Now I better understood why.

  “Yusef,” Jago hissed as he dropped his head, rubbing his jaw with his bloodied hand. His knuckles would be bruised, but he didn’t seem to care. My husband was obviously in his element.

  I remained where he’d placed me as soon as we’d walked in, doing my best to look the badass Bella had insisted I’d become.

  Meanwhile, my stomach was in knots and I was grinding my teeth to try to keep from vomiting.

  “Yusef,” Jago repeated and crouched down in front of the broken man, remaining on the balls of his feet. “I can make this much easier on you. You bought information, which you in turn gave to your boss, Hamza Bata. All I’m asking for is the name of the person you purchased it from. That’s it.”

  Yusef eyed him warily. Antonio jerked him into a sitting position.

  “Be respectful,” Antonio said. It was the first time I was seeing just how brutal my men could be.

  Yusef still lolled his head.

  Jago fisted the man’s hair, jerking his head so the two men could look eye to eye.

  Swallowing, I forced myself to look away, but only briefly. If I held my breath any longer, I could pass out.

  I heard a sound and realized Yusef had been stupid enough to spit blood and bile on Jago’s shirt. His previously sexy blue shirt that created shimmers in his eyes. I could tell the act had pissed Jago off in an entirely different way.

  He dropped Yusef’s head and rose to his feet, nodding toward Navarro before walking toward me. The sexy smirk lingered on his face as he locked eyes with mine. He was thoroughly enjoying this.

  I tried to look around him to see what was going on, but his shoulders were too broad and I was still firmly rooted to the spot.

  The block didn’t prevent me from hearing the buzzing sound of a power tool. I opened my eyes wide just as Jago cupped my chin, rubbing his bloodied thumb across my cheek.

  “One last opportunity, Yusef,” Jago said, never taking his eyes off me.

  As if to emphasize Jago’s message, I heard a rev of the tool.

  Immediately the man’s voice in English came. “Please, I’ll tell you.”

  Jago waved his hand again and the horrible sound of the tool disappeared. He smiled at me, his eyes twinkling.

  I shuddered, allowing myself to tremble.

  He winked. “Tell me what you need to tell me, Yusef, or I’ll leave you here with my man and his toy.”

  “A kid. Adan. Adan. I don’t… know his… last name.”

  Adan was a Spanish name.

  “Where did you meet him?” Jago continued.

  “Via Laietana.”

  I looked up at Jago. Where the hell was that?

  “Excellent, Yusef. See how easy that was? Navarro, give the man some peace.” Jago gave me a nod and without saying anything else, he turned me around in the opposite direction and we walked together toward the door of the warehouse.

  Once outside, I finally took that deep breath.

  I expected to hear the return of the power tool. Instead, I heard a single gunshot and only then did I close my eyes.

  I wasn’t cut out for this.

  CHAPTER 34

  Genevieve

  There were few words spoken after leaving the warehouse and while I hated the silence, I was thankful to be done.

  “The first time is the roughest,” Jago finally said just before we walked into the house. The castle. The fortress.

  “I don’t know if I want a second or third time.”

  “I hope that won’t be necessary.”

  We headed for the office together and that seemed strange, but normal. If there was such a thing any longer.

  Although something continued to nag at me.

  Once inside, he closed the door, immediately sauntering to the bar. I didn’t stop him as he prepared us both a drink. In truth, the liquid courage might calm my nerves, hopefully keeping the nausea from giving away my fear.

  “You did very well,” he said after pouring both whiskeys.

  I eyed him carefully, wondering how he could turn off the need for violence and threats so quickly.

  He handed me the glass, purposely allowing his finger to rub across my knuckles while I stared at his bloodied hand.

  “They’ll bruise.”

  As he glanced down, he sighed. “I’m used to it. Pain means nothing, at least physical anguish.”

  “I guess.”

  He backed away, narrowing his eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

  “The place the guy mentioned. Do you know it?”

