SIENNA.
Darkness swirled around me, thick and heavy, like I was drowning in an abyss. My body felt weightless, but my mind clawed at fragments of memory. The world tilted, and suddenly I was back in that dimly lit office that had Thompson Baxter's cologne. Colorado.
His rough hands were on me, and I could feel his breath hot against my neck. My stomach churned with bile rising as I shoved against him. I wanted to scream, but my voice felt trapped in my throat. His laughter filled the room as his fingers dug into my arms.
He grabbed me, his hands pinning me against his desk. "You're not going anywhere," he growled, his body pressing against mine. I fought, my nails clawing at his arms, my knee aiming for his groin, but he was stronger and his weight was crushing me. Panic clawed at my throat. I screamed, but the office was soundproof, making it futile.
The door burst open, and Belinda was standing, holding a fire extinguisher in her hands. "Get off her!" she shouted, swinging it at his head without hesitating. That sent him staggering. He roared, turning toward her, but she didn't flinch, swinging again, this time catching him across the back of his leg. He collapsed, blood trickling from his leg. I scrambled free and I stumbled toward Belinda. She dropped the extinguisher, pulling me into her arms. "You're okay, SiSi. I've got you."
I clung to her, my sobs muffled against her shoulder, my legs barely holding me up. "How... how did you know?" I gasped.
"I was dropping off your jacket," she said, her arms tightening around me. "Saw his car, figured you were working late. Then I got to the door and heard you scream." Her voice broke, and I felt her tears against my hair. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner. We're family, Sienna. Always."
I shook my head, pulling back to meet her eyes, "You saved me. Again."
A loud banging sound came from around me, and my memory suddenly shifted, and Belinda's face faded. A scream built in my lungs. "Belinda!" The name tore from my throat as my eyes snapped open. I was no longer in Thompson's office in Colorado.
My head throbbed with a faint ache. I blinked repeatedly, trying to make sense of where I was. Where was Belinda? Some voices murmured nearby and I turned my head, wincing as a dull ache pulsed behind my eyes. Zane sat at his desk, while his eyes flickered between his brothers. Damian, Liam and Ethan stood near a window. I was at the penthouse and in Zane's study. How did I get here?
My gaze darted back to Damian, and a spark of memory ignited and rage surged through me as I recalled he had drugged me. My best friend was out there, in the hands of those monsters, and he'd knocked me out like I was some nuisance to be silenced.
I lurched off the couch, my legs felt unsteady but was fueled by the rage I had coursing through me. "You bastard!" I screamed as I stumbled toward Damian. He raised an eyebrow, but I didn't care. I started to pound his shoulder repeatedly, "How dare you! You think you can just..."
"Enough!" Zane's voice cut through seconds before I felt him grab my raised fist, pulling me back. I spun to face him, surprised I hadn't even heard him walk that close.
"Let go of me!" I yanked my arm from his grip.
"You were out of control, Sienna," he said. "You were putting yourself and all of us at risk."
I laughed, "Risk? You want to talk about risk? My best friend is out there with the cartel, Zane and you..." I jabbed a finger at Damian, "You thought shooting me with a tranquilizer was the answer? You're all just sitting here, playing war games, while Belinda's probably..."
I paused to picture her terrified. I couldn't finish the sentence.
Zane's grip on my wrist loosened, but he didn't let go. "We're not just sitting here," he said, "We've got a plan."
I blinked, my anger faltering for a moment. "A plan?" My eyes darted between the brothers. Liam and Ethan had turned from the window to sit on the couch across from us.
"Yeah, princess," Damian said. "While you were napping, we did some actual work. We know where they're holding her."
My heart stuttered with hope. "Where? Is she okay? What do you know?" The questions spilled out as I stepped toward Damian, ignoring Zane's hand still hovering near my arm.
Liam spoke up, in his usual disarming voice. "It's a warehouse on the east side, near the docks. One way in, one way out. Heavily guarded, but we've got eyes on it. She's alive, Sienna."
