“I know what you mean.”

For the next couple of hours, I showed Nick how to hold his pistol and how to load it. One of Mason’s guys had given us extra ammo, since I only had enough for myself. Nick needed to be prepared. The guy might be a pain in my ass, but I could see it in his eyes, he wasn’t afraid. It was what I needed.

The sky began to turn dark, and it was time to move. Once everything was packed up, we moved closer to the house so I could set up. Nick pointed to the house. “How are we going to get in?”

I opened my laptop and typed away. “I’m going to override the security system. For just a few brief minutes, we’ll be able to climb the fence undetected. As soon as we get in, I want to find Hadley and then get you two out of there.”

“What about you?” he stormed, jerking his head toward me.

“I’m not leaving until they pay for what they did.”

“Hadley’s not going to like that.”

I knew she wouldn’t, but she had no choice. “She’ll just have to understand.”

A twig snapped behind us a couple hundred feet back. I tensed and so did Nick. “What was that?” he whispered.

“Someone’s here.” I pointed to one of the large trees beside us. “Crouch low in front of that tree. We don’t want to shoot out here.”

“Don’t shoot, got it.” He crawled over to the tree and crouched low.

It was so dark, I could barely see him, but I had a night sensor on my pistol that helped. Another twig snapped and when I pointed my gun in the general direction, I found what I was looking for. It was Connor. As quietly as I could, I stood and took small, calculated steps through the brush. Without him knowing, I circled around and came up behind him.

“I told you I didn’t need you,” I warned.

He lifted his hands and held them out. “I told Hadley you would come.”

“Where is she?”

“Either in her room or Tristan’s. I saw them taking her away, kicking and screaming. She obviously found out something while I was gone. The next thing I knew, they were coming to my house to put a bullet in my head.”

“And why would they do that?”

He sighed. “Because Tristan and I don’t see eye to eye. When I found out what he was up to, I challenged him on it. And if there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s cross him.”

“Why did you then?”

His shoulders stiffened. “You’re not the only one he took something from.”

“You expect me to believe this?”

“No, but it’s all you got. He’s planning to take her to Ireland tomorrow and as soon as she’s with our people, getting her out will be nearly impossible.”

“What does her father have to do with this? Did he order the hit on me?”

He shook his head. “No, he’s clueless. That was all Tristan. George doesn’t even know he was the one involved here. Every message was passed through me. The man was desperate after the last threat, so he asked me to fake her death. Obviously, he doesn’t know the consequences of dealing with my kind.”

Nick left his spot by the tree and stormed over. “Why does Tristan want to take Hadley?”

If Connor was surprised at his presence, he didn’t show it. “Because he’s obsessed with her; has been for years. Can I drop my arms now?”

Lowering my gun, I stepped around him and he dropped his arms. “Are you trying to say he’s been here this whole time just for her?”

“As fucked up as it sounds, that’s exactly what I’m saying. He orchestrated this whole thing, studying her and her friends.” He turned to Nick. “Including you. He hated you with Hadley. Thinks you tried to take her away from him.”

Nick tensed. “What a fucking bastard. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one who broke into Hadley’s that night and killed Scott.”

“And shot you,” I added.

Connor glanced back and forth at us. “I’ve thought about that. He denied it when I asked him. He claims he was with a girl that night. If I went snooping, he’d know.” He shrugged and pointed at the house. “But now we have a bigger problem. Tristan’s plan was to take Hadley away before her father got back. I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing here early. Tristan isn’t going to like that. My guess is, they’ll kill him to keep him out of the way. Tristan gets off on getting rid of obstacles.”

The sky grew darker and time was running out. “All right, let’s get this shit started,” I said, hurrying to my laptop. “How many people does he have in there?”

“Just two. I’m assuming Dillon is missing because you got rid of him already?”

Nick snorted. “He’s not dead, but Evans fucked him up.”

They talked back and forth while I typed away and got everything ready to go. All I had to do was click one button and the system would be down. “Where should we go in at?” I asked.

Connor cleared his throat. “The window in Hadley’s room is unlocked. I caught her trying to escape last night. When I shut it, I never locked it.”

“Why did she try to leave?”

“Tristan drugged her and thought she was passed out when he said he wanted you dead. When she woke up, she tried to get to you. I was there to stop her.”

Clenching my teeth, I clicked the override button. There was no telling what all that fucker had done to her. “This ends tonight. Let’s go.”

We took off for the fence and got over it with ease. Without the override, we wouldn’t have been able to withstand the electrical current running through the wires. It’d be like getting struck by lightning. Once again, I was thankful for my many connections.

When we got to the back of the house, I climbed up the side and opened the window Connor pointed to. Hadley wasn’t in there, but I slid in and helped Nick and Connor inside.

“She must be in Tristan’s room,” Connor hissed.

The thought made me so goddamn pissed I couldn’t see straight. I stormed for the door. “I’m going up there to find her.”

Nick pulled out his gun and had it ready. “And I’ll try to find her father. The faster we find them both, the quicker we can get the hell out of here.”

I didn’t like him going out on his own, but he knew the risks. “What are you going to do?” I asked Connor.

Eyes blazing, he held up his gun. “I’m ready for my own revenge.”

They both took off down the stairs and I went up to the third floor. The hallway was dark but I knew exactly where to go when a figure caught my eye. Tristan had one of his goons stationed right outside of a room. Unfortunately, I couldn’t shoot or it’d alert the whole house. Sneaking into one of the other rooms, I closed the door and lightly scraped my fingers across it.

“Come on, bastard,” I grumbled.

The sound of his footsteps steadily approached and the door creaked open. As soon as I saw the gun in his hand, I grabbed his wrist and twisted. He started to shout, but I wrapped my other arm around his face and snapped his neck. One down, two to go. I pulled him further into the room and stole the keys off his belt.

Hurrying down the hall, I studied the lock. There were a ton of keys, but only a couple of brass ones; that was what I needed. I tried the first, second, and third one, but they didn’t work. I got down to the last one and it turned home. Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob and opened the door, not knowing what the hell I was going to see.

Hadley

For the past couple of hours, I dreaded the moment Tristan would walk through that door and now the time had finally come. My eyes burned, but I refused to let him break me. No matter what happened, I was going to stand strong with my head held high. Could I fight him off? Maybe, but not for long. I knew I didn’t stand a chance in the long run, at least not alone. My father was there somewhere, and I didn’t know if Tristan was going to keep his word. I had no doubt he would kill him if I defied him.