The address Teo sent me leads me to a high-end residential building.I park my car and get out.Teo is waiting for me in the lobby.His face is grave when he walks toward me.
“There’s something you have to see,” he says in greeting.I follow him to the elevator and he pushes the button to the ninth floor.I follow him through the hallway, knowing that what he has to say will have to wait until we are away from prying ears.He stops in front of a door, produces a key to unlock it and steps inside.I follow him and he closes the door again.
I venture to the living room, looking around.The place is clean and well-kept, with a touch of feminine presence.I raise a brow at Teo.“What is this place?”
“This is the building where I rent apartments to my employees,” he starts.“And this apartment belongs to Laura Branson.”At my blank stare, he corrects himself.“Anastasia.”
“Fuck.”Understanding starts to dawn.She is a hostess at his club and her…proclivities led to several interactions between her and me.Putting things simply, she is a natural submissive and I enjoyed her subservience a few times in the past to appease the beast inside me.It had, of course, all been consensual and confidential as per the club’s rules.
“Where is she?What happened?”
“She disappeared.Hasn’t shown up for her shift this evening.When I came to check on her, I found this.”He leads the way to a bedroom at the far end of the apartment.I suck in a sharp breath.The place is wrecked.An upturned chair, broken bedside lamps, the curtains torn from the windows, the bedsheets a tangled mess.Clearly, there was a struggle.I curse.
“That’s not all.Look on top of the dresser.”I stalk closer and see a note on the dresser, the only element oddly neat and aligned in the chaos.The note is a simple sheet of white paper probably torn from a notebook.
Written in tidy, unremarkable script, I read—
Don,
You arrogantly think your power can keep them safe, but you are wrong.No amount of money and power can protect you from your enemies and you will be buried under the weight of your guilt.Find them before it is too late and something more precious is taken from you.
Clock is ticking.
Tick…tick…
My blood runs cold, a sickening knot twisting in my stomach.I pick up the note to read it over again in the light of the living room.
“This is personal.”
“That’s what Luc and I are thinking too.”
“Why Anastasia?”
Teo rakes his fingers through his hair.“They could have targeted any of your ex-lovers.My best guess is that they want to show you that they can take anyone close to you.”
“She has never been close.And I haven’t seen her for months.”
“Not close in that sense, but she has been the one closest to getting to know the…real you.How they got that information is a mystery.My system is unbreachable.There is no way they have hacked the club database.”He lets out a frustrated breath.
Luc comes walking in.I send him a questioning look.
“She is safe.Men are guarding every entrance and the door to the condo.The place is a fortress.”
I nod in approval.
“Anything new?Any clues about who wrote the note?”he asks and both Teo and I shake our heads.He takes the note from my hands to read it again.“That’s clearly for you, D.”
I nod grimly.“Yeah, no mistake here.My gut tells me this is linked to our other problem.They are upping the game.”
Both my friends agree.Someone has a fucking beef with me and I need to figure it out soon.
‘…before something more precious is taken from you.’
How much do they know?Cold dread crawls up my spine and it feels like sharp claws are wrapping around my heart.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lily
