I nodded. “You understand our required security protocol.”

  She nodded. “Yes, you are not the only high-profile parent we have. As such, we have a specific boarding house for any security not on detail. Obviously, we have our own campus security, but we’ve made accommodations for Darcy. Rotating guards, one on at all times, yes?”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  Darcy rolled her eyes. “Is that really necessary, Bridge?”

  I nodded. “Yes, kid, it is.”

  She sighed. “I will be grateful for it as long as I don’t have to go back to Vienna.”

  Miss Anna left us to it, and there were tearful hugs and goodbyes with Darcy and Mum. Darcy had to remind her that she would see her on Friday night when we picked her up for dinner and the weekend.

  Still, Mum sniffled. “Well, I didn’t get to see you in Austria very often, so it’s hard to get used to the fact that you’ll be so close.”

  Darcy laughed. “Mum, it’s open visitation on Wednesday evenings. I can see you in two days.”

  My mother wiped a tear. “Just let your mother be dramatic. For the love of Christ, my fucking children.”

  Both Darcy and I spit out laughs.

  My mother turned to Emma. “May you never have children as rude and as annoying as mine.”

  Emma laughed. “Come on Belinda, let’s get you in the car. I think Bridge wants a moment with his sister.”

  Darcy gave Emma a tight squeeze. “Thanks for everything, Ems.”

  “Of course. I always wanted a little sister. You come ready-made.”

  Darcy laughed and held on tight. When she finally let go, Emma caressed her cheek. "I’ll work on your brother about the roommate thing, okay?”

  They both scowled at me. I’d said no to a roommate. At least for this term, simply because security was an issue. I didn’t think Middleton was going to find her, but why take chances?

  Emma went to help my mother down the steps, and Darcy shrugged. “Guess this is it.”

  I matched her movements. “Guess so. You know, work hard and all that shit.”

  Darcy rolled her eyes. “Oh God, so loquacious. Well, you know, try not to be a dick.”

  I coughed. “You know there are some that would say that's impossible.”

  “Yes, I’d be one of them. But I still try.”

  I shook my head. “You and Mum, constantly taking the piss.”

  She grinned. “I know. And now you have Emma, people are going to start to think you like that sort of thing. Not to kink shame.”

  I sputtered and glared. “Jesus fuck, Darcy. What the fuck do you know about kink shaming?”

  “God, Bridge, you’re such a prude. I know things. I read.”

  “The fuck are you reading?”

  She laughed and then wrapped her skinny arms around me.

  “Fucking hell, Darce. No escaping campus, okay?”

  She nodded into my chest. “I won’t. I know this is serious and after what happened, I don’t want to scare you like that anymore. I think you and Mum have been through enough.”

  I could hear the slight sob in her laughter as I squeezed her tight. “ Don’t you cry, love. Can’t have me bawling. I’m not ready for the world to see me cry like that.”

  “Oh, we can make it happen. Shall I put on a Taylor Swift album?”

  I scowled at her. “One time. One time you made me listen to Taylor Swift when I was sad. And maybe I shed a tear. But the point is that Red album was incredible.”

  She grinned. “I know. I love you.”

  I squeezed her back. “I love you too. Go on. You got Marco and Dean for this week. I’ll have your more permanent team ready next week okay?”

  “Maybe I like Marco and Dean.”

  I scowled at Marco as he smiled up at us. “Sir.”

  I gave him a nod but made a mental note to fire him immediately. If she liked him, I wanted him nowhere near my sister.

  You’re being irrational. Marco’s twenty-five. And he’s one of your best security. Darcy’s twelve and she’s got a crush.

  Yes, but still.

  “All right, see you in a little bit. I’ll catch you on Friday.”

  “Better believe it. We’re going bowling.”

  I laughed. “Sure. Bowling, one hundred percent.”

  “That sounds like you’re trying to back out. Don’t cry just because Emma and I can kick your arse.”

