around her and his fingers, locked together at her waist, dug in. It probably hadn’t been the best time to remind him of her childhood.
“It’s not going to happen. You’re leaving with Lana and two of the brothers.”
She closed her eyes wishing she wasn’t such a coward. It wasn’t right to leave Steele to do the dirty work. Zane was their son. She had a responsibility as well. She had told Steele she would do anything to get him back. He was willing, but …
“I hate myself right now, Steele.”
“You’re not the one asking questions, sweetheart. That would be me.”
Could he sound any further from her? He thought she was condemning him and blaming herself for not being able to stop him. She shook her head and turned, sliding her arms around his neck. “I hate myself because I’m not capable of being you, Steele. I’m forcing you to do all the dirty work to get Zane back for us. That’s not right. It leaves you with the nightmares and gives me freedom to pretend I wasn’t part of any decisions.”
“You’re not going to have to pretend, Bree.” His voice was implacable. Cold. “You don’t have a say in this. I wouldn’t listen to you arguing with me about my decision. I’m going to take them both apart, and I’ll know every single thing they know about Zane’s disappearance. No one, not even you, the one person who might have influence over me, will be able to stop this. They took him from you. They have him somewhere. He’s alone. He’s terrified. I know what that’s like. They shouldn’t have taken my boy.”
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them.” She whispered the apology, tears burning behind her eyelids. This was bringing it all back to him, it had to be. The murder of his parents. The things they’d done to him. What things? He had said torture. Rape. Repeatedly. She hadn’t asked questions, she didn’t know how long it had gone on. He’d barely scraped the surface and she hadn’t asked him questions because she could see it had been making him sick. She’d done what she’d always done when Steele was upset, she’d turned his attention to her body.
Breezy pushed her forehead into his chest, desperate for air. “What if Bridges did sell him?” The idea made her want to vomit. “What if they’re doing to him the things that happened to you, Steele? Our baby. Why didn’t I have a gun? I should have bought a gun. I should have used that money to find a safer place, one they couldn’t get into.” She was babbling, and she couldn’t stop. The pressure in her chest was enormous, so much so that she thought her heart was shattering.
“Stop it.”
Steele’s low command startled her. His hand went under her chin and he jerked her head up, forcing her gaze to meet his. There was that arctic cold there and little else.
“This won’t help. You have to stop, Bree. You can’t go there. We have one job, and that’s to find him and take him back. I’ll kill anyone in my way. I’ll take apart anyone who can give me information and won’t when I ask politely for it. We will get him back. When we do, I’m going to beat the shit out of Bridges and Junk and then I’m going to kill them. I intend to make them both feel every pain you ever felt in your life, and if they hurt Zane, it will go twice as bad for them. There isn’t anything you or anyone else can say to sway me from that path. Ask any of my brothers, nothing stops me. No one stops me. I got the name Steele because I’m unbending. Zane is coming home. You hang on to that.”
She concentrated on his strength. Steele was unbending. That’s what he’d told her, and she could see that trait in him. She might not like it all the time, but right now, in this moment, she needed that from him. The Swords would make the mistake of taunting him, just as they would have had she been asking the questions. They would try to scare her with tales of what was happening to Zane and she would fall apart. Steele wouldn’t. She could see that.
“You’re going to go with Lana—”
“I don’t need anyone but Lana with me,” she said softly. “Keep everyone else with you. Lana can keep us safe. She’s like you. I’ve seen