I’d been reluctant to welcome Gian when Monroe married him, but once Lexa made it clear she didn’t hold him accountable for his father’s sins, I’d begun to warm up to the asshole. The man who had given him his scar was the one responsible for my sister’s. Until the year before, we’d all assumed that man was Gian’s father. DNA tests had proven that to be false. Now he was working to find out who his real father was.
But whether Enzo Fontana was his biological daddy or not, Gian was now in charge of Carlo Santino’s empire. If anyone knew who the bigwigs in the underworld on this side of the country really were, it would be him.
“All of his whorehouses are filled with underage girls who have been snatched from across the Midwest. My sources tell me he’s expanded up into Canada for fresh victims as well. The majority of them are in Mexico, but he has a few in Nevada that are legit enough in appearance on the outside. They’re actually where he stashes the girls before he smuggles them down to Mexico.” He glanced up at my apartment for a second before turning his gaze back on me. “If he let her make it to her eighteenth birthday without putting her to work, then he must have been saving her for something—or maybe even someone—huge.”
My anger at the fucker began to boil all over again. There was no way in hell I was going to let Garcia hurt Delaney. I’d put a bullet in him before he even breathed the same air as her. “Like what?”
“Man, it could be anything. But if she was a virgin, then he could have gotten top dollar for it. He’s been known to auction off the virgins. That movie Taken was pretty spot-on in some aspects. But he wouldn’t have necessarily let her make it to eighteen before doing that. He thinks the younger they are, the better.” He drifted into silence for a second, deep in thought, before shaking his head in frustration. “There are too many possibilities.”
“Bash mentioned there was an issue a few days back.” Ben’s knowing eyes drilled into me. “Said you and Spider had a talk with some newcomer and sent him on his way?”
“He was Garcia’s man,” was all I told him.
“Meaning he still wants Delaney for some reason,” Gian concluded. “You need to deal with this guy now. Your woman won’t be safe until he understands that she is no longer useful to him.”
I’d planned on dealing with him all along. I had been waiting for the right time to take a trip south for it. Now it appeared I couldn’t postpone the meeting with Delaney’s uncle.
“We will go with you,” Theo announced, having remained quiet, observing the entire conversation. “Between my men and Ryan’s, we will have a small army with us.”
“I don’t need an army,” I growled at him. Just me and a gun, that was all I really needed to take the motherfucker out.
“You will need one even to get close to Garcia’s place. How that girl ran away without getting caught must have been a miracle of its own,” Gian said with a trace of awe in his voice.
“She said the housekeeper helped her.”
“Well, she’s most likely dead now,” he said with a lift of one shoulder. “I’ll come with you as well.”
“I’d rather take my brothers,” I muttered. I might have accepted Fontana as family now, but that didn’t mean I trusted him completely.
“If one of Garcia’s men was in town, then he must have reported back that this place is run by the MC. He might know about me because I live here, but Garcia will be caught off guard to have Volkov and Vitucci forces showing up outside his place,” Gian strategized. “He will piss his pants if they knock on his door. Everyone in the underworld knows that those two families run this entire country.”
“Never thought I would say this,” Theo grumbled. “But Fontana is right. Having a horde of MC roll up will just have them shooting. They will be expecting it if a spy was reporting back about what goes on in this town.”
“Well, I’m not letting you fuckers go on your own,” Ben said, crossing his bulky arms over his chest and glaring at us all. “Lexa will kill me if I let you three go in there and get your asses blown to hell. Plus, I’m the law. I can say we have a warrant or some shit and get us through the door faster. Any pants-pissing can come after we’re through the gate.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Theo agreed. “The kids are at Raven’s. Ryan can stay behind and watch over the women at your house.”
It was easier than I expected to get Delaney to go to Lexa’s for the night. Knowing she would be safe and happy with my sisters and with Ryan there to watch over them, I was able to focus on taking care of Garcia.
There was an iron fence around the house, with two guards standing in front of the gate. At a glance from the outside in, I understood what Gian meant about it being a miracle for Delaney to have gotten out without getting caught.
Delaney hadn’t asked for me to bring back anything of hers, but she had wanted me to make sure Marta was okay. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get to fulfill that promise to my little treasure. Gian had been right about her getting out just in time, and I didn’t doubt his conclusion about the housekeeper being dead. But if by some chance she was still breathing, then I promised myself before the gates even opened that I would bring her back to Creswell Springs with me.
She had saved Delaney, and I owed her for helping the girl who owned my fucking soul survive long enough to get to me.
We were all stuffed into two of Ben’s cruisers. When he pulled up to the gate, he had his lights on and brandished the fake warrant. The two guards spoke into their headsets, letting whoever was on the other end know what was going on, but they had little to no choice but to allow us through.
As we pulled up to the house itself, more guards came out. Ben slapped the warrant against some guy’s chest, spouting some legal bullshit, while the rest of us were already climbing the steps to the front door. It wasn’t until they saw that most of the men with us were wearing suits and I was in my cut that it became clear this was just a ploy to get inside.
But by the time their slow brains realized that, we were already in the house. I noticed immediately that there was no sign of anyone. No housekeeper. No Aunt June. And no fucking Tony.
Gian’s gaze traveled over the other guards who were gathered in the foyer once we’d checked all the rooms in the house, his eyes narrowed as he took in each of their faces. “Where’s Navarro?” he barked at the nearest man to him.
“Who?” I demanded.
“Navarro,” he repeated. “Garcia’s second-in-command. He’s not here either.”
The guard Gian had directed the question to remained mute. With a vicious curse, Gian grabbed the man by the throat. “Tell me where