The Devil I Love (Devil's Knights 3)

“You think we’re leaving this island without a fight?”

“Watch me,” I said before I walked across the room and into the hallway.

Drake was on my heels, keeping his pace as I headed toward the back door on the south side of the mansion. Marcello texted that he’d left us weapons in case of emergency. I had no intention of opening fire, not unless it was necessary. We’d gotten Alex and Rhiannon out of harm’s way, and I intended to live another day to marry my beautiful Queen.

My cell phone dinged in my pocket. I opened the group chat and scrolled through the messages.

Aiden: We’re on the boat.

Cole: Not without getting shot at. Watch your six leaving the island. They have snipers on the roof.

Marcello: Not anymore.

Sonny: Are we clear on the Westside?

Marcello: The seaplane is waiting for us. You have 60 seconds max. Move your asses.

Luca: We’re on our way.

Aiden: How is Alex? Has anyone talked to her?

Marcello: She’s with the DeLucas sleeping off the drugs on the boat.

Aiden: Did she look okay?

Luca: We’re done talking until we’re off this island.

I shoved the phone into my pocket.

Drake chuckled, holding his phone in hand. “You don’t have to be an asshole to Aiden. He’s one of us now.”

I pushed open the back door and searched the patch of grass for the hidden bag. “This is not the place nor the time for this discussion.”

“He’s just worried about his sister.”

“We’re all worried about Alex,” I shot back as I slung the hunter green duffle bag over my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

As we power-walked around the building, I reached into the bag and grabbed two 9mm guns, and handed one of them to Drake. Marcello had everything from grenades to machine guns in this bag of tricks. My brother never left room for chance, and with our lives on the line, we couldn’t afford to be unprepared.

“I never thought we’d be leaving this island like cowards,” he commented with a groan.

“This is the smart play,” I assured him. “They left us without a choice. We’re out-manned, outgunned, and not in the position to fight the owners of Il Circo.”

He nodded in agreement. “I want to kill every one of them for what they did to Alex.”

“Me too.” I patted his shoulder. “In due time, Battle. They will come to us. Trust me. The highest bid on Alex was thirty million dollars.”

“There will be an uproar when the club members discover they can’t outbid him.”

“That’s not our problem.”

Sonny, Finn, and Callum waited for us at the edge of the jungle. Marcello was there with a handful of his men. My brother dressed in black camouflage, his face painted, so he was unrecognizable. So you couldn’t tell him apart from the rest of Alpha Command.

But I would know those sad eyes anywhere. Alex called Marcello her Lonely Boy and often sketched him. I’d found dozens of drawings of my brother among her ideas for future Devil paintings. Her feelings for both of us bled into every inch of her work.

“Took you long enough,” Marcello complained before he turned his back to me and walked into the jungle.

With his help, we got Alex off the island and were leaving in one piece. So I held my tongue and followed my brother into the darkness. The Knights trailed behind me, swatting at the overgrowth. We moved toward the water, where they hid the seaplane.

Five minutes passed before we boarded the small plane with just enough room to fit the Knights. Marcello’s men were staying behind to deal with security. They’d already taken out half of the men surrounding the building and had to maintain the charade long enough for us to leave this palatial hellhole.

The pilot coasted away from the island for a few minutes, giving us some distance before we were in the air. Marcello sat beside me with his hand on my knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was better at communicating his feelings.

There was a chance none of us would make it off the island alive, and yet we defied the odds. It was too easy. We both knew the worst part had yet to come.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, we landed in the water beside the DeLucas boat. Two men leaned overboard and threw ropes for us to grab. This was probably a stupid idea, but I couldn’t wait for another second to see Alex. I had insisted the pilot let me off the damn plane. Of course, Marcello wasn’t letting me go alone. He was just as desperate to hold Alex in his arms.

I grabbed one rope, and Marcello took the other. Slow and steady, we climbed up the side of the boat like we were Spider-Man scaling a building. More athletic and conditioned for battle, Marcello was already on board, lending a helping hand by the time I reached the deck of the yacht.