Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox)

***

~~KNOX~~

***

I can hear Jade in the backseat of my car, loading up the guns we pulled from the hidden storage in my home basement.

Mateo thought way outside the box with this one. Sloane's sister. Of all hostages to choose from. I'll admit-if it were under another circumstance, I might've been impressed. But as it stands, I am not. The minute I heard Sloane's voice shake on the phone, the minute I heard her sound that small and that furious at the same time, my sympathy for clever strategy went out the damn window.

"You sure we should be carrying this level of firearm around?" Jade asks. “What if we get pulled over and have to explain the assault rifles and all this illegal shit we have back here? My kid-or kids, if they all survive incubation in their mother's womb-will not see me for a very long time. I bet Margot won't even tell them I'm alive. Or visit me in prison. All because your girlfriend said Mateo kidnapped that bitch, Serena. Honestly? Just let her die. You'll be doing the world a favor."

I was wondering when he'd bring this up. From the moment he walked in after I sent for him and told him what was going on, I could see it, the way all the blood drained from his face as Serena's name popped up. People love to talk about how dangerous a woman scorned can be, but they clearly haven't met Jade holding a grudge.

"Left to me, Jade," I say, "I don't care what happens to her. But Sloane loves her sister. So we're saving her."

"She'll get over her death. Give it time."

"I don't want her to end up spending months grieving. She's the only thing that makes me happy."

"You're just selfish, Knox. Think about it. Sloane's better off without her sister. I'll get my revenge. Maybe Margot will grieve, and I'll get to swoop in and comfort her and get my wife back. It's a happy ending for everyone. Only sacrifice is a few weeks of your girlfriend crying into your very available shoulders. I doubt she'll cry that long with you love-bombing her. This is a win-win for everybody."

I don't respond immediately. My hand tightens on the wheel.

"The only thing I care about is Sloane," I say. "The rest of you can honestly go fuck yourselves."

I press down on the gas a little harder, just enough to make the car surge forward without drawing attention. We need to get to the club. Fast.

"Then you better hope I'm not among those who break into Mateo's apartment, Knox-or wherever the hell he's keeping Serena. Because I would 'accidentally' leave a bullet in her chest while saving her."

“Great,” I mutter. "Then I will kill you."

"You've not once shown sympathy since that girl ruined my life. She practically molested me. I saved her ass by keeping shut about it to her mother. And she decides to blow it all up instead of just saying no to her ex-fiancé's proposal. If you were half the friend you claim to be, you'd be on my side."

I can feel him glaring at the back of my head.

"You keep saying these things like I care, Jade."

"You should care. We're practically brothers."

"Sometimes, yeah," I say. "But not when you're talking shit like this. First of all, I am your boss. And if I say you're saving Osama bin Laden, you are. No questions. I am going to hold you responsible if anything goes wrong when we locate Mateo and retrieve Serena. So keep your grievances aside and get Aaron on the line to give us a status report on Mateo's family in Idaho."

That shuts him up. The sound of bullets clicking into place stops too. I glance at the mirror again. He's staring out the window now, one of the assault rifles resting on his lap. His mouth is pressed into a thin line, and I can see him working his jaw like he's chewing on all the things he wants to say but can't.

Then he reaches for his phone and starts dialing.

"You really think you're cold enough to do this?" he asks. “Threaten to harm a kid and her mother?"

"You need to pick a personality, Jade. One minute you're thirsting for a helpless lady's blood, and the next you're shying away from textbook blackmail. We don't need to harm them if Mateo cooperates."

"And if he doesn't?"

"That's his kid we're talking about. He will."

"You keep imagining this guy is sane. That's the problem."

The call connects. I listen as Jade gives Aaron the order. On the other end, Aaron confirms what we need to know: Mateo's ex-wife and daughter just got home. His contact is watching the house now. Visual confirmation is on the way.

I try to imagine the things that happened to Mateo in the years between our capture and now to turn him into this... thing. This version of him that's all bloodlust and theatrics. Maybe he really does believe it's my fault. Or maybe this is just how he vents, by making it a performance. Part of me wants to feel something for him. I get it; hurt people hurt people. But whatever sympathy I might've had? He burned through that when he captured Serena, which led to Sloane being unhappy.

