Saxon dragged the two subdued men toward the SUVs, Vander, Easton and Rhys got ready to open the back of the truck.
Vander and Easton stood to the side, weapons up.
Rhys opened the latch and swung the doors open. He whipped his Glock around and looked inside.
Then he cursed.
He heard Easton mutter some very nasty words.
The back of the truck was empty.
There were no thugs. No painting. Nothing.
“Someone set us up,” Vander bit out. Fury throbbed off him.
Rhys felt a sick curl in his gut. He yanked out his phone and called Haven.
It rang and rang.
Pick up, Haven.
Dread solidified as the call cut off. The others were all watching him. He ground his teeth together and called again. Still no answer.
“Haven’s not answering her phone.”
“Fuck,” Easton muttered.
Rhys sucked in a breath. He had no proof, but he was positive Volkov had Haven.
Haven paced across Rhys’ living room, swiveled, and paced back. She’d been at it for a while.
This was torture.
The waiting. The wondering what was going on. Were Rhys and the others okay?
She moved to the windows overlooking the balcony. The sun had risen, washing the bay and the bridge in golden light. She wrapped her arms around herself.
He’d be okay. He knew what he was doing. All the Norcross men were good.
She couldn’t lose Rhys. Her throat went tight, her heart squeezing in her chest. Oh God. She was in love with Rhys.
She pressed her palm to her chest. She’d thought for a while that she would fall in love with Leo. When things between them had been good and fun.
But it had never really happened. What she felt for Rhys was bigger, bolder, and brighter than the best of anything she’d felt for Leo.
Rhys had done nothing but care for her. Sure, he could be bossy, and sometimes made her mad, but she realized now that this was real. That was life. Real love was give and take. It wasn’t making yourself less so someone else felt good all the time. It was being there, through the good and bad, no matter what.
She staggered to the couch and dropped down. She was in love with Rhys.
Flutters started in her belly and she felt a flicker of panic. No, that was the old Haven.
He’d told her that he was falling for her. She had to trust him, trust them.
Now, he just had to come back to her.
On that thought, she started pacing again. She went over to his fancy sound system and put on some music. Then she turned it off. She needed to do something. She stomped into the kitchen and cleaned the dishes in the sink.
Then her cell phone rang and she jolted. It was barely six o’clock. It couldn’t be over yet, could it?
Then she saw Harry’s name on her phone.
“Hey, Harry. I thought you didn’t get out of bed before seven.”
“Haven.”
His serious voice sent chills through her. “What’s wrong?”
“I was up early. A delivery was screwed up at the gallery yesterday, so I had to schlep out to Dogpatch at the crack of dawn to the delivery company’s warehouse to collect it.”
“Okay.”
Harry sucked in a breath. “I saw a truck. They were shifting something. I just got a glimpse. Doll face, I’m sure it was the Water Lilies. I recognized the frame. They loaded it into the truck.”
That couldn’t be right? The Water Lilies was in a truck leaving Volkov’s mansion on the other side of the city. She froze. Was this all a ruse? A decoy?
Her mind churned. Had Mr. Irvine lied to them? No. More likely, the guards who’d spoken like he wasn’t there were probably well aware of what they were doing.
“Harry, where are you?”
“Hiding in my car, spying out the window.”
“The truck’s still there?”
“Yes. For now. It looks like they’re getting ready to leave soon.”
“Okay, don’t take your eyes off it. I’m calling Rhys and the others.”
“Where’s your badass?”
“Busy, but I’ll get a message to him. Hold tight.”
She hung up and pressed the number that Rhys had left for Ace.
It rang and rang.
“Come on.”
God, had something gone wrong with the mission? There was a beep. There was no message but she knew it was recording.
“Uh, hi, it’s Haven. My friend Harry called.” She relayed the info that Harry had shared. “Since I can’t reach you, I’ll head there. I’ll trail the truck until Rhys and the others can get there. Bye.”
Haven raced to the bedroom, yanked off Rhys’ T-shirt and pulled on some leggings, T-shirt, and running shoes. She pulled her hair