I run for the door, pressing every fucking button I can find, desperate for it to open. Getting absolutely nowhere, I turn back to Colton. “How could you do that? My mom is out there. Open the door.”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he says, hurrying over to a massive computer system and turning it on. “I can’t do that.”
“You have to,” I cry, rushing after him.
“I’m sorry, Ocean. I won’t risk you like that,” he tells me. “Once the door is sealed, it won’t open until the threat is gone. The cops were notified the second the alarm sounded. They’re going to be alright.”
I slam my hands into his back, demanding his undivided attention. “That’s my mom. My fucking mom. You’re just going to leave her out there to get hurt? Who are you?”
Colton turns around and I instantly slam my hands into his chest, over and over until he pulls me into him and locks me in his steel arms, caging me in. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs as the fat tears continue rolling down my cheeks. “Just trust me, please. Your mom is going to be alright. She’s a smart woman. They gain nothing from hurting her. They’re after me.”
“Then let me go.” When he doesn’t respond, I feel myself breaking like never before. “Please,” I whisper.
I feel as he shakes his head. “I need to let go of you, Ocean. I have to turn on the camera so we can see what’s happening out there. Are you going to be alright?”
I shake my head, not knowing what I’m going to do, but as he releases me from his tight grip, all I feel is empty. I sag to the concrete ground and drop my face into my hands as sobs tear painfully from deep in my chest.
I feel his eyes on me as he steps back in front of the computers but I don’t dare look up at him as I know all I’m going to find is his pity. Minutes pass and I hear loud yelling coming from the ground floor of the mansion and I can’t help but raise my gaze to the monitors to watch what’s happening below.
There must be four or five men storming through the mansion each with a black bandana covering the majority of their faces. They’re dressed in all black and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that it looked like there was a gang war going on downstairs.
“Is that the DeCarlo family?” I question as I watch them make their way through the mansion, looking like my worst kind of nightmare. This is the kind of thing that I would have expected to happen in Breakers Flats, but here, I thought we were safe.
“Yes,” he says. “They’re Vincent’s sons. They’re bad news.”
“No shit,” I grunt, pulling myself up off the cold ground and moving in closer to watch as two maids scramble under a table, holding onto each other in terror while one of Vincent’s sons takes the room by storm. He's waving his gun in the air and yelling violently at them, their heads shaking in response.
They’re not willing to give their boss away and it becomes all too clear why Colton was so desperate to get me in here. These guys are ruthless. They don’t take prisoners and they honestly don’t give a shit how they have to get what they want. How did Charles keep them at bay all this time?
My gaze flicks to the next monitor to where one of the brothers stands at the entryway of the staff quarters and my stomach sinks. The door is locked and he slams his fists against the wood. Panic rises within me. “Are they in there?”
Colton shakes his head. “I don’t know, Jade,” he tells me, looking over to the next monitor that shows the inside of the staff kitchen. The room looks empty but I give it a second glance just to make sure.
The guy gets annoyed with the door and with one big kick, the door splinters and flies off its hinges. He strides into the staff quarters and starts looking around, checking under tables and inside of cupboards.
Not finding what he’s looking for, he moves on and I try to take a calming breath. They would have gotten away. Harrison and Maryne have been working here for years, they would know every little hiding spot in this place. They have to be alright. They would have taken Mom with them. They’re going