Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
And he belonged to her, and he’d figured out his place in the world. By her side.
“You truly marrying my girl?” Liam asked.
“As soon as she says yes,” Nate replied.
His father put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m happy for you, son.”
Liam breathed out a deep sigh and looked toward the heavens before making the sign of the cross. “Thank the lord. No take backs, Nathan. No matter how much trouble she causes.”
Nate felt a grin slide across his face. “I can handle some trouble.”
“Did you hear that, Brody?” Liam was all smiles now.
“I told you it would work out,” his father said with a smile of his own. “And the best news is I’ve been talking to your mother and she wants to make Dallas our home base for a while. Elodie’s safely in Sydney. So we’d like to be around friends again.”
Liam’s expression turned serious as he held a hand out to Nate’s father. “We’ll be more than happy to have you. I would bet Avery already has Steph looking for a place close to us. You want to be close to us and not the run-down place where Daisy’s going to make Nate live. You’re going to need to learn a lot about home improvement, son.”
Was he about to get everything he wanted? His girl. His family. Knowing his sister was happy and fulfilling her dreams.
Daisy ran into the room, her cell in her hands. She looked at the boys who were still joking around and not getting ready for bed in any way. Daisy took a steadying breath.
Something was wrong.
“What is it?”
He and Liam asked the question at the same time, both moving in front of her.
Liam took a step back, giving Nate the chance to talk to her first.
Because she was his responsibility now. He reached for her hand. “What’s happening?”
“The alarm is off, and I can’t find Devi,” she whispered.
His father cursed under his breath. “I’m on it. We’ve been away from the bloody security cams. I’ll run them back. She couldn’t have gotten out the front. We would have seen her.”
“She went out back,” Daisy replied, still surreally calm. “She was upset about something, and she sits on the back steps when she’s upset. Lucas, I need you to get the boys into the nursery. Bri’s there.”
Lucas was suddenly all kinds of serious. “You need me to call my dad?”
She shook her head. “My father’s already on it.”
“Yeah, go get Ian,” Liam was saying into his cell. “Tell him I want a sniper on the roof of the club, and they’re looking for Devi on the east side of the Ferguson building. Keep this quiet. We don’t know what’s happening yet.”
Lucas turned to the kids. “All right, guys. Let’s get a move on.”
Hunter was already in motion, gathering up the youngest. “Let’s brush some teeth. Don’t want them to fall out, do we?”
They weren’t military but they were calm under pressure.
“We’ll stay with Bri and the kids,” Gabe assured them. “Let me know when the coast is clear. Until then, we’ll keep everyone in lock-down.”
The young men moved efficiently, getting the boys to cover without panicking them.
“I think they’re calling my cell.” Daisy’s hand shook slightly as she passed it to him. “I didn’t answer or look at the texts they sent.”
“Smart girl.” Her father still had his cell in hand. “Better to play dumb. The minute you answer you’re on a timer.”
Daisy nodded. “I also didn’t get close to the windows. When I realized the alarm wasn’t on, I made sure no one could see me. I would have loved to have seen her, but that would put me on a timer, too.”
She hadn’t panicked. She hadn’t rushed out trying to save her friend herself. He was proud of her. His cell rang, and he slid his finger across the screen, putting it on speaker. “Dad? What have you got?”
Daisy leaned in.
“She went out the back and did exactly what Daisy said she would. She was drinking coffee, sitting on the back steps crying,” his father explained. “And then two men with military-grade weapons dressed in all black took her. I think they’re in a van on the other side of the Ferguson building. Liam, I told you I thought someone was following us.”
Liam cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see it so I brushed it off.” He looked to his daughter. “I was too eager to get home and tell you and your mother you’re going to be safe. I just wanted to see my daughter and tell her how much I love her.”
Daisy nodded. “I love you, too, Da. But we have to get Devi. I can’t let them take her. We have to exchange me for her, and then you’ll rescue me. It’ll be fine. I’ll be a perfectly good hostage.”