“Of course. I hope you finished whatever it was you needed to be done back in New York.”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it later.”
He nodded. Whether or not we found my boys, Gabriel was coming back to New York with me, so we could plan once we got Luca’s location.
I wasn’t letting the slippery fucker get away from me once more.
He nodded to the door. “Come on. I rented a room inside and set the boys in there.”
I made a move to get in when he stopped me. I looked at him.
“I don’t know what those boys have been through, but it must be bad because they’re pretty wary about strangers, especially strange men. It took me a couple of hours to even coax them out of their hiding place in the closet to one of the rooms upstairs. It’s also obvious they didn't have much to eat before I came here.” His jaw clenched. “Their mom, whoever she is, left them in the care of strippers whose main goal is to find their next fix, not take care of two little boys who desperately need it. It’s a lot to take in, so just … prepare yourself.”
I didn’t show any outward reaction to that. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. I already knew Alina didn’t have a single maternal bone in her body.
I nodded and bypassed him through the door.
A meathead stood in front of it. He didn’t do anything as we walked in. Barely glanced our way, which told me exactly what kind of place this was.
I shook my head in disgust and moved further into the building. Gabriel pointed to an opening in the far back that showed the stairs leading to the second level. It undoubtedly held several rooms where the stripper would “entertain” anyone willing to pay. My jaw clenched, and I took the stairs two steps at a time, Gabriel following close behind me.
I could hear people fucking in one of the rooms, in tune with the trashy rock music playing below.
My fists clenched tightly by my side.
“Room three,” Gabriel said gruffly.
I found the room right away. A man stood guard in the front. He didn’t say anything, but got out of my way when I came up close.
My hand grabbed the doorknob, and I—
Fuck, I hesitated.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and trying to compose myself. Whatever I might see in this room, it wouldn’t do any good if I lost control, especially if I saw my boys again. I was nothing more than a stranger to them.
Gabriel didn’t say anything. He waited patiently for me.
I opened the door.
The room was clean, at least, though I had a feeling Gabriel might have had something to do with that.
A large bed took the center of the room, and a small door that I was sure led to the bathroom. A small window above the bed gave some light to the room, though it wasn’t open.
A musky scent overtook my senses. I ignored that and let my eyes roam over the place. It looked empty.
I knew they were in here.
They were hiding.
I met Gabriel’s eyes from behind me, and he indicated with his head toward the wardrobe closet just in the corner.
It was slightly open, and I thought I saw movements.
I walked up to it, and slowly, so as not to scare them, I opened the doors.
Two sets of familiar wide green eyes stared up at me.
My breath caught, and my eyes stung.