  “No.”

  I took a sip of the whiskey, fighting the urge to spit it out from reflexes. “Can I use your laptop?”

  “Of course. Be my guest. What are you thinking?”

  “I don’t know yet.” I moved toward the desk, heading behind it and touching the spacebar. “Password?”

  “Mi dulce regalo,” he said with a grin.

  “My sweet treat. Really?”

  “I change it every few days.”

  “Smart.” I typed it in and waited, navigating to the internet. When I pulled up Via Laietana, my skin started to crawl.

  “What?”

  “It’s a gaming establishment in Barcelona.”

  “Okay. What does that mean?”

  I closed my eyes briefly. “I need to talk to Marco.”

  “Why.”

  “I just do!” My hand holding the drink was shaking. “Please.”

  He cocked his head and moved toward the door, opening it. “Benito. Find Marco. Bring him here.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Jago left the door cracked, walking toward me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Gaming. Marco is into gaming and was visiting a friend the night my father was killed and the night I was attacked in my home.”

  Jago took a deep breath, lowering the glass that he’d had to his lips. When he smashed it down on the desk, I threw out my hand.

  “Marco can’t know anything about it. Let me handle it.”

  He snarled.

  “Please.” I placed my glass on the desk, walking around the end toward him. “If you have any trust in me or care about me at all, let me talk to him. Please.”

  Jago wasn’t a man who held back his anger, but I could tell he was fighting rage and urges that I couldn’t begin to understand. But he nodded, closing his eyes briefly,

  I closed the distance, touching him on the arm. When I began to trace the ink on his forearm, he took a deep breath.

  “Get through to him, Genevieve. Make no mistake. We are at war.”

  “I know.”

  We were only forced to wait a few minutes before Benito ushered Marco in. My brother’s eyes were narrowed as soon as he walked through the door.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  I did my best to compose myself as I moved closer. “Your friend. The one you enjoy playing video games with. What’s his name?”

  “Why?”

  The boy was going to try my patience. “Because I asked you.”

  “Adan. Why?”

  As soon as I threw a look toward Jago, both of them stiffened. I took another deep breath, taking my time releasing it. “Via Laietana?”

  “Yeah, we go there sometimes. Why?” Marco was more insistent.

  I closed my eyes and all the anger and sadness, the despair I’d felt for ten days rushed through every fissure in my system. “You told him about my return home and the party Papa planned for my acceptance into the family corporation. Yes?”

  He shrugged.

  “Tell me!”

  Marco was noticeably startled. “Yeah. So what?”

  “And about the wedding and my honeymoon. Did you tell him about the locations?”

  Now he acted sheepish, taking a step away from me.

  Without so much as giving it a second thought, I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him violently. “Do you know what you’ve done? Do you have any idea?”

  “What are you talking about? Let go of me.” He tried to jerk free, but my fingers refused, digging into his shirt.

  Jago took a few strides closer but stopped before I was forced to tell him to do so. This was my fight.

  For now.

  “Your friend betrayed us. Our family. Jago’s family. And you!”

  The news stunned Marco. He opened his eyes wide, his expression panic stricken. “No. That’s not possible. You’re lying to me.” He managed to yank himself free and fisted his hand as if he was going to punch me.

  That’s when Jago intervened, stepping in front of us. I could tell by the man’s labored breathing he was close to the edge of losing control.

  “What else did you tell him?” Jago asked.

  I was shocked he was able to wrangle in his rage.

  “Nothing. What the fuck is going on?” Marco was close to whining.

  Disgusted, I turned away, taking gulping breaths. “He sold the information to the Turks. That’s why Papa was killed and why I was attacked, not once, but twice.” I fell short of accusing him, but I sensed my brother knew what I was thinking.

  “I didn’t know. I swear to God. Genie. I had no idea.”

  I took several controlled breaths before turning to face him again. “You’re going to set up a meeting with Adan. Now.”