"How do you know? What if they..."
Ethan stepped forward, "We've got a contact on the inside. They've seen her. She's... she's okay for now. They're keeping her as leverage, not..." He hesitated, his jaw tightening. "They're not hurting her. Not yet."
"Not yet?" I echoed. I turned to Zane, my hands dropping to my sides, "What does that mean, Zane? You know what they're capable of! You've seen it! And you're telling me we're just supposed to trust this 'plan' of yours?"
Zane's eyes darkened as he stepped closer. "We're not trusting blindly, Sienna. We mapped the warehouse, counted their men and their weapons. We know their patterns. But it's a choke point, one entrance, one exit. They'll see us coming a mile away. We have to be precise, or we're all dead. Including Belinda."
I shook my head, my chest tight with panic. "Precise? You think they care about precision? They've got my sister, Zane! What's the success rate of this plan? Tell me, honestly. What are the odds we get her out alive?"
Liam exchanged a glance with Ethan, then stepped forward, his hands raised in a calming gesture. "We've run the numbers, Sienna. We've got a solid chance, say seventy percent, maybe more. We're bringing in extra muscle, and we've got tech to jam their comms. It's not perfect, but it's the best shot we've got."
"Seventy percent? That's a thirty percent chance she dies, Liam! You think that's good enough?" My voice broke, and I turned away, my hands trembling.
The memory of Belinda saving me from Thompson flooded back, her fierce protectiveness and unwavering strength. She had always been there for me, and now, when she needed me most, I was stuck here, surrounded by men who thought in terms of percentages and plans.
Zane's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "Sienna, look at me." I didn't want to, but his tone pulled my gaze back to him. His eyes were intense. "I know you're scared. I know you want to run in there and tear the place apart. But that's what they want. They're counting on us to be reckless. We do this right, we get her out. We do it wrong, we could lose her. And I'm not letting that happen. Then you need to trust us. Trust me."
"Trust you?" I stepped closer. "You drugged me, Zane. You let Damian shoot me with a tranq like I'm some animal. How am I supposed to trust you when you treat me like that?"
Damian snorted, breaking the tension. "Oh, come on, princess. You were losing it. Screaming, hitting the car. We did you a favor."
I spun on him. "A favor? You think knocking me out was a favor?"
"Sienna." Zane said as he moved between me and Damian, his broad frame blocking my view. "He's right. You were out of control. But that's done. We're here now, and we're working to get Belinda back. You want to be part of this? Then stop fighting us and start listening."
I stared at him. A part of me wanted to tear through every obstacle until I reached Belinda. But another part knew he was right. I couldn't save her alone. Not against the cartel. "What's the plan?" I asked finally.
Ethan stepped forward, pulling a tablet from the desk. He tapped the screen, pulling up a blueprint of the warehouse. "One entrance here," he said, pointing to a narrow door. "It's a bottleneck, but we can use that. We go in quietly, disable their cameras, and take out the outer guards before they know we're there. Our contact says Belinda's in a holding room here." He tapped another section, a small square in the center of the layout. "Two guards, maybe three. We move fast, we can get her out before they raise the alarm."
I stared at the blueprint, my stomach twisting. It looked so simple on the screen, just lines and shapes, but I knew what it meant. Blood and Bullets. "And if they see you coming?" I asked. "If your contact's wrong? If there are more than three guards?"
Ethan hesitated, his eyes meeting Liam's. "We've got contingencies," Liam said. "Smoke grenades, flash bangs. We'll have backup outside, ready to move if things go south."
"Contingencies," I repeated,
"It's what we've got," Zane said. "We're not going in blind, Sienna. We've done this before. We know what we're up against."
Zane's hand touched my shoulder, "Sienna," he said. "I promise you, we're going to do everything we can. I'm not letting them take her from you."
I nodded, trusting him to keep his word. I had lost too many people. I couldn't lose Belinda either. She was all I had got in my corner.
