I rub my belly again and whisper softly to the baby inside. It’ll be a long time until he hears me, but for now, it comforts me in a strange way. I’m doing this for him, and it’s something I can’t afford to forget.
The neighbors start screaming at each other, and I can hear them through the wall. The yelling shifts to a physical altercation, and suddenly, I’m back in that house under my dad and Sal’s fists. No, I won’t go back to that. Sal is dead, and I never have to go back to that.
In a full circle, my gut clenches again as guilt pounds into me. Adrian took care of me. He saved me, and this is how I repay him…by running off when he’s facing down our enemies?
I surge out of the closet, grab the corner of the bag, and drag it to me. Then I reach inside and wrap my fist around the pistol grip of the gun. It takes a second to remember how to check the chamber, the safety, and the bullets, but it comes back quickly. As does the nausea of holding the cold metal tight in my hands. It bites into my palm, but I settle into my nest again, setting it on the floor, my fingers still gripping it.
If he’s coming after me, I need to be ready to protect myself. Kai is likely the threat I’ll face, and I’m prepared to force him not to turn me in based on his oath. I don’t know if it will stand, him being so loyal to Adrian and all…but I have to try.
I look down at the gun. My only other option is to shoot him, and I really don’t want to kill Adrian’s best friend on top of running away. This isn’t meant to be a punishment for him. I’m just trying to keep our baby safe, myself safe, and keep Adrian from damning his soul completely.
If he comes after me and somehow kills us, he’ll never forgive himself. If I go back and he kills us, he’ll also never forgive himself.
So my only choice is not to get caught.
4
ADRIAN
If one more person asks me if Valentina walked out on her own, I’m going to start shooting them in the face. Let them line up to put my Magnum in their mouth, and maybe they will stop asking me stupid fucking questions.
I pace the foyer of the penthouse, not wanting to leave for fear she’ll need me when I get her back. My men are scouring every inch of the city, and I have Kai’s spies working overtime to feel out the society and the council for any whiff of her. So far, they’ve turned up nothing.
She’s the goddamn daughter of one of the ranking members, the wife of another, and no one has spotted her? Whether it’s willful ignorance to get under my skin or someone is hiding her very well, I can’t wait to rip the balls off the bastard who thought he could take from me.
If Sal’s greasy ass were still alive, I’d be so far in his business he wouldn’t be able to think straight. As it stands, I have my guys digging even further in this family to see if they can turn over any answers. I wouldn’t put it past them to take her in retaliation for Sal’s death. Not that they have a body to prove anything.
I keep pacing and watch the elevator. Every time it moves, I feel like my heart is going to pop out of my mouth. I’m riding on caffeine and sheer adrenaline at this point since I can’t sleep without her beside me in our bed. I can’t rest knowing she is out there and could be hurt, or scared, or dying.
When my nerves are frayed, and I can’t take the silence anymore, I call together my five. At least the ones who can go into the field right now. Kai, Ivan, Michail, and Alexei. While I’d usually excuse Alexei to stay by his injured twin’s side, I can’t spare him until I know my angel is on her way back to me.
I pace the command room in circles around them, like a shark circling for the kill. “It’s been twenty-four hours. Why don’t we have answers? What about the tracker?”
Kai, as usual, speaks first. Even now, amid this crisis, his suit is pressed and his dark hair is perfect. Hell, even his tanned skin is glowing in the command room’s lights. “We have round-the-clock patrols trying to hunt her down. Our contacts at the police are involved, searching for her too. Everyone is doing everything they can. And the tracker was disabled somehow.”
What he’s not saying rings loudly in the room. Echoing so loudly I expect someone to repeat the words they are all thinking out loud. “Bring up the footage again,” I order, not giving them a chance to voice what I know they’re thinking.