Page 89 of Burdens
I pushed the thought away and focused on getting Amalia and me to where we needed to be.
We were now only a few minutes from our destination. The drive back to Bab Al Mansour was normally only forty-five minutes, but Amalia and I had taken the back roads while Kai, Jamal, and Valentina took the main highway.
All of us yesterday had agreed to not only leave at different times but also take different routes to avoid landing on my father’s radar.
Nassim had sent a text earlier, informing us that he and Daniela were already at the safe house. They’d left late last night and had met with their men this morning to brief them on the plan we’d devised yesterday.
The only variable we weren’t able to account for was the number of men on the premises. Nassim’s men had tried to doso, but since Amalia and I fled, my father had upped the security around the mansion and they couldn’t get close enough without attracting attention.
This meant two things—Infiltrating theriadwould be much harder than we’d anticipated and we’d be outnumbered.
At least Kai’s drones and Valentina’s skills as a sniper would give us a better chance at mapping out how many were on the grounds and where each one was.
It was almost sundown by the time we pulled over behind the apartment building, the descending sun casting long shadows across the alley. Amalia’s burner phone buzzed against my back as I brought the motorcycle to a stop, cutting off the engine.
I waited for her to get down before throwing my leg over the seat and turning to face her. She removed her helmet, raking her fingers through her hair.
I pulled off my own and grabbed hers as she reached into her leather jacket pocket, retrieving the new burner phone. She’d bought it when we’d stopped for gas earlier because she’d wanted to leave anything that had the potential to be traceable behind.
Flipping it open, she read the new message before showing it to me. It was a message from Nassim, giving us the information on which building, the apartment number, and the code for the door.
She slipped the phone back into her pocket. “Ready?” she asked, her features betraying her worry as she glanced back at me.
I gave her a small nod. “Yeah, I am,” I replied, despite the apprehension now coursing through my veins. A million thoughts spiraled through my brain because I needed this to work, but what if it didn’t?
What if everything we’d planned wasn’t enough?
Focus, Noah. Feelings are for later.
“Hey,” Amalia’s voice softened as she reached up to cup my cheek reassuringly.
I grasped her wrist and leaned into her touch, closing my eyes as she pushed herself up on her toes. She swiftly pressed a kiss to my lips before pulling away.
Opening my eyes, I found her intently looking at me. “I know this is a lot, but we got this,” she said with determination.
She was so cute.
I chuckled. “Look at you giving me motivational speeches.”
She withdrew her hand from my face and playfully swatted my chest, shaking her head. “Let’s go, pretty boy. We have somewhere to be,” she said before heading down the alleyway.
With a deep breath, I followed her, trying to ignore the dread slithering down my spine.
CHAPTER 25
AMALIA (PRESENT)
I was seatedin a car with Noah, Nassim, and Jamal, parked onto a side road that led to the Barrera compound while Kai and Valentina were posted on the opposite side of the property to give them a better vantage point to guide us.
Daniela ended up staying behind despite her countless protests after Nassim discovered earlier today that she was pregnant after she’d thrown up for the majority of the morning.
They got into an argument right before we’d left because she insisted she would be fine since it was still early in her pregnancy, but he’d ended up somewhat convincing her to stay put.
Some of Nassim’s men were scattered around different corners of the property while the rest of them were packed into an off-road vehicle that was set to run straight through the front barrier in exactly seven minutes to provide us with a distraction so we could infiltrate theriadfrom the back.
Unintelligible mumbles cut through the comms, but I could tell who it was despite the muffled sound of their voices and that I’d just met them a few days ago. They must have forgotten that their line of communication with us hadn’t been muted.
“Kai, Valentina, cut the shit. We don’t have time for your bickering,” I said through gritted teeth as we all got out of the car.
