s warm body in my arms.
At any moment, I expect her to appear, to throw her arms around me and kiss me. But she doesn’t.
That’s when panic starts to build.
I push past my brother into the bedroom and quickly scan it for any signs of her.
All I find is Rosa and the babies huddled in the corner of the room, all of them crying.
“Where the hell is Clara?”
“Marco.”
I whirl around to find Marissa hiding behind the door, curled beside Alio. Her own face is stained with tears, and she’s clinging to Alio’s hand as if she’s afraid to let go.
“No,” I breathe as I spy his blood-stained shirt.
Alio is dead.
Marissa looks up at me, her eyes wide and glassy.
"They shot him.” Her lower lip trembles as she clings toAlio’s lifeless body. “I-I tried to save him, Marco, but he…he lost too much blood…"
As she starts to sob, a fresh wave of rage burns through me, threatening to snap the last thread of restraint I have left as I look down at Alio.
Despite every precaution, one of our own has ended up dead.
“They won’t fucking get away with this.” My finger flexes on the trigger of my gun. “I can promise you that, Marissa.”
“Marco.” She grabs my wrist. Her fingers are ice-cold, and her eyes are wild and desperate as she looks up at me. “They took Clara.”
My body stills.