  I whirled back. “Kick my arse? Says who?”

  She laughed and turned to go in. As I turned to move back toward the car, I heard her footsteps running down the stairs to catch me. And just when she did, I heard the crack even as I felt the heat through my arm.

  Automatically, I wrapped my arm around her as we both fell down, and I did my best to break her fall.

  We fell down the stairs on my back. And then I rolled over and covered her body with mine. Marco and Dean were running for us, guarding us with their bodies, pulling us toward the shield of the SUV.

  Emma was climbing out of the car, and I shoved an arm out, warding her off. The car was bulletproof. She was safer in there with my mum.

  All over campus, people screamed, and girls ran. Two more bullets pinged the ground near where we’d been standing. Marco and Dean and then Jacob and Ryan ran and dragged us behind the safety of my SUV.

  Things went silent and I finally pulled back to get a look at my sister.

  She was awake and alert. Breaths coming in shallowly. But she was clutching her shoulder.

  I glanced at her black peacoat and I couldn’t see anything. I pulled it back, and I could see it on her pink jumper. Blood.

  I cursed under my breath. “Easy does it, Darce. I need to take a look.”

  “Ah, it burns, so hot.”

  I ignored the pain in my own shoulder to check hers. She’d been grazed. A little gauze and a bandage and she would be fine. Motherfucker. I glanced over at Jacob. “Check in with school security.”

  “They’re already on it. Found an abandoned sniper’s nest.”

  “Go help them.”

  Fucking Middleton. He tried to take me out and had gotten my sister instead. I was done fucking around. I was going to take him down, and I was going to use whatever means necessary.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Bridge

  “You look like you’re about to do something you might not be able to take back.”

  I’d just left Darcy’s room. Technically, she was fine, and she was demanding to go to school tomorrow. Which no way in fucking hell was I letting that happen. She was going to stay here. I was going to call in tutors.

  Ben and East had posted up at the end of the hall and were giving me a wide berth. Emma had taken Mum home, and I almost hadn’t let either of them out of my sight until Mum agreed to let six guards accompany her to the restaurant and back home, and that she wouldn’t make any moves without them.

  Emma had kissed me softly and told me she’d be right back. And I knew she meant it. No antics, no running off trying to deal with things on her own. She would be safe. But my fucking sister. He had shot me and gotten my sister. This wasn’t a game anymore. We weren’t playing.

  East leaned in and said something to Ben only to have Ben shake his head. “Oi, what the fuck are you two on about?”

  Ben lifted a brow, his arms still folded, and he looked like he was completely unbothered. “Doc said your shoulder was through and through, but you still need to take it easy for a couple of days. You think carrying on and pacing about like this is a good idea?”

  I scowled at the throbbing pain in my shoulder and kept moving. “It’s nothing.”

  East shrugged. “Told you. He’s not going to listen to anything.”

  “Are you fucking mad? Listen? That twat took a shot at my sister. Darcy! His sister too.”

  Ben nodded. “Look, we get it, mate. We understand. But Darcy was caught in the crosshairs. He was coming for you. Which is enough to be pissed off about. We’re here to support. We’re not here to tell you to calm the fuck down or that this isn’t a big deal. Whatever you need, we got you.”

  I glanced between the two of them. “I want a Crimera profile done on him.”

  East whistled low. “You’re going to give him a Crimera? No one’s used that in a century.”

  “I want one.” Crimera was our version of a duel, with the wronged party choosing the method of battle.

  Ben nodded. “Done. I’ll meet with the Five tonight. Australia’s awake. I’ll start there.”

  I nodded my thanks. "I want him buried.”

  Ben nodded. “On it. What else do you need?”

  I turned to the two of them. “Neither one of you is going to try and stop me?”

  Both of them shook their heads. Drew came up the stairs then and caught the trio of us. “No one asked me to the clubhouse?”

  One look at me, and he narrowed his gaze toward Darcy’s door. “She all right?”

