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“What?” I growl, still half asleep. It pisses me off that I’m once again, waking up without Analise beside me. A vaguely familiar voice on the other end is muffled, but the message is clear. Dominic has Analise! The words ricochet around in my mind. What the fuck?! How in the hell did Dominic find her, and even more importantly, why would he? Message relayed, the line goes dead in my hand. I check the call log, it was a restricted number. Of course, it was.
Rage is a red haze that floods my brain and energizes my body. I have to force myself to breathe slowly. To not throw my phone at the wall, no matter how badly I want to.
Calm. I can’t find my sunshine if I can’t think straight. I have to stay calm and not lose control. The one task I have set for myself, day in and day out for the past 5 months, has been learning how to control myself better. At least where it comes to her. It was my inability to restrain my emotions that made me hurt her. My failure that made her run from me. I swore that first night when I realized that she was gone, that I will never again be responsible for doing anything that would give her cause to leave me again. If I can find her.
If she will come back home.
Digging deep for some semblance of calm, I dial Travis Keller. He’s supposed to be on top of this, and now fucking Dominic has my wife. He answers curtly on the first ring, and I explode the second I hear his voice.
“Where the fuck is my wife?!” My hands are shaking, and I feel sick. Knowing it’s adrenaline doesn’t quell the feeling. There is not one good reason in the world why my uncle Dominic would have Analise.
Quickly and concisely, Travis fills me in on the events of the last couple hours. Knowing that his woman was abducted as well shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does. He is as invested in finding them as I am. The thing that bothers me the most is how did someone know where to intercept them. I have no doubt that Travis was well prepared when they left this morning. That Dom’s guys were able to pull this off means that somehow they had inside information. Hearing the rage boiling in Travis’s voice, I know that he will move heaven and earth to get our women back. Dom may have been expecting my wrath, but he sure as shit isn’t expecting a pissed off combat veteran Marine to come knocking on his door. I’d laugh if my whole world wasn’t at stake. This is going to get ugly. I can’t figure out why he would do this. He’s family and he has to know that taking my wife would start a war.
I’m somewhat relieved when Travis explains that they have already established video footage of the truck that the girls are in. Apparently, Blake Stone is some kind of computer genius and can hack into pretty much anything. He might be a good man to know.
The truck holding Analise and Faye is making its way toward Vegas. They took them on the highway I’m sure because once they made it to the city, there is no way they would have been able to pull this off. As it is, I am sending out every man I can trust to keep an eye out for an armored truck that undoubtedly has front end damage.
Travis and his men will come directly to my penthouse as soon as they roll in. It's the only place that I can guarantee is secure, and it's central to the few places I can think of where Dominic might try to hide. I know all his old haunts, as well as the properties that he owns, in this city. It shouldn’t be hard to flush him out.
I hope.
Chapter Ten
Ana
Faye finally fell asleep, but I haven't been able to, there is just too much confusion dancing around in my mind. Hearing that I was the one they intended to take threw me. It was the last thing I expected. I have absolutely nothing to do with Xavier's family's business. I never have. The only reason anyone would have for kidnapping me, that I can think of, is to use me against X somehow.
I don't have any info to share about anything, and that worries me. It means taking me is a personal attack on my husband, and that is a scary idea. I'm not even positive that he is looking for me because he wants me to come home. I’m pretty sure that Xavier will want the baby, but I could be wrong. For all I know, he just wants me to come back so he can divorce me or get an annulment. That hadn't crossed my mind sooner, and my heart hurts at the possibility that he wanted me to come home so he could end things with me. If he does, there is no one to blame but myself, and I know it.
Eventually, the truck slows way down, and I tense nervously, my eyes and ears straining for anything other than the sounds of the engine and the tires rumbling on the pavement below. We go slightly downhill, and after a minute, the truck comes to a stop. Faye jerks awake with a low cry, and together we stand up clutching each others hands. If an opportunity presents itself, I know that we will run, and I’m trying to psych myself up to run even though I’m exhausted and ungainly.
Outside the vehicle, I can hear the quiet murmur of male voices now that
the engine noise is gone. After what feels like hours, the door opens, letting bright fluorescent light flood in. I'm left blinking in confusion, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness when someone grabs my arm in an iron grip and drags me out of the truck and into what is clearly an underground parking garage.
Desperately I struggle, looking for Faye. I see her being pulled from the truck and roughly being pushed to the ground. I am propelled toward the doors of an elevator. It looks old and poorly maintained, and that is just one more thing added to my list of worries. Old, not so great elevator, completely empty parking garage, at least four unidentified men holding Faye and I captive. This is so not good.
God, please let Xavier know I'm here. Somehow… I pray frantically, my eyes darting around, my mom's words echoing in my memory. God helps those who help themselves, darling. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I can do to help myself at this moment, so I’m going to have to leave it up to God. I hope He’s listening.
Someone shoves Faye into the elevator beside me. Neither of us says a word, just keep our eyes averted from our captors. Faye is cradling her arm against her chest. One of them hurt her. Son of a bitch. As if things weren’t already bad enough, an injury could mean that even if a chance to escape presents itself that we may not be able to take it. My pregnancy and her being hurt greatly decreases our chances of helping ourselves.
I silently count the levels as the old bell announces them, until with a shudder and a metallic clang, we stop on the twentieth floor. Just a few steps down a dimly lit hall, we are shoved into a mostly empty apartment. They are being much rougher with Faye than with me, and she stumbles before falling to her knees from the force that was put into pushing her into the room. The man beside her jerks her back up to her feet and we are ushered into a bedroom.
The door snaps shut, and I hear the snick of a lock being engaged behind us. We are trapped again. The only light in the room is what is reflected from the city below us through the wall of windows. The room is empty, except for a broken-down mattress on the floor. After a cursory look around, we crumple in defeated exhaustion and try to sleep.
Xavier
It's approaching one in the morning when the intercom buzzes, announcing that someone is on their way up in the private elevator. I know it’s them because no one gets up here without Gino, one of my best guys, giving them access from his security desk in the parking garage. I meet them in the hall with my hand out, introducing myself first to Travis and Blake, who I recognize from the K&S website, then the two men with them.
They look pretty rough, and a big part of me is glad that it took this level of abuse to get the women from them. All four of the men have the look of seasoned fighters, hard expressions, and determined looks in their eyes. They are the kind of men who inspire confidence in the people around them.
“You two look like shit,” I say, waving a hand toward Blake and Travis. “Come in, and let's get to work.” I continue. “I know who has them. I just don't know why or where he would have taken them.”
Blake speaks up first, “I want to know how they were able to find us. No one but Travis and I even knew we were bringing Mrs. Cerelli to Las