“Fuck,” Rome said on a sigh. He found the right number in his phone and pressed the call button. His eyes were on Marco and Neil as he said, “I need to speak with King.”
Juno
The hit to the side of his face hurt like a mother. The ringing in his ears also wasn’t too fucking pleasant. He didn’t know where he was. He did, however, know that Alvaro had too many men around for him to fight his way out. He hadn’t been there for long. Maybe half an hour. He didn’t know what was gonna happen when Rome told Alvaro he wouldn’t be giving up Serrano for him. All he did know was that it wouldn’t be good for him. Really, it was only a question of how painful his death was going to be. Not that he was just going to sit back and let them do whatever they wanted. He was going to fight them the whole fucking way.
He spat blood on the floor and scowled up at the guy who’d hit him.
“That all you got?”
The man raised his fist to hit him again but Alvaro saying, “Enough,” had him lowering his hand.
Juno jerked his head toward Alvaro who was walking through the door. The move had him dizzy for a few seconds. Alvaro walked up in front of him. He crouched down in front of Juno with that evil-ass smile on his face.
“What?” Juno asked and licked the bloody side of his mouth. “You too much of a pussy to hit me yourself? Need someone to do the dirty work for you?”
“Oh, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, but Romeo agreed to the trade, so it seems you’ll get to live. At least for a little while longer,” Alvaro said.
Juno couldn’t stop the surprise from spreading on his face though he hid it quickly and from the lack of change in Alvaro’s expression, he’d been fast enough. Whatever Rome was doing, the last thing he needed was Alvaro getting suspicious. He didn’t believe for a second Rome would actually trade him for Serrano. He couldn’t fault the man for being loyal. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to. Knowing he meant less to Rome than Serrano did, hurt more than the beating he’d taken. It hurt so much fucking more.
“Get him up,” Alvaro ordered.
Two of Alvaro’s men grabbed Juno and pulled him to his feet. Juno struggled against their hold, twisting his body and kicking out with his feet. If he was going to die, he’d die fighting. Even if the thought of never again feeling Rome’s touch, of never having Rome’s lips on his, left him feeling hollow inside.
Rome
He was surrounded by Kings. It wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d imagined. They were in what looked like a meeting room at their clubhouse. There was a long table with chairs all around it and most of the Kings were sitting down along with Marco. The spook was leaned against the wall in the far corner while Rome was standing behind Marco’s chair, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was fighting to stay calm. For Juno’s sake.
“Why would Alvaro take Juno?” King asked and ran his gaze over Marco and Rome.
“He wanted to trade him for me,” Marco said.
King frowned at him. “Why? How?”
Marco glanced up at Rome and he knew the man was leaving it up to him to decide what he wanted to share, but there was no sense in lying. Not now.
Rome cleared his throat. “He wanted to make a deal with me. Juno for Marco’s location.”
“Why would—” King cut himself off, seeming to come to the right realization. He shook his head. “Of all the people Juno could fuck…”
Rome gave King a nod, then swallowed hard against the knot in his throat. “I would never make that trade.”
“What the fuck, man?” Bones growled and pushed out of his chair. “Juno deserves better than that. Does he know?”
Rome opened his mouth to answer yes, then realized what that meant. Fuck. Juno did know that and he probably thought he was going to die because of it.
“I…” Rome trailed off, not knowing what to say.
“Rome already agreed to make the trade,” Marco said.
Bones blinked at him, then jerked his gaze back to Rome. “What? I thought you just said—”
“I did,” Rome interrupted him. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t do everything to get him back. I just can’t trade Marco for him. But that’s why we’re here. We know where they’re gonna be and when they’ll be there. Alvaro will be there, too. No way he’d miss out on rubbing this in Marco’s face.”
King pushed his chair back and stood. “We get Juno back and kill that fucker.”
Rome gave him a nod and took a step back to let Marco get up.
“This is getting a bit old,” Auggie, the club’s treasurer, said with a quiver in his voice. “Can people stop getting kidnapped already?”
The big guy Rome believed was called Skinner, wrapped his arms around Auggie, and said, “It’s gonna be okay, baby.”
Rome hoped he was right. Because if he wasn’t, Rome didn’t know what he’d do, except that it wouldn’t be pretty.
Chapter Fifteen
Rome
THEY WERE gonna let Alvaro arrive at the meeting spot first to make him think he had the upper hand. In reality, the whole place would be surrounded by Kings. They vastly outnumbered Alvaro and his men, and he doubted Alvaro would be expecting Rome to have gotten the Kings involved. For all he knew, Alvaro hadn’t made the connection between Juno and the Kings. They’d taken Juno from the tattoo shop where Juno usually didn’t wear his
