Beautiful Seduction

He hugged me even tighter. “I don’t know that either.”

“What the hell do you know?”

“That Casimine is going to call providing a location for an exchange.”

“That’s when you’re going to kill him, right?”

“My angel, that’s not how it works. He will use her as a shield, and I assure you that he’ll have dozens of his soldiers protecting him.”

My mind was foggy making processing everything difficult, but I was no fool. “She won’t survive.” As tears continued to fall, all the fight was dragged out of me. For a few minutes, there were no words that could be said, no amount of comfort that could really matter, but I sensed his sadness and his love.

And as it had done before, it scared me to death.

“You’ll tell me everything, no matter if I don’t want to hear it?” I asked, although my tone was demanding.

“I promise that I will. Unfortunately, I have no idea when he’ll make the call. However, please know that we are looking for any sign of him, including his son. I will get her back, Cassidy. I never break my promises. I need to go but I’ll be back.”

“Can I keep my phone? Please? I promise I won’t do anything. There’s no one I want to call, including my family. I just… I need to see her pictures. I need hope.”

The sad thing was that even if I called my father, I knew in my heart the only person who could save my daughter was Valentin.

Sadly, in the process I could lose him or both of them. I was sick inside, incapable of making any rational decisions.

“I’ll leave it with you for a few minutes, but I can’t let you have it right now, Cassidy. There could be some useful information in your photographs. However, I’ll have one of my men print as many of them as you’d like.”

After kissing the top of my head, he let me go. When I looked down, he’d left my phone behind.

And I’d never felt so cold or alone in my life.

* * *

Valentin

Thirty-six hours.

Thirty-six fucking hours that we’d been searching for the bastards, determined to find Casimine as well as Filip. While my father had tried to insist that I remain on the premises, it had been impossible. But after scouring the city, taking out my anger on several loathsome individuals, I’d gotten nothing that mattered.

However, there was extreme fear on the streets, word that a potential bloodbath was about to begin widely discussed.

At least the damn Russians had instigated interrogations of their own. It had put the cops on notice, dozens more on the streets. While my father had spoken with Commissioner Worthington, the man remained itchy to use whatever trouble was brewing to bring us down.

I moved toward the building holding the rat, Brando and two other soldiers remaining close. Brando had seen to it that no one had followed us. Niccolo had provided proof that the steward from the hotel had provided Casimine with information on my connection with Cassidy. While I was surmising the rest at this point, I would guess Casimine had already been told about Cassidy’s connection with Orpheus, using that as proof I’d been behind Lazor’s assassination. With her in their clutches, they would have felt certain Orpheus would come forward.

I was in a foul mood from finding nothing, eager to return to Cassidy. She’d fallen into a near catatonic state, refusing to eat, every sound making her jumpy. I was ready to destroy the entire city in order to track the bastard down, tearing Casimine limb from limb until he told me where the girl was.

This poor fuck would take the brunt of my pent-up rage.

I strode into the building, choosing one that was already in the process of being demolished, a future condominium coming in its place. Even as I walked in, I heard rats scuttling way from the noise, their chirps making me cringe. A rat for a rat. At least the setting was appropriate.

By the time I moved into the room where the asshole was being held, I’d lost some of my desire to take time with dissecting him. I also couldn’t give a shit if he had anything to offer. There was nothing worthwhile a low-level piece of shit like himself could provide that would appease me in the least.

I stared at him, yanking my knife from the sheath inside my jacket. The men holding him backed away, all giving me a sign of reverence.

They knew better than to fuck with me when I was in this kind of mood.

Even Brando remained silent, which meant I was getting closer to the edge.

The bastard immediately started to whine when I yanked his head up by his hair. Even his whimper pissed me off.