Surprised gasps echoed between them.
Exhausted beyond belief, I didn’t care if he didn’t love me back. It didn’t matter if none of them ever could find it in their black hearts to love me. And before he could answer, my eyes shut, no longer able to fight sleep.
Iwoke up to the room filling with white smoke. A vinegar-like scent floated through the air, and when I opened my mouth, an acidic taste hit my tongue. I covered my nose and mouth with my hand and rolled onto my side.
My throat went dry, and my tongue started burning as if it were on fire. Then my lungs spasmed as I breathed in the nasty smell, nearly collapsing my chest.
“What the fuck?” I struggled to speak, the words stinging my tongue. “Wake up, Bash.” I tapped my brothers on their backs, shaking each of them. “Marcello. Damian. Get up!”
Where the fuck is Alex?
My brothers were still naked and unconscious on the bed beside me. I shook each of them again, the toxic fumes in the air making my head spin.
None of them ever slept this soundly. Under normal circumstances, Damian would have already been awake since that crazy motherfucker rarely slept. He snored with his arm covering the side of his face, naked and on his back beside Bastian.
Alex did a number on them.
Bastian and Marcello were like me, light sleepers with strict schedules. They never slept for more than a few hours at a time. And yet, they both laid on their stomachs, breathing hard against the mattress. They must have inhaled too much of the fumes.
Through the cloud of white smoke, I searched for Alex and called out to her. Only a few hours ago, she’d passed out between Bastian and me. I yelled her name a few more times.
No answer.
Right after all of us came, she had confessed her love for Bastian, then fell asleep on his chest. None of us said a word after that. Even Bastian didn’t know what to do with that information.
Our queen had worn us out, so we curled up beside her. Four men who hated sleeping with anyone in their beds. And for her, we did it. We would have done anything for Alex.
I blinked a few times to clear my blurred vision, feeling around the bed. “Where the fuck is Alex?” I shouted, sliding off the mattress, barely able to hold up my weight.
I heard a muffled sound coming from the living room. Was she still here? Several sets of footsteps tapped the tiled floor. Then the front door slammed shut behind them.
Fuck.
Someone was here.
They’d taken her.
The fucking auction!
I dragged my tired ass off the bed, and when I tried to stand, I had zero energy. My brain and body were completely out of sync. Clutching the mattress, I pulled myself up from the carpet.
We thought she would be safer away from Devil’s Creek. The Mansion was off the grid, and only a handful of people knew the coordinates. But it wouldn’t be the first time the Lucaya Group had outsmarted us.
I had planned to stay the weekend, or at the very least long enough to ask Alex to marry me. My family couldn’t wait much longer to seal the deal with the Wellingtons.
As I staggered out of the bedroom, I fell into the wall in the dining room. I tried to stand on my own, but it was pointless. My legs trembled, forcing me to grip the table for support. A sharp pain penetrated my skull, the throbbing so intense I couldn’t move. Slowly, my mind and body succumbed to the fumes as the toxins worked their dark magic on me.
Alex was gone.
I had seconds to make a decision that could save Alex’s life. They couldn’t have gotten very far. Using every ounce of my energy, I tapped the button on the side of my watch. An emergency signal that would alert The Devil’s Knights that we were in danger.
Drake Battle would track our location. It wouldn’t be long before the Knights found us. And as I slowly lost consciousness, I hoped they would find Alex in time.