  I nodded. "All she needs is her sutures out and she can go back to school.”

  Drew opened his mouth to say something, but I pinned him with a glare, and he put his hands up. “I didn’t say anything, mate.”

  I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly. I knew that my carefully crafted control was slipping. At the same time, I could do nothing about it. Because I was horrified and angry and worried and terrified. My sister, she was mine to protect and my actions nearly got her killed. It was my fault she was laying in that bed. I needed to do something. I needed to make this stop. I needed to make him pay.

  Small problem. None of us had any fucking clue where he was.

  “Where are we on locating him?”

  “We’ve exhausted all the other properties. I’ve sent men myself to comb the properties, make sure he’s not there. Unless he's somewhere underground."

  “He was under our noses the whole time, not five miles from my granddad’s place. We have to do better. Fucking figure out where he is.”

  East nodded. “He’s clearly operating on cash or another identity. I’m working on it, okay?”

  I shook my head. "You’d better be.”

  He nodded. "Roger that.”

  I sighed. I was being a twat, and they were taking it. Doing what I asked. And I could see they were worried. East was the empath of the group. He was always obsessively worried about everyone’s health and security. Ben was the one who flew off the handle. I was supposed to be the controlled one. The one who had a plan, always, but this time I couldn’t see straight.

  “As soon as we find him, we are bringing him down, swear to fucking God,” Ben said. “It’s the matter of finding him. Drew, you are going to the hospital tomorrow, right?"

  “Yeah. Trying to get some answers. Maybe it’ll be nothing, but maybe it’ll give us some insight.”

  I ran my hands through my hair as I leaned against the wall and sagged, staring at my sister’s room. It was my job to protect her. My job to keep her safe. My father had abandoned her because she wasn’t the son he wanted. Maybe he even understood that Francis was probably not the son he wanted either. But fucking hell. He’d abandoned her, and I had become her father, her brother, her everything. I was supposed to keep shit like this from happening. Not draw it to her.

  Even as my head hung and my mind spun, I could feel it, I wasn’t alone. Before I knew what was happening, there were shadows over me. And then I felt the shift in motion on the ground as someone plopped next to me, and someone else plopped on my other side. And in front of me, someone else’s feet hit mine. I lifted my gaze and met Ben’s icy blue one. “We sit here till we figure it out.”

  On my left, sat Drew. When I glanced at him, he grinned. “What, think you’ve got the whole lock on loving people shit? We love her too, and Ems, and your mum. We’re all family, and we’ll figure it out.”

  It was East who put his arm around me. “Now, now, lean into Uncle East. This hug will make you feel better.”

  I scowled at him, but he still wrapped his arm around me. “No, it won’t help me feel better. I know what will though.”

  Ben’s gaze narrowed. “Mate, he won’t give you the answers you want.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I need to try.”

  East sighed. “I’ll drive him.”

  Drew, always a little slow on the uptake, frowned. “Where the fuck are you going?”

  “To see the one person who will probably know where that fucker is.”

  Ben sighed. “I’ll tell Emma.”

  “Thanks, mate.” If I couldn’t do anything here, I had to try and get answers one way or the other.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bridge

  I didn’t go back to Ben and Liv’s. East had offered to drive me, but just when he went inside to get the keys, I ditched him, walking down the block to my own house and getting the keys to my Huayra.

  With nothing but the red haze of fury and anger to accompany me, I drove out to my house. The one my father hadn't yet vacated.

  I sat parked down the lane staring up at the place I'd dreaded for so long, the weight of my Sig Sauer in my palm, desperate to go inside and force the answers I needed out of that man.

  For years, I'd prided myself on my control, on my ability to hold on to my emotions. But I could feel the hum of desperation under my skin.

  Go on. You know you want to.

  My fingers traced along the trigger. I did want to. Because the son my father loved had almost taken Darcy away.

