Something was very wrong.
This woman—this bad lady—had told him his parents had given him to her as a gift, but that sounded wrong. As wrong as being alone with the too-smiley woman felt.
He didn’t like it here. He wanted to go home.
Home to his mother. Home to father. Home to Molly.
Just home.
A.J. peered around the room as he often did, looking for some way out. But she was always one step ahead, locking doors, closing windows, sleeping in the same room as him. He was beginning to think he’d never find his way home, and remembered what his mother had told him.
If he were ever lost, all he needed to do was find an adult and they would help him find his way home.
He slyly glanced over at the pretty woman. She was an adult, but she wouldn’t help him.
He began to wonder just how many bad people there were in the world. How many of them looked safe and pretty like her? How many of them were women?
It was a frightening thought for such a young mind to comprehend.
“Excuse me,” he spoke softly.
The woman stilled before turning to him. She looked at him expectantly. “Mummy.”
He hated this. She insisted he call her that. But she wasn’t his mother. His mother was his mother. This woman was a bad lady, and he didn’t know why she wanted him, why she took him.
And so, he refused to call her that.
Her smile widened as if she felt his internal struggle. As if she enjoyed it.
When she turned to face him, what she said caught A.J.’s attention. “Sweetie, if you call me mummy, I’ll give you anything you want.”
He thought about that. “Anything?”
The bad lady’s smile stretched into a grin. “Anything,” she promised.
A.J.’s little heart began to beat faster. He didn’t like what he knew he had to do, but he’d do it. He’d do it for his mum.
“Mummy,” he started, and the woman’s face softened along with her smile, “I’d like to go home now.” The moment he saw the woman’s spine stiffen, he knew he’d said something wrong. “To my real mum and dad.” When her eyes shuttered, A.J. felt a cold draught flow through the room as her mood darkened. “Please,” he added as politely as he could.
But as easily as her mood had soured, her lids fluttered and then she was smiling again so sweetly he actually believed she might do as he asked.
He should have known better.
“Oh, sweetie.” The woman gazed at him warmly before uttering, “You are home.”
A.J.’s entire body broke into goose bumps at the way she said it, like she really believed it. Something was very wrong with this lady. And luckily, A.J. was smart enough to see that he was not going to win by upsetting her.
So, for now, he’d do as she pleased no matter how much it hurt him.
He turned back to the toys on the floor, and when he spoke again, he did it gently.
“Okay, Mummy.”
***
Twitch
The front door opened and Thiago stood there, watching me closely, a frown marring his perpetually knitted brow. “Where the fuck you been?”
I pushed past the jackoff and stalked down the hall into the main room where everyone was waiting on me. They were all there. The instant I saw her sitting on the sofa, her face void with emptiness in her eyes, I went to her.
As I approached, ignoring everyone else around me, my chest tightened when, for the first time in two days, she blinked up at me, and muttered, “We’re going to get him back.”
I frowned at my woman. Of course we were. What did she think—that failure was an option? Did she even know me? What the fuck was going on inside that pretty head of hers?
Not knowing worried me.
Taking her small, cold hand in mine, I sat by her and pulled her into me, pressing soft kisses to her clammy brow, and she let me, closing her eyes, taking in the comfort I so rarely offered. And when I pulled back, searching her face, I gently pushed stray hair behind her ears and vowed, “He’s coming home, baby.”
She did her own intake of my sincerity, and as she reached up to cup my cheek with her weak hand, she smiled softly. “Be a parent, they said.” She grinned, but her breath hitched. “It’ll be easy, they said.” When her lips began to quiver, I hugged her to me, cupping the back of her head as she trembled and shook, and in that moment, I knew I would do anything—and I meant anything—to see my son home safely to his mother.
It was cruel to think that our family would likely be torn apart with this battle.
It was cruel to have only had my son with me a few solid months. But, no matter the sacrifice, we’d see it through.
I would give anything for my little man. Including my life.
“Where’s the cop?” Pav asked from across the room.
Peering over Lexi’s head, I stated, “Sent him on his way.” When our eyes met, I uttered, “He can’t help us, Luka.”
From the grave nod he gave me, I knew he got me. This was our problem. We did not play by common rules in this kingdom. The law meant nothing to us. We dealt with our own in whichever way we saw fit, and Ling Nguyen had signed her own death warrant.
I wasn’t prepared for what should occur if Gabe Blanco got to Ling first.
She’d plead insanity, likely serve a few years, and get out on a complication or loophole. And I couldn’t let that happen.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Pav moved into the center of the room and looked around at our small but capable family. “The Dragons kept a lot of their dealings on the hush, which made it pretty hard to track down any property acquisitions they may have had a hand in. But, with the right tools—” He inclined his head to Luna, who returned it regally. “—you can find anything on the internet.”
Zep’s gaze rolled over the woman sitting next to him before reaching out to impishly pinch her side. “Lulu to the rescue, huh?”
“Stop it.” She flinched, pushing away his hand. “I’m ticklish.”
Zep’s eyes hooded, and nobody missed the claim in the way he said, “I remember.”
Happy stood to the side, leaning against the wall, and he jerked his chin to the boyishly styled woman. “What did you find, Luna?”
“Actually,” she began, throwing a co-conspirator look to her sister, “it was Pav and Fernanda who gave me the idea.” She glanced around at her peers. “It’s no secret now that Ling and Aslan were a couple, and after he ended it, things went sour. So after a bit of inside research, I simply looked up all of Sadik’s prospective property hauls. It took some time, but I managed to track down some of his losses.” She shrugged, completely undermining the extraordinary work she had done. “They all lead back to the same offshore account.”
Julius spoke low, folding his arms across his chest. “Those accounts should be untraceable.”
It was then Luna let some of her pride show. “Should be, yes.”
Happy, now curious, came over to take the spare seat next to Luna and pulled her laptop closer to him, going through her findings. “She did well trying to cover her tracks. Bounced transfers from multiple accounts from different countries, but she fucked up in a very small, very stupid way.”
Luna peered at Happy a long moment before a slow smile spread across her lips. And Zep did not like that. “Oh, yeah?” he muttered, breaking Luna’s spell. “How’s that?”
Happy exchanged a knowing look with Luna. “The originating account was kept the same. Rookie mistake. Also dealt in Australian dollars. It’s a massive giveaway. Should have dealt in Euros or US Dollars. It would have made the search that much broader.”
Evander stood behind Manda, his brow low. “How many properties are we talking here?”
“Fourteen,” specified Luna. “But we’ve narrowed it down to three.”
“Three?” Manda frowned. “That’s all?” She peered around the room, confused at the hold up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”