Page 102 of Ash Storm

Ash

Afsan’s estate was a gargantuan, sprawling mess.

There was some good news. The estate was absolutely impossible to protect, and would therefore always be under-protected. More so in this case, where Afsan had rushed in with what was likely to be a bare bones security team.

The bad news, if they believed the plans Rogue had downloaded from the architects who'd led the renovation project a few years earlier, were the nearly twenty thousand square-feet of building for Dark, Slate, Griffin and him to go through.

“Twenty thousand fucking square feet,” Slate huffed. “Who needs that much space?”

“The previous owners had it in their family for five hundred years,” Rogue said. “Eventually it ended up in the hands of seven cousins who engaged in a costly legal proceeding to divide the property. Afsan waited for a decade, until they ran out of money, before swooping in and buying it for a fraction of its worth.”

Ash wasn’t even going to ask where he got that information from.

“Look,” Dark said, pointing to the tablet in front of him. “Ignoring the pool-house, there are three structures for us to worry about—the great house, the old stables, and a smaller cabin turned guest house.”

Ash shook his head, remembering the way Afsan had moved around his Istanbul palace—like a fish in water.

He was the kind of man who knew he belonged in the great house. “Afsan will be in the main house, and he’ll want Chloe near him.”

Dark nodded. “That makes sense, with what we know of him.” He spoke quietly into his earpiece. “Rogue, can you see anything?”

Rogue’s voice came back as clear as if he were standing right next to them.

“There are four bodies circling the gardens, moving around in pairs, and two more in the little hut by the front gate. I imagine those are guards. The house has thick walls, though. I can’t tell how many people are inside.”

“That’s helpful. Thanks, Rogue.”

“I’m sending the details to your phones now.”

Ash stood up to his full height, stretching his muscles.

Though he’d never shied away from a fight, as a professional soldier, he’d also never looked forward to fighting, either.

Then again, he’d never faced the man who’d held the woman he loved captive and planned to sell her in an auction. He wanted to kill Afsan with his bare hands.

His heart beat hard against his chest.

He forced himself to breathe.

In and out.

In and out.

Until he felt more like himself again.

“You okay, Ash?” Dark asked, with his usual perceptiveness.

“I’m good.”

And he was. A sense of calm filled him as he looked at his teammates. Together, they were going to do this.

“Griffin? You sure you’re up for this?”

Griffin’s jaw was clenched so tight it seemed one of his molars might pop, but he nodded grimly.

“Okay. Two pairs of guards are on the other side of the house right now. I’m ready to kill the primary and secondary power,” Rogue said in his earpiece. “That will kill the alarm. You’ll have maybe sixty seconds until the guards realize the secondary power is down as well, and the alarm isn’t coming back online. At that point, they might try to restart the power, or they might come looking for you.”

“Makes sense. Thanks, Rogue.”