As we get closer to the club, I glance at the mirror to look at Jade, who's still brooding in the backseat, arms crossed, looking everywhere but at me. I let the silence hang a second longer before saying, "Have you asked yourself if you really want your wife back?"

"What?"

"She asked you to leave. You left. She told you not to come back. You obeyed. She served you divorce papers. You kept it."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm telling you what one brother would say to another. If you want that woman, stop listening to her demands and get her back."

We pull into the lot, and I park.

Then I'm out, tossing the keys to Jade as he steps out too.

"Have all the guys ready," I say. "I'm going to find Sloane. The only thing she said was that her sister's been captured. Mateo must've called her directly. Get the security guys at the second basement to go run checks and then find me."

He gives a slight nod. "Alright, boss. Thank you."noveldrama

I pause at the doors, looking back. "What are you thanking me for?"

"For being you."

I shake my head and go inside. The man has definitely gone soft.

The faux reception area is as bright as usual. I approach the front desk and ask for Sloane's whereabouts. She shouldn't be hard to track. Everyone who walks through this place gets tagged. Member or guest, it doesn't matter. We always know exactly where people are.

The receptionist informs me that Sloane was taken down to the second basement by Levi, the second manager. Sloane had told everyone in a loud voice as soon

as she walked in that she needed access to the server room.

Of course she did. I curse under my breath and hit the elevator, already jabbing the button to descend. I forgot what she studied in school and did for a living up

until yesterday. Of course she'd want to locate Mateo herself.

คอน

The second basement doesn't feel like part of the club. It's colder down here-bare concrete floors, metal walls, no decor, no charm. Just function. A bunker disguised as a basement. When the elevator doors slide open, I step into a hallway. The sight of my entire tech team clustered outside the server room stops me short. All of them are

outside. I don't think I've seen them

all out of that room at the same time before.

"Boss," Levi says when he sees me. "Your girlfriend is kind of crazy."

"Where is she?"

"In the server room. She sent everyone out."

I don't wait. I shove the door open.

The air inside is cool as machines hum in the background. Sloane is at the central

console. She's sitting in front of an open laptop and typing fast with additional gear spread around her. She doesn't even hear me come in.

"Sloane,” I say, moving toward her.

No response.

I place a hand on her shoulder.

She jumps.

Her eyes are wild, glassy, and streaked with tears.

"What's going on?" I ask carefully.

She sighs. "Mateo. I need to find him. I'll be shooting that motherfucker right

through the only eye he has left."

Behind me, I catch the sound of Levi starting to step into the room, but Sloane reacts before I can.

"No. No, no," she says. "Tell everyone to back off."

I nod to Levi and gesture him away. He hesitates for half a second as if waiting for

me to change my mind, then exhales through his nose and steps out. The door

eases shut behind him, sealing Sloane and me in.

She hasn't stopped typing.

I should try to reason with her. Tell

her she doesn't have to do this on her own. That letting the others in wouldn't mean surrendering contro—it would just mean we'd stand a better chance, more@yes, more hands. But one look at her shoulders, at how stiff and locked they are, tells me that logic isn't going to reach her right now. Her hands are shaking. Not wildly. Just enough to make me want to wrap my arms around her and force her to stop. To breathe.

I drag a chair closer and lower myself into it beside her. “Bunny,” I say, keeping my tone steady. "You have to let us help. Do you have your phone with you? We might be able to use it to pull Mateo's location."

"He covered everything," she says. "Spoofed the IMEI. Disabled Find My Phone. I tried to pull tower logs-nothing. Carrier-side data's scrubbed. The last ping says Argentina, but that's just a planted ghost signal. I bet he's not in Argentina."

Her words come in a rush.

"So, in summary?" I say.

"He used a fake internet call and hid it behind a VPN. Then he wiped everything five seconds after the call ended. No leftover data. No trail.↑ tried tracing the last connection point, and it led to some bakery in Buenos Aires.” Her voice catches. "The place burned down in 2018."

I reach for her hand and place mine gently over hers.

"So our only option now is to wait for him to call back?" “Yeah,” she says. "But this time, I'll be ready. I'll find him.”

I glance toward the door. "Maybe if I let the others in-"

"No. I know you, Knox. As soon as that location drops, you're going to seal me in

this room for my protection while you go hunting for him. I don't want that. Mateo's

mine."