Page 31 of Echoes From Within

“Relax brother,” Blaze says. “Technically speaking, it’s his job as head security to do shit like this.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Steel says. “We swore to protect him and to keep him clean when we patched him in.”

“I promise, I can’t be traced, Sir,” Knox says.

I want to pull the poor boy into my arms but I don’t think Steel would be too happy about that. Knox may be in charge of our security but Steel and Blaze are in charge of our protection.

Two majorly different things.

And right now, Steel is pissed that he wasn’t there to protect Knox against any possible threat while he was knuckles deep inside of Malachi fucking Sinclair’s private email.

I watch as Steel takes several breaths in before pulling Knox into his arms and holding him tight. From the outside, it would appear as if he were embracing his lover. But Knox is our baby brother and I feel that same pull to protect him as Steel does.

“Don’t fucking do it again,” Steel warns as he pulls away. “Now, look Venom in the eyes and tell him what you found.”

Reluctantly, Knox looks up until our eyes meet. I smile encouragingly.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” he says softly.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” I tell him. “And I am not a Sir. Now, tell us what you found sweetheart.”

Ten minutes later I’m floored with the amount of information Knox found. We now have three locations as to where Malachi is hiding along with a long fucking list of people who have bought babies off of him.

Fifty-seven babies. That’s how many he sold. The thought sickens me when I think about how many women were rapped for that to happen.

“About Sophia,” Knox says. “I truly think you need to go check on her.”

“Why?” I ask, my heart rate spiking.

“I have a friend who works at the homeless and rescue shelter called UNITY,” he tells me. “Sophia took over the business when her parents died.”

“Sophia owns a homeless and rescue center?” Ghost asks, and I smile feeling so fucking proud of her.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “But my friend says she’s been acting weird. She’s been distant and seems tired.”

“Is your friend close enough to her to know for a fact that something is wrong?” Blaze asks.

Knox nodded, tears filling his eyes.

“My friend was also a prisoner of Malachi’s,” he says, causing us all to look at him in shock. “I thought she was dead. My mom and her mom have been best friends since high school. They thought she fell into the river because her coat was hanging from a bridge. She was missing for two years.”

“What’s her name, Little one?” Blaze asks.

“Candance,” he says. “But everyone just calls her Cady.”

Cady?

“Wasn’t that the young teenager that was pregnant?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Knox says. “She gave the baby up for adoption though. She’s now working for Sophia.”

Sometimes I forget just how young Knox is. At nineteen years old, he isn’t much older than the young teen we rescued.

“Somethings wrong, Knox,” he tells me. “Cady is scared it might be something deeper than she can handle on her own.”

“If you don’t get the fuck over there then I will force my way to front and go myself,”Xander growls.

“Damnit, I didn’t drive here,” I say, standing.