  As it was, he had already stripped me of a piece of my heart. I would never be able to forget the sheer terror of seeing blood on Darcy from a gunshot wound.

  My brother, monster that he was, had taken Toby from us. My brother, with his core of evil, had almost taken Darcy. And as I sat there looking up at my father's house, I wondered how much of my brother I had in me.

  There was a part of me that could have cut the security line, moved stealthily in the dark, and stolen into the house. I could have put down anyone I saw. I was eager to pull the old man out of bed by his neck and squeeze. I could have tortured him until he told me where my brother was.

  But there was the little problem of my father's penchant for lying. There was also the problem that doing that, possibly killing my father, might have robbed me of whatever little soul I had left. I knew if I went back to Emma after having killed him in cold blood, she would forever look at me differently.

  So instead, I willed impulse control and sat there and stared up at the house. By the time dawn broke, I didn't want to go back to Ben and the lads. I didn't want to answer any questions. For the first time in months, I went home. Except it didn't feel like home.

  After I’d kicked Mina out for good, there had been no changes to the house. But it felt colder, emptier. There was no life in the house. And I knew that even though the Elite mansion was not home, it felt that way because of Emma.

  After I got a couple of hours of sleep, I got dressed and texted Emma to let her know that I was heading into the office for an early meeting.

  I could feel my brain judging my choices. I should have gone back for Emma and talked to her and looked in on Darcy myself. But seeing my sister right now would just put me in a spin again.

  Admittedly, my day was busy. I'd also intentionally made it busy so that Emma wouldn't have a moment to come in and ask me what the fuck was up. I saw her look into a couple of conference rooms trying to catch my gaze, but I deliberately ignored her. That didn't stop her from leaving several texts though.

  Emma: where are you?

  Emma: did you not come home last night?

  Emma: Bridge? Talk to me. What is happening?

  Emma: are you seriously avoiding me right now?

  I knew she was pissed. Properly ticked off. And she should be. I was being a total wanker, but I couldn't face her. I just needed time to get my shit together.

  When I eventually did text her back, it was to tell her that I was going to be working a little later than anticipated and to head back on the helicopter without me.

  She had taken off early, around three that day. And as luck would have it, it was the one day I didn't have late meetings. Ben checked in and let me know Mum and Darcy were fine and that he'd bring my sister out to the mansion later.

  I'd honestly run away as long as I could, and I knew I had to face the music. My drive back to the mansion was mostly quiet and contemplative because I was gearing up for the fight.

  And my wife did not disappoint.

  She was waiting for me in the kitchen with a large glass of wine ready for me. She'd already started on hers.

  “You want to tell me what the fuck is going on, Bridge?”

  I sighed. “Will you come over here and kiss me before you start on me, please? Matter of fact, I'd actually appreciate a really quick shag before we start fighting.”

  She glowered at me. “Is this a joke to you?”

  I shook my head. “No. I'm merely suggesting that maybe we could fuck out the frustration first before we talk.” I was aiming for a coffin. I knew it. But I couldn't stop myself.

  “Wow.”

  I knew from experience that when a woman looked at you like she was looking at me and used that one word sentence, you were in a mountain of trouble. “Fuck. Sorry. I'm freaking sorry, okay? I just needed some air to think.”

  “You needed air?”

  As excuses went, it was a shitty one. “Look, I didn't want to come back to you all fucked up like that, okay?”

  Emma crossed her arms over her magnificent tits and scowled at me. “I call bullshit. What are you hiding?”

  I didn't want to have this argument. I didn't want her to see me like that. So I evaded. “Fucking Christ, Emma, just back off, okay?”

  “No, not okay, Bridge. We have a pact, you and me. We talk. We discuss things. We're not going to revert to our old selves. You are clearly dealing with something, and you should be because your lunatic brother tried to shoot you. Did you stop to think how terrified I would be when you did not come home?”

  My brow furrowed. “I texted you to let you know I was all right.”

  She blinked at me twice. “You texted me?”