TEAM

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This book will get uncomfortably dark as from this chapter on. Continue reading at your own peril.

DANTE'S POV

"I had to tell Adeline's parents that she went out of town with Adrian." Liam says shoving his phone in his pockets. "They've been blowing up my phone trying to get to her and Adrian's house is on lockdown now so they're pretty confused."

I don't even care about Adeline's parents right now. They have their money so they can go to hell for all I care. They don't care about their daughter and they haven't even bothered to really try to know where exactly she is as long as she's with Adrian.

Liam and I have spent the past days freeing the black maids Adrian used to keep at his house. We gave them all a generous sum of money and sent them off on their way. No that we have all that out of the way, we can completely focus on Adeline. 

"They don't care about her anyways." I say.

"And you do?" Liam asks, staring straight forwards with as scowl on his face. I know he blames me for what happens to Adeline. I blame myself too but there is not a single soul in the world who cares about her like I do. No one can make sure she gets home safe except for me. There's not a line in the world that I wouldn't cross for her.

I just wish Liam would stop mentioning it literally every second.

"It's because of you that this happened to her anyways. Because you let her push through with that stupid and senseless plan of hers. You should have stopped her Dante. It's been days. Who knows what she's been through? Who knows what they're doing to her right now?"

"Liam." I say with a deep voice, turning to face him with a frown on my face. "For the last time, I fucking know. Listening to you complain every second is doing nothing but stress me out. This isn't the time to toss around blame."

"By now, Adeline must already be at the holding house." I explain.

"Jesus…" Liam exclaims and takes a seat, running his hands up and down his face. "What does that mean?" He asks.

"That's where the girls are. That's where everything happens. That's where they're trained and that's where the men go to see them for God knows what. And that's where Veronica is. We find that house, we find Adeline." I state.

"And how do go about finding Veronica." Liam asks and I think for a second before letting out a defeated sigh.

"We get Adrian to call her and I'll see if I can track her phone number. Although I'm not so certain I'll be able to. So, we'll have to find a way to lure her out using Adrian."

"And what if she catches on to us. You said I yourself, Adrian is compromised now. She's not going to trust him. She knows his house has been raided and she knows he's been missing for days." Liam explains.

"Well then we'll just have to think of a convincing story."

"Okay. Okay." Liam starts pacing from side to side. "Say we find Adeline. Say we find the location to this holding house. How do we get her out? I know you have this personal vendetta going on but we're just two men Dante. I can fight but for a place that's supposed to be as protected as where Adeline is, we're going to need back up and you know it."

Liam's right and I haven't been able to stop thinking about what he just told me.  I mean I do know some people that will be willing to help but can I trust them with Adeline? Why should I put even more people in danger? I'm trying to find a way to do this in such a way that no one else gets hurt, but Liam and I are getting desperate and this might just be more difficult and dangerous than I made it out to be.

"Dante…" Liam urges.

"Fine." I blurt out. I'm going against my number one rule which is that I work alone but this is the only way I can think of barging into that holding house and getting not only Adeline but all the other girls out.

Liam looks to me with wide eyes, as if he didn't expect me to agree with him. Well I didn't expect myself to agree either but here we are. I walk closer to him and place my hand on his shoulders. I need to prepare him for what it is he's getting himself involved in. He needs to hear the bitter truth and get his will intact.

"I hope you know what we're doing isn't a day's work. Adeline is going to be in there for quite sometime until we're able t get everything together. She's the priority but it's not just her we're going after. It's all those girls in there. We have to get then all out and burn that place to the ground." As I speak, tears start running down my cheeks but I don't care.

I'm hurt. I'm so fucking hurt and I hate myself so much for all what Adeline is going to have to endure. "She's going to go through hell in there. She might not be the same person once she's out. You're going to probably have to kill people. You know how to shoot a gun?"

He nods and swallows deeply as he tries to fight back his own tears. "Yeah. Yeah, I've had some training." He says, almost struggling to breathe.

"Good." I say and let go of him. "Now, do you know anyone you can trust with this job?"

"I might know a few. I'll call them. Is it okay if I bring them to your place?"

"Yeah, just make sure they're trust worthy or I'll shoot bullets through their skulls." I say and I'm not even joking. "I know a few people too."

"You have friends?" Liam asks, almost chuckling as he looks me up and down.

"Not friends." I shoot him an unpleasant look. "Acquaintances."

"Let's go build a fuckin team then." Liam days with all the determination in the world. I smirk.

"Let's go kill some fuckers."