I lifted my hands. “Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Just don’t hurt the women,” I commanded. “I have money. I’ll pay you whatever price you want. Cost doesn’t matter. Just don’t—”
“I don’t want your fucking money,” he growled. Tucking the gun away, he bent and lifted a still-sleeping Monroe into his arms. The nurse had given her something earlier to help her sleep because she was uncomfortable, and she’d passed out with Mila. “She’s mine. She’s all I want or need.”
Fuck.
“I can’t let you take her,” I told him, moving into his path when he started to leave with her.
From the bed, Mila finally stirred. Yawning, she turned onto her side, missing her sister’s body heat. “Lyric,” she mumbled, half asleep. Then she gasped and sat upright in bed. “No!” she screamed when she saw the guy holding her sister. “You can’t take her. Please.” She started to jump to her feet, and I knew it was going to happen before she even began to stumble.
I had two seconds to react. Catch Mila before she face-planted because her blood pressure dropped too fast, or continue to block the guy’s way. It was no contest, and I moved, barely grabbing her before her head hit the floor.
“Babe.” I tapped her on the cheek. “Mila, open your eyes.”
Her lashes fluttered then lifted. “Monroe,” she cried. “Get her. Please.”
“I will, but you have to stay here. Promise me you won’t move.” She stubbornly didn’t speak, and I muttered a curse. “Mila.”
“Okay!” she yelled up at me. “Now, go get her back.”
Kissing her brow, I ran after the guy. But by the time I got out into the hall, there was no sign of him. Figuring the stairs were my best bet, I ran toward the nearest emergency exit. I could hear someone a few floors below me, and I took off after them.
As I got to the third floor, I heard a door slam shut and knew he was already outside. Cursing, I ran faster, but when I got outside, a car was speeding away.
“Goddamn it!” I bellowed.
Running back inside, I went straight to Monroe’s room. Security and medical staff were there, tending to the MC brother who was still knocked out but apparently alive. Maverick was sitting on the edge of the bed, wet washcloth pressed to the back of his head while a nurse took his blood pressure.
Mila stood beside her brother, her face tense as she chewed on her thumbnail while she watched the others working. Seeing me, she widened her eyes, but when she realized Monroe wasn’t with me, tears began to spill over her lashes.
“I couldn’t catch him,” I told her, my voice full of regret.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head, and I saw her begin to crack. She wrapped her arms around herself. “No. This isn’t happening. It can’t be. It’s a dream. Monroe is right beside me. I’m just asleep. I’m just…” A sob left her, and I wrapped my arms around her. “He didn’t take her.”
Maverick stood, dropping the washcloth on the floor at his feet. “It had to have been Fontana,” he grumbled, and Mila sobbed harder, clinging to me helplessly. “We have to alert the others.”
“Were you expecting this?” I demanded. “Is that why there was a guard at the door?”
He shook his head. “No. Dad wouldn’t calm down until we told him someone would be on the door all night.” He stabbed his fingers through his hair. “Fuck. We should have known something would happen.”
The doctor stood and dusted off his hands. “Looks like your friend here got shot full of something. There’s a puncture wound on his neck. He will be fine once it wears off. Probably have a hell of a headache, though.” His gaze fell on Mila, who was still crying in my arms. “This one going to need a sedative?”
“No!” I barked at him. “Keep your shit to yourself. I’ll take care of her.” Lifting her into my arms, I kissed her temple. “Come on, baby. Let’s go up to your dad’s room.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest. “Mon,” she sobbed brokenly. “We have…to get her…back.”
“We will,” I assured her as I walked to the elevator, while Maverick stayed with the MC brother. Upstairs, there was another brother outside Masterson’s r
oom. Seeing us coming, the man stood up straighter, his eyes wide on Mila.
“What the fuck happened?” Tanner Reid demanded, looking at Mila like she had two heads. “This girl doesn’t ever cry like that.”
“Fontana took Monroe,” I told him in a quiet voice. “Your boy who was watching her door downstairs is out for the count, and Maverick is going to have a headache for a while.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, pulling out his phone as he opened the door for me. “Gotta call Bash.”
The room was dark when we entered, but I could make out Willa lying on the hospital bed with her husband. I used my elbow to turn on the light, making Mila’s father sit up in bed with a growl. “The fuck’s going on?” he snarled. Then he blinked, focusing on his daughter. “Mila? Honey, what’s wrong.”
“Daddy,” she cried. “He… He… Monroe!”