Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,94
Sam's sons, I used the last few seconds we had to try and cast out the fear and helplessness I was feeling. I would've loved to have held Sam for those few moments, but I needed to try and quiet my mind. It was like Sam had said, I had a tendency to feel too much and let it get bottled up. That emotion often translated to anger, but I couldn't afford that in this situation. I needed to keep a cool head. I needed to be able to identify any opportunity, no matter how fleeting, to end all of this.
But try as I might, my heart refused to let me get off that easy. Just as I lifted my hand to rap my knuckles on the door in front of us, my eyes automatically went to Sam. His eyes were already on me and in that second just before my hand came in contact with the wood, he mouthed something to me. It wasn't until my knuckles hit the door that my brain processed what he'd said.
I love you.
Chapter 30
Sam
Maybe I shouldn't have said it to him, but I couldn't regret it. If there was even a chance that this whole thing wouldn't end the way I wanted it to, I needed Matias to know how deep my feelings for him ran. After losing Mac, I hadn't thought I'd ever be able to love someone the way I’d loved him, but the truth was standing before me.
Or next to me, rather.
And just like with Mac, I stood to lose everything. I couldn't even imagine how I'd recover from losing my kids or Matias. Chances were, I wouldn't.
I forced myself to focus on what was happening in the present. Strangely enough, I had no clue how warm or cold it was, I couldn't really smell anything, the few sounds I did hear were dulled, and I barely noticed anything that made up my surroundings.
All that was changed when the door in front of us finally opened after what seemed like a prolonged conversation between Matias and Bishop that came down to the instructions for us entering the room.
The first thing I saw was an eerily familiar scene that I'd hoped never again to witness in my lifetime. Just like with Blake, my younger son was staring helplessly at me as the barrel of a gun rested against his temple. I managed to choke back a sob.
"Hey buddy, Daddy's here. We’re going to go home soon, okay?"
Ryan didn't respond. Instead, he closed his eyes and held them shut. I didn't know what that meant, but I was grateful for it. I chanced a glance to the right and saw Elliot and Cruz both on their knees, their faces against the wall. They had their hands tied behind their backs with zip ties. Their feet were also bound. They seem to be gagged as well.
Both men were covered in bruises, but otherwise appeared to be unhurt. Ryan, thankfully, had no bruises or cuts on him at all.
The man behind Ryan was actually crouched at his back. I figured it was to keep someone from shooting him as they entered the door since he would've been an easy target if he'd been standing. The position he was in meant that Ryan blocked most of him from view. That in itself scared me more than I wanted to admit. With Blake, he’d been so far gone in the head that he hadn't taken measures like that. Bishop was ex-Army and he'd already proven his skill by killing one of Ronan's men. Add in his sadistic streak, and I knew the chances of any of us getting out of this unharmed were slim to none.
"Strip," Bishop said. "Both of you."
I glanced at Matias and saw him instantly begin removing his clothes. I did the same. It wasn't until we were completely naked that Bishop seemed somewhat satisfied. I also didn't miss the fact that his eyes lingered on Matias. If I hadn't been so terrified, I most definitely would've been jealous.
"Get dressed," Bishop said with a wave of his gun.
My fingers shook violently as I hurried to get redressed.
"Let the kid go now, Bishop," Matias said, his voice even and cool.
Bishop smiled smugly and then all of a sudden, he tossed something at me. I instinctively caught it and realized it was zip ties. "Tie him up," he said. "Do it right and your kid gets to leave."