Rob put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “To all the brothers who aren’t here. Who we did lose. May we remember them.”
Emotion welled up hard and fast as Beck raised his glass. “To Sasha.”
They all drank down the vodka Jax had brought. He’d likely had a choice of many liquors, but they always chose vodka in honor of the Lost Boy who wasn’t here to share it.
He’d fought and bled with these men. They were part of his family now, and standing here with them he realized he always held himself slightly apart. And he realized why. Because that part of his heart that could truly open up had been halfway around the world.
“I love you guys.” It was good to say it.
Owen’s eyes went wide. “Oh, he loves us now, does he? I wonder what caused this amazing turn of events.”
Jax snorted as he put his shot glass back on the tray. “We all know what did it.”
“Guys, come on. He’s had a breakthrough.” Rob was always the reasonable one.
“He had an orgasm.” And Tucker still said too much. Or what everyone else was thinking.
Beck laughed because these were his brothers. They’d been through something terrible and come out the other side. If there was one thing in the world he’d done right, it was helping these men. “Hey, I can take it. And he’s right. It’s been a long dry spell waiting for that woman to come back to me.”
The door to the house came open and Sean Taggart was suddenly there. “Hey, Beck. I think we’re going to need you in here.”
A chill went through him. He glanced back and Roman was being helped out of the pool by Ezra. Jamal Lewis was standing at one end of the pool and Charlotte at the other as all the kids seemed to be getting out.
Fuck. They were locking down the kids. That could only mean one thing. “Levi escaped, didn’t he?”
Sean held the door open. “Come inside. Ian has news.”
“I need to find Kim.” His heart had started to race. If Levi had gotten out or been freed by his friends, he would go straight for Kim. Levi was always going to come after her. No matter what he’d said.
“I think you should come in here first,” Sean said. “We’ve got some of the bodyguards bringing everyone inside. If she’s not already in the house, she should be here soon.”
“Come on.” Owen gestured to the door. “Let’s see what’s happening. I might need to call back home and have Rebecca lock down our house.”
“Dad?” Roman had a towel wrapped around him and his hair was still wet. “Is there something wrong?”
His son. He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the emotion that threatened to take over every time he looked down at his son. “I don’t know, kiddo, but I’m going to take care of it, and Uncle Ezra is going to stay with you.”
Ezra nodded. “Yeah, buddy. Let’s go get you dressed, and I bet we can find some games to play.”
Roman wasn’t fooled. “Is Mom okay? Is the bad man here?”
Beck got to one knee. “I’m going to find out. I need to know you’ll stay close to your uncle.” Who was a priest and might not remember how to fight. He looked up and Jamal was a reassuring presence.
“I’ll watch out for them both, Beck,” Jamal assured him. “You do what you need to do. I’m going to take the kids inside, and we’ll keep them all together.”
He trusted Jamal and the bodyguards. He was certain Charlotte would stay behind and help guard the kids, too. And she would be surrounded by women who knew how to take care of themselves.
“Go on,” Rob said. “We’ll make sure everyone gets in all right. Go talk to Tag and we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
He kissed his son’s forehead and followed Sean Taggart inside.
“Ian got a message from Drake,” Sean was saying. “Apparently at some point during the night, Levi slipped away. Obviously he had someone on the inside because they didn’t report he was missing until this morning. Drake didn’t find out until an hour ago. However, Adam’s already tracked him using one of his aliases. We believe he was on his way to DFW.”
It was bad, but they had a couple of things in their favor. “He’ll likely go to my house. I’ll give Adam my password so he can monitor my security system.”
Sean snorted. “Adam’s already in, man. He doesn’t need a password.”
Well, he should have expected that. “Levi will think I’m home on a Saturday. If we don’t catch him there, I’ll take my family to a safe house.”
“I don’t know. According to Ian he’s got an uncanny ability to figure out where you are at all times.” Sean opened the door to the large room they used as an office when they were up here at the lake.
“Where’s your sister?” Ian was standing in front of four of his kids. They were lined up by size, as though Ian had taught them exactly how to present themselves.
Kenzie and Kala stood next to Seth, and then Travis at the end. The boys were wrapped in towels while the girls were still in the clothes they’d come here in. Only Tasha was missing.
Kenzie shrugged. “Don’t know. She didn’t want to watch the movie with us.”
Kala stayed silent.
Big Tag stared down at his kids with a look that would have made most hardened soldiers think twice. “Do you honestly believe I don’t know when you’re hiding something from me? What don’t I know? I’m not joking. This is a dangerous situation and your sister could get hurt.”
Kenzie opened her mouth but shut it again when Kala glanced her way.
Tag turned his gaze on the boys. They both stared at their fathers.
Travis shook his head. “Daddy, I don’t know. The girls are mean and me and Seth stay away.”
“No, you don’t.” Tag’s focus
