Chills bolted up my back and turned into ridges across every inch of my skin as I processed what he said, waiting for Colin to do the same.

What about her father? Why would he let them hurt his daughter or son if he’s tied to this? I’d save those questions for him when Colin wasn’t around.

“Lennon’s alive because you’re safe,” Alessandro reiterated, brows pinching.

“So, you’re saying I would have been responsible for her death had I . . .” Colin rocked back on his heels and dropped his head into his hands, and I shifted to that position alongside him, rubbing his back.

“The police swarmed the Navy Yard after we got away. Lennon was never brought there,” he said firmly.

“So, where do you think she is now? What do they want with her? What’d they want with me?”

Alessandro closed his eyes, took a breath, then returned his attention to my son as I stroked his back, trying to comfort him and maintain my sanity.

“They planned to offer you up as a trade for something they think your uncle Easton could get them. They originally targeted you because of him.”

Colin’s shocked dark eyes flew to Alessandro’s face.

“Your father complicated their original plans by coming into your life, by showing up at that rave. They had to regroup. Find a way to get you away from my brother. They knew who they were up against, so they had over twenty mercenaries protecting you tonight.”

He offered his hand like a truce, and Colin hesitantly accepted it. He held out his other for me, and the three of us stood as Izzy emerged, appearing in the foyer.

“Jamie couldn’t do all of this. He sold E to rich punks and boosted cars. And no way Lennon helped him make that video that was sent to draw me out. She’d never risk my life to help her brother like that. I don’t believe this.” He shook his head. “But I saw all those bodies, so . . .”

“Constantine just called me.” Izzy aligned herself with her brother, arms locking over her chest as she shared, “He checked out their hotel in Brooklyn himself to see what really happened. Jamie, Lennon, and the others didn’t leave on their own. They were taken by force. They’re working on following the trail since we know they were never brought to the Navy Yard.”

A biting chill slipped under my skin at her words.

“We think someone inside Jamie’s crew at that hotel double-crossed him,” she continued as Colin and I quietly stared at her and Alessandro.

Colin was probably as numb with shock as I was.

“They knew your dad had eyes on the building and that you’re a Costa. They knew everything you texted Lennon,” she went on in a soft voice.