The only redeeming thing about his capture was that Dunn's thugs had isolated him from the chaos outside. He sat in an office three floors above the main level. An executive wing, if he wasn't mistaken, hopefully away from the experimental portion of the labs.
The door opened slowly. When Diego Santana stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, Evan's pulse jumped, and his heart raced.
“Damn, Ev. What did they do to you?” Diego's soft voice carried in the empty room. “Dios, this is all my fault. I never should have left.” Evan couldn't speak past the gag in his mouth.
Diego slipped a knife from a sheath at his ankle. He wore a white lab coat over dark trousers. Had Evan not known him, he would have assumed Diego worked here.
Making short work of the gag and the ropes around his wrists and ankles, Diego knelt next to him. Before Evan could speak, his ex-lover wrapped him in a tight embrace.
“I know you probably hate me. I know I don't deserve a second chance. But let me get you out of here. You can hate me from the safety of the compound, okay?” Evan squelched the automatic joy he felt just seeing Diego again. He betrayed you.
He put your people in harm’s way. He deliberately lied to you for years. But the sight of the wiry older man sent his heart racing. Those same dark brown eyes that had once regarded him with love now looked at him with concern. Diego appeared tired, stressed, and thinner than he'd been. Dark circles underlined his eyes. But the apparent stress didn't affect the steadiness of his hand, wrapped around that gun.
“Come on, querido. Let's go.”
Pain lanced him at the endearment, but Evan said nothing. He had to get out of there before he was found. Dunn had plans for him that Kohl, apparently, wasn't aware of. And most of it had to do with keeping Dunn knee-deep in drugs, “freak pussy,” and helping him to stage a coup as he tried to become the new CEO of Pearson Labs. Talk about a nightmare.
“I'll follow you,” Evan said quietly. But I won’t trust you again.
As if Diego heard what went unsaid, he gave Evan a sad smile and moved swiftly out of the room. He kept Evan behind him, a hand on his person at all times, his gun at the ready. This lethal side of Diego startled Evan, but he had to admit, it intrigued him as well. Diego had always seemed just on the rough side of dangerous. Now, he all but shouted it.
He stopped suddenly and fired a round. A body hit the floor.
“A tech with a stunner. Not a friend,” Diego muttered. They left the hallway via a corner stairwell and descended in a run. Diego shot twice more, killing or wounding Circs, Evan wasn't sure. They didn't stop to check but instead raced toward the basement exit.
“We exit on three,” Diego whispered. “Whatever you do, stay behind me, and stay with me.”
Evan nodded. To his shock, Diego pressed a hard kiss to his lips.
“I still love you. So much,” Diego sighed. He counted back from three, then shoved open the door.
And all hell broke loose.
Robbie paced outside under the clear night sky, too full of nervous energy to sit still. Hawkins's announcement that Pearson Labs had been raided shocked everyone.
Circe's Recruits, and even Robbie, had always expected to be in on the assault when the labs fell. To sit here on the sidelines, fucking ordered by Shields not to interfere, pissed him the hell off.
“Would you sit down?” Roane asked, exasperated.
Roane had pulled guard duty while the rest of the group put their efforts into a general clean up. Hawkins, Tersch, and Fallon labored alongside the squad to clear the dead bodies from the house while the women took charge of sanitizing the place.
Everyone remained in shifted form, on edge and needing to feel empowered, Robbie guessed. He always felt like that, so what the hell did he know?
Hale remained unconscious down in the lab in one of Doc's sickrooms with Paige.
She worried over him, constantly touching him, talking to him. Robbie had tried to sit with his mates, but after an hour of constant nothingness, he'd lost it. Paige had yelled at him to go work off his rage before coming back.
No one else wanted him in the house because apparently, his attitude aggravated them too. Hawkins had the nerve to threaten him with bodily harm if he didn't leave the rest of them alone. And who the hell put him in charge?
“That’s it.”
He glanced up at Roane in surprise, only to feel the Circ's mighty fist slam into his face. The asshole hit him right in the nose, and he was forced to take a moment to clear his watering eyes.
Roane had no qualms about taking advantage. He managed another punch to Robbie's kidney and a kick to his stomach before Robbie got his feet back under him.
“That's for threatening my men and dicking with Sabrina.” A small threat that kept her from Pearson Labs. Jesus. “I saved her life. Hell, I saved all of their lives.” Robbie grunted and ducked the next punch Roane threw, countering with one of his own. He socked Roane hard in the arm, then kicked his leg out from under him.
Roane rolled back onto his feet, as if he'd meant to hit the ground ass-first.
“Not bad. At least my sister found a mate who can fall with grace.” Robbie sneered and moved so fast, Roane couldn't follow. He beat the man again and again, until Roane lay panting on his hands and knees before him. Refraining from kicking the man when he was finally down, Robbie forced himself to calm down. His anger abated, his beast pleased with the skirmish. He reached out a hand.
Only to have Roane grab it, lever his weight, and use Robbie's size against him.
The damned Circ pushed upward and threw him into the trunk of a very thick tree. The wind knocked out of him, Robbie took a deep breath and found purchase on the ground, his knees surprisingly wobbly.
“Better, Weston. Good to know you're not as big a pussy as you look,” he rasped.
Roane started laughing. The bruises and cuts staining his face faded, and he gave Robbie a sincere grin. “You are such a pain in the ass. It's so fitting you're here for Hale.” He snickered. “I told him he'd find his mate when he least expected it. After all the shit he gave me about Caitlyn. Well, now he knows where she gets that mean streak.” His laughter infected Robbie.
Chuckling and feeling the tension ease, Robbie leaned back against the tree. “My sister loves you.”
“And I love her.” Roane paused. “You're mated to Paige and Hale. Hale's place is here, and with Doc her uncle, I'd say Paige's place is here too.”
“So?”
“So, if you're planning on staying here as well, we need to set some rules.” Roane stood, his power clear to see.
Robbie understood why Hale followed this man, why the rest of them followed him too. Roane commanded by simply breathing. He had an innate ability to instill trust and loyalty in his men. He'd won Caitlyn's heart, which was no mean feat.
“Go ahead,” Robbie sighed, needling the man. “Gimme this list of rules I'm not allowed to break, ever, upon pain of death.”
“It's almost uncanny how alike you and your sister are. That same sarcasm, that same need to poke fun, when you know you're going to give in at the end.” Robbie wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. “Do you ever shut up?”
“First, I'm leader here.” Roane ignored him. “I make the calls. It's not a dictatorship, it's a command structure. You want to stay, you fall in.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” He flipped Roane a one-finger salute.
“Dick,” Roane muttered. “Second, Caitlyn may be your sister, but she's my mate.
Soon to be my wife, as soon as I ask her. And you're going to be an uncle. You and I need to make peace. Because if we don't, she'll be unhappy. As will Hale, my best friend.”