“Okay. Do it quickly and I’ll find you. I’ll get to you and keep you safe.” She disconnected the call and then pulled on her blouse and the skirt Sienna had brought for her. She kept thinking about her brothers’ words. He was right. Some of his closest friends were the enemy. But as she stared at them, looked at their bodies, the way they were so concerned for her well-being she just couldn’t believe that they were bad. The way they made love to her was amazing. Their bond and connection was so strong. Something didn’t seem right here.
L.T.’s phone rang as Deacon took Mariah and pulled her into his arms.
“We’re going to protect you. No matter what, believe that we love you.”
She looked up at him. “Love me?”
“Yes. Oh, God, Mariah, I’ve loved you from afar for way too long. I promise when this is all over, we’ll be together. No one can keep the five of us apart.”
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” she asked.
“We need to get out of here,” L.T. stated and Deacon grabbed her hand. “Let’s go. We’ll discuss everything once we’re out of this place.”
She stepped into her flats and they slowly walked out of the room. Mariah didn’t know who to believe or what was going on. She knew that Armando and Manchenso were here at the estate. She knew they were involved with DeLacruz and that they’d had a hand in Michael’s death. What Randy told her didn’t make sense, yet it would answer the questions about the missing soldiers who weren’t identified and how DeLacruz got them to work for him. The man was a weasel, a thief, and a cold-blooded killer. But she still couldn’t believe that Axel, L.T., Quentin, and Deacon were somehow involved with DeLacruz. They only worked part-time in law enforcement or with the government and pretty much wanted nothing to do with undercover work. But then again, they were here at the masquerade, too.
Her head was pounding, and her heart ached. She loved them so much, and she trusted them. More than she trusted Randy or anyone else for that matter. She’d given her heart, her soul, and her body to the four of them. Could she have been so wrong?
“Fuck. Get her out of here. Get her to the SUV. We’ll meet you,” L.T. stated toward Axel. She looked up and saw the dozen or so men in black approaching. They looked ready to pounce as L.T., Deacon, and Quentin stood their ground.
“Go. Get her to safety.”
Axel grabbed her arm and they practically ran for the staircase. To the right she saw more men, and they were heading toward them, too. “Who are they? What do they want?”
“They work for DeLacruz. He’s onto us. He knows that we are here and that agents were placed around the party to try and catch him.”
“DeLacruz is here? You knew?” she asked suddenly feeling even more in a panic.
“Please, honey. You have to move. We need to get you to safety.”
“How would he know about you guys? How are you involved?” she asked.
“We’re not involved. We were trying to identify DeLacruz. Our sources said that he was going to be here tonight. The Federal government is involved. A team that worked with Michael is here and they want answers. L.T. just found out that the men who were killed were found to have been retired soldiers. DeLacruz used them.”
“Yes, I know about that.”
“What? How?” Axel asked stopping at the end of the hallway. He looked around them, and no one was there.
“Randy told me. Some agents approached me. They asked me to be the eyes and ears in Armor Con when I took the job Armando and Manchenso offered me.”
“What? How the fuck is Randy involved?”
Mariah screamed as someone hit Axel in the back of the head. Axel fell to the ground, blood seeping from his head.
“Oh, my God.” She looked up and saw Randy.
“Come with me. Let’s move.”
She looked back down at Axel. Her gut clenched. He wasn’t the bad guy. This was a crazy confusing situation.
She pulled her arm from Randy’s.
“No. I’m not going anywhere. I want to know what the hell is going on.”
Randy grabbed her upper arm and shoved her against the wall.
“You’re going to ruin everything. You’ve been nothing but a pain in the fucking ass from the start. I’m taking you to Armando, and he’s going to bring you out of this country until things settle down. You’ve nearly de
stroyed everything we’ve been working on. This is my deal, my operation.”