  The expression on Marco’s face shifted into various emotions, but he took another step away. “I can’t do that. He’s my friend.”

  “He’s not your friend,” I threw at him. “If he was, your father would still be alive. Do you not understand?”

  “Listen to your sister, Marco. They will plan another attack and another if necessary until they get what they want. Genevieve. I will not allow that to happen. With or without your help, I will find Adan and when I do, he’ll wish he never crossed me or my family.”

  Jago’s voice and words rang in my ears. Images of my father’s body came rushing into my mind once again. I took gasping breaths, doing what I could to keep from panicking. To keep from hating my brother.

  He didn’t do this.

  He couldn’t have.

  Marco suddenly stood even taller. “No. I won’t let him hurt Genie. I’ll set up the meeting.”

  Jago turned and looked at me, blinking only once. There was the same emotion in his eyes as my brother’s and I could tell exactly how he felt about me.

  And it nearly crushed me from the weight.

  Jago

  The kid had been easy to find.

  I’d learned as much as Marco knew about him in the drive to the gaming facility. Adan was nineteen and had been Marco’s friend for less than a year. They’d met at the very location where we were headed, the gaming facility one of the few locations Julio Morales had allowed his son to enjoy.

  Little had the man known he’d signed his death warrant by doing so. While I doubted the young man was a true soldier belonging to Moroccans, the Turks regularly used young men as mules and confidants for a price. Often that included a promise of joining the ranks along with cash. He had no clue they rarely kept their promises.

  I’d insisted Marco go with me. If Adan was spooked, he’d disappear and we’d never find him again. That had pissed Genevieve off, but this time I’d put my foot down.

  “You know what to do,” I told Marco. I’d grilled him for information and provided a detailed plan that didn’t include him being offered a weapon.

  “Yeah. I’ll text you when I see him,” Marco said. His tone was flat, his expression unreadable, but I sensed he felt the weight of his unknowing betrayal.

  I had to give Genevieve credit. Not only had she figured out a clue much faster than I would have, but she’d applied enough pressure without shutting her brother down to obtain the information we needed.

  But knowing her brother had been a part of her father’s death had hit her hard.

  As had everything else.

  I nodded toward him, returning to the shadows. We’d purposely waited until nightfall, the usual time they met at the gaming facility. Right now, the element of surprise was worth its weight in gold.

  Marco wiped his hands on his jeans before heading inside. I’d left Kruz and other soldiers at the castle, Emiliano as well. A part of me was relieved her bodyguard hadn’t sold her out. I doubted she could take anything else right now without cracking.

  “What if the kid doesn’t talk?” Antonio asked.

  I’d begun to like his methods of handling business, including what he’d done with spreadsheets while actively combining both companies’ assets. He was also as brutal as my men if not more so.

  “He’ll talk. Kids like that will sell their souls for money. They have no understanding of loyalty,” I told him.

  Navarro chuckled.

  I had five men with me, another group still scouring the streets for additional information. With the ship preparing to leave in a couple of days, my instincts told me the new Moroccan-Turk alliance would attempt another hit as a smokescreen if nothing else.

  Beating them at their own game was vital.

  Barely three minutes later, I received a text from Marco.

  “We’re on. We lead him outside to talk,” I commanded, immediately heading to the entrance. As expected, the interior was dark, neon lights and low-level LED lighting providing little more than shadows. But I found Marco easily enough.

  “Adan. We need to talk to you.”

  The boy turned and faced us and he appeared older than his nineteen years. Too bad for him, he reached for a weapon. I snapped one hand around the back of his neck and the other around the hand on his pocket of his jacket where the gun remained hidden.

  “I don’t think so. If you would like to keep your family jewels, you’ll come quietly.” I made certain to shift the barrel of his own weapon toward his crotch.

  He got the idea, panting as I squeezed my fingers around his neck.

  We managed to walk outside without incident.

