“But have you really made peace with it?” she asked.
“No, and I never will. But do I forgive him? Do I love him? Am I not angry anymore? Yes, to all three.”
“Peace is hard to come by. What would get you there, do you think?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. But not being angry, that was big.”
“How is your mom handling it?”
Shit. She had to ask that, didn’t she?
“She doesn’t know. I lied to her. She lives in Belgium now, I didn’t see any reason with burdening her with the fact that Xave killed himself. She’s had enough in her life without knowing that.”
Eden’s arms clasped him tighter and she kissed the middle of his chest.
“You don’t have anything to say about that?” he asked.
“Sweets, you know your mother better than anyone. You know what’s best for her.” He loved her confidence in him.
“Tell me about your brother Law.”
“When we get done with this mission, I’m taking some leave and going and kicking his ass.”
She looked up at him again. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I’m pretty confident in my team getting us out of here. We’re getting out of here, no sweat. But kicking Law’s ass? We’re kind of evenly matched, we both might end up in tatters.”
“So, why are you kicking your brother’s ass?”
“He is not dealing. He’s angry as hell, and he can’t get over it. He can’t even get to the sad part. He’s torn up inside. I want him to see someone. Anyone.”
He looked at his watch. It was time to check in.
“Showtime, Eden. Are you ready?”
She took a deep breath. “Always.” She untangled herself from Asher and got up. “Need help?” she asked as she held out a hand.
“I think I’ve got this,” he smiled.
Chapter 15
“Ash, it’s Max.”
Asher braced. It was coming down to the end if Max was coordinating everything. “Okay, what’s the deal? What do I need to do?”
“How much power do you have left on your phone?”
Asher looked down and did a quick calc. “About an hour and ten.”
“Okay, put it on low battery.”
“Uhm.”
“Scratch that, stupid suggestion, it’s already on low battery.”
“Yep, whenever I call out and can get a signal, it’s been on low battery,” Asher said.
“We’re estimating that the Venezuelans will be done digging at the back of the vault in another hour. Ezio is thinking he’ll be at the vault door in less than fifteen minutes.”
“Ezio? What about the rest?”
“He’s a crazy rock climber and caver on his off-time. He’s making great headway getting to you. He’s leaving Raiden and Nic in his dust. Literally.” Max muttered the last word.
“And Suzanne? Did she wake up?” Eden asked.
“Yes, Ms. York, she has. The adrenaline caused no adverse effects. She was able to talk to Rafa and explain what needed to be done to open the vault from the outside.”
Asher felt like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Talk about close timing.
“Ezio will call you as soon as he gets to the vault door. In the meantime, keep the phone on.”
“What about the rest of the people? Becker and Carlson? Do you have them locked up?” Eden demanded to know.
“They’re not going anywhere at the moment. We’re not taking off on the plane to Puerto Rico until you’re rescued.”
“That wasn’t my question,” she bit out. “I want to know if you have those assholes locked up. They’re evil. Especially Becker.”
“That’s not our job. That’s for a court to decide.”
“But—”
“Ms. York, that’s how it is.”
Asher could see the steam coming out of her ears. He squeezed her shoulder, but she shook it off and glared at him.
“Hold on, Ezio is coming through on the radio.”
Asher strained to listen, but he couldn’t make out what the man was saying. Finally, the talking stopped.
“Did you hear that?” Max asked.
“No.”
“He’s at the gate to the vault. It’s been destroyed. It’s wedged against the door of the vault.”
Asher and Eden looked at one another. Asher remembered just how sturdy that steel gate was. “I’m hanging up now, Max. Have Ezio call me.”
“Yep.”
It felt like forever before his phone rang. Eden had a calm look on her face, but he knew it was bullshit because her hand on his forearm might possibly leave bruises.
“Asher,” Ezio said before Asher could say a thing. He sounded out of breath. “How are you doing?”
“Hanging in there.”
“Damn glad to hear it. We’re going to get you out of there, don’t you worry.”
“I wasn’t worried until you told me not to worry,” Asher said sarcastically. “Your bedside manner sucks.”
Ezio huffed out a laugh. “Cut me some slack, man. I’ve been sweating up a storm trying to crawl through this maze.”
“Don’t bitch to me, you do this for fun. You’re just getting a chance to do your weekend workout on the job, so be happy.”
Ezio laughed again. “Right now, I’m going to try to crawl under the gate to see if there is any way I can leverage it up off the door. I’m hoping there’s something underneath the gate that I can shove up under it. If I was a really good boy this year, maybe I can find something to use as a fulcrum.”
“We can only hope.”
“Hanging up now.” Asher’s phone went dead. He quickly tried to think of something to take Eden’s mind off of their predicament.
“What’s your friend Kane doing right now? Can we get him on your phone?”
“We can try, but I’m betting he and Cullen are
