Langston
Our kids are being held at three different clubs.
Jesus.
I remember the last “club”—the fucked up yacht masquerade weekend. I don’t want to go through that again to get our kids back, let alone three more times. But I’ll do anything to get them back, including playing some twisted game meant to torture us.
I feel for Phoenix, maybe because she pretended to be my wife. Maybe because I watched her with Rose and Atlas, and she was a good mother to them. You can’t fake that. She cared about them, even if she only did it to hurt Liesel and me.
Maybe it was the story she told, the pain she felt, that has me feeling weak. But whatever the reason, I carry Phoenix upstairs to one of the bedrooms. She fell asleep in my arms, exhausted from telling me her story and from the injuries Enzo inflicted before we got here.
I lay her down on a white comforter with pink flowers on it. I grab a throw blanket draped over a chair in the corner and cover her before I close the door quietly behind me and head back downstairs.
All eyes are on me when I enter the small kitchen.
“Bring Phoenix some food and keep her comfortable,” I say.
Enzo’s eyebrows shoot up. “Why?”
“She’s not a monster. She’s just in pain,” Liesel answers, giving me the smallest of smiles, letting me know she approves of my actions.
“Did you find out where Rose is?” Kai asks.
“The Brown family owns three clubs. The one on the yacht that we all went to and two others. The children are split between the clubs. We have to win the game at each club in order to get the kid being held there back.”
“Well, they owe us one kid already then, since you won before,” Enzo says with a growl.
“I need to call Siren,” I say.
“I’ll call Beckett,” Liesel says.
I nod.
Neither of us thinks that any of them would hurt the children, not after Phoenix’s story. It doesn’t mean we are willing to stop searching and trying to get the kids back as quickly as possible.
I dial Siren’s number.
“Hello,” Siren answers out of breath.
“Phoenix told me where the kids are and how to get them back.”
“Thank god,” Siren exhales sharply. We’ve always been close; she’s as torn up as I am about the kids being taken.
“The Browns own three clubs. One is here in Germany. The second is the yacht we were all on.”
“Maxwell boarded the yacht this afternoon. We’ve been chasing him this whole time.”
“Then, the third must be where Corbin is holding Declan. We are going to the club here to get Rose back tonight, and then we can come to the yacht.”
“Why these games?”
“Liesel’s father caused the deaths of Phoenix’s fiancé and unborn babies. This is payback to make us suffer as much as possible. I don’t think they will hurt them, though, thank god. But we need to get them back as quickly as possible, obviously.”
There’s a pause.
“We’ll win the yacht game while you get into the club there,” she says.
“Siren, you played the game last time. You know what it involves. There is no chance you’ll win.”