  Marco thumped against the brick exterior, but as soon as I released Adan, he lunged toward his friend. Within seconds, he’d managed to issue four brutal punches.

  The kid wasn’t bad, but I pulled him off anyway.

  “You fucking asshole. I thought you were my friend.”

  Adan struggled to stand, taking labored breaths. “Yeah? Well, you thought wrong. You were just a meal ticket.”

  I almost allowed Marco to attack him again, but motioned to Benito, who grabbed Marco’s arms.

  “Go with him, Marco. I’ve got this.”

  Marco hissed, even spitting in Adan’s direction.

  I turned to face the traitor and pushed him against the wall. “Who did you sell the information to? That’s all I want.”

  Adan snorted.

  I pressed the barrel of my weapon under his chin.

  At least he sucked in his breath from fear. “A Turk.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that. Who?”

  “A soldier. I don’t know his name.”

  “Let me guess. He promised you a place in their army. Right?”

  Two engines were idling close.

  Headlights.

  Both vehicles stopping.

  My instincts kicked in.

  We’d been spotted.

  I turned away from Adan with both hands on my weapon. “Get Marco down!”

  Pop! Pop!

  Gunfire erupted, my men scattering as Benito yanked Marco from harm’s way. I got off several rounds, hitting the tire of one of two vehicles.

  Screeching tires.

  Revving engines.

  As one vehicle careened to the side, another course of gunfire rang out.

  One seemed as if it was right in my ear. A shot at close range. What the hell?

  The first vehicle crashed into a row of cars while I aimed for the windshield of the second.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  The driver kept going but not for long, the engine suddenly revved and the vehicle speeding up. It jumped the sidewalk, smashing through a commercial plate glass window.

  I swung around in a circle, catching the fact Marco was still alive.

  And he had a gun in his hand.

  Recently fired.

  What the fuck?

  I slowly turned my head as Marco pulled himself away from Benito.

  Adan was dead, shot by Marco. As the kid slowly slipped to the sidewalk, I closed my eyes.

  What a goddamn clusterfuck.

  “Antonio is down. He’s been shot!”

  CHAPTER 35

  Genevieve

  Death.

  It surrounded me. It overwhelmed me. It brought back memories.

  And images.

  I was overwhelmed by them, each vision more vivid than the one before.

  Jago had told me I’d grow immune to the sick feeling, the twisted thoughts and the anger. But I hoped I wouldn’t. What would that make me if I did?

  In my mind, less than human.

  Still, in thinking that way, my thoughts led me to the understanding if I truly believed that, then my husband was less than human.

  And my own father.

  I wasn’t certain what I believed any longer, except that the kind of pain I was experiencing wasn’t going away. Yet the act allowed me to feel very much alive.

  The kitchen was the most serene place in the castle. There were fewer reminders we were housed in a fortress. Everything was bright and airy, the beautiful setting sun illuminating a field of wildflowers. At least in this room, I felt some sense of peace.

  To a point.

  Still, I was playing over the nightmarish life I’d become involved in, almost getting lost in my thoughts.

  “Are you alright?” Jago’s voice was comforting even after almost losing my brother. To find out he’d killed his best friend had torn me up inside.

  Even if the son of a bitch had used Marco.

  My brother hadn’t said more than two words in almost eighteen hours. He’d shut down, refusing to eat. His eyes held a tremendous vacancy. Meanwhile, I was fully immersed in suffering all over again.

  “I’m fine.”

  He placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing to try to provide some comfort. Was that even possible?

  “You’re not a very good liar, my wife.”

  Wife.

  I did like to hear him say that, even if it wasn’t supposed to be real. “What am I supposed to say, Jago? That I’m crushed my brother had to learn the hard way not to trust anyone? That one of my men is lying in a hospital bed hopefully recovering from a bullet wound. Or that we have no more clues so that maybe, just maybe we can resume our lives. Notice I don’t use the word normal at this point.”