My gut churned familiarly as I tried to put a label on what Remy was. I’d been trying to do that for the better part of a week as we’d lived in this strange little bubble that was both comfortably domestic and weirdly strained at the same time. If we had Violet between us as a buffer, Remy and I could usually chat aimlessly about some kind of safe topic or just play with the toddler. But when it was just the two of us because Violet was sleeping or lost in some TV show or educational game she was playing on my tablet, things like eye contact and speaking became strained. I’d thought the perfect solution would be to just move to another room and do some work, but the second Remy was out of my sight, I obsessed over him even more. Even when I knew he was perfectly safe, I couldn’t stop worrying about him. I’d even taken to watching him sleep the past couple of nights because it was the only thing that calmed my frayed nerves.
The SUV began making several turns on various side streets as we approached downtown Seattle. I glanced behind us again and saw that the bodyguards in the other vehicle didn’t even look fazed. In fact, the driver had fallen several cars behind us and it looked like he and the other bodyguard were casually chatting.
“Get those assholes on the phone,” I snapped at Stan. Stan looked over his shoulder at me, saw the direction I was looking in and frowned. He snagged his phone from his pocket but before he could even dial, there were several horns sounding. My stomach fell out when I saw that an older model van had veered into the SUV, causing it to sideswipe a couple of parked cars. The van, which was missing its front plate, took off, leaving the disabled SUV in its wake.
“Fuck,” I bit out. “Go! Get us back to the hotel,” I called as I saw a dark blue Impala swerve around the SUV and speed up.
Terrence took another turn, then another as he sped up. But after the third turn, he was slamming on the brakes. I automatically reached a hand out to grab Violet’s car seat. Remy did the same. We hadn’t been going particularly fast since Terrence had just turned the corner, so Violet only woke up enough to scrunch her face around and yawn before she dropped her head against the side of the seat again.
“We’re pinned,” Terrence called out. Sure enough, behind us was the Impala. And in front of us in the narrow alley was the van that had taken out the second set of bodyguards.
“Get down, sir,” Stan said.
I ignored him and reached for my own gun. To Remy I said, “Get her out of the car seat and lie flat on the floor between the seats.”
“Luca,” Remy whispered fearfully, even as he began following my order.
Stan was in the process of dialing 911 when Terrence reached out to stop him. “Wait,” he murmured. “Um, sir,” Terrence said questioningly. “Look.”
I was still focused on helping Remy get a now grumpy Violet from her car seat when I looked up and saw a familiar figure standing at the van’s back doors.
“Son of a bitch,” I snapped as I put my gun away. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” I bit out as I grabbed Remy’s arm to keep him from moving to the floor between the seats like I’d told him to.
His gaze followed mine and I heard him exhale sharply. “Is that your brother?” he asked.
“Yes,” I growled as I reached for the door handle.
"He's with Dante," Remy murmured.
I glanced at the man standing next to my brother and realized that Remy was right. Aleks's older brother, Dante, stood next to Vaughn, his arms crossed. But while my brother looked forbidding and cold, Dante had a shit-eating grin on his face. I wanted to strangle them both.
I climbed out of the SUV and quickly closed the distance between us. I was taking a swing at Vaughn the second I entered his personal space. "You fucking son of a bitch!"
Though he was a smaller man, Dante managed to catch my fist before it could make contact. Vaughn, for his part, barely reacted. In fact, he hadn't even tried to defend himself.
"Take it down a notch, hotshot," Dante said, that stupid grin still on his face. "That little demonstration was my idea."
"I have a fucking kid in the car," I snapped at him.
"Oh yeah, I've heard all about that little cutie," Dante said as he motioned to something behind me.
Not something, someone.
Remy.
He was holding a very cranky Violet. Dante pushed past me and went to stand in front of Remy. I shot my brother an angry glare, then went to join them. It was all I could do not to put my arm around Remy to claim him in front of Dante. Dante's eyes slid to mine. They were full of humor. "You gonna pee on him, hotshot?" he asked as he eyed the way I was standing just a bit too close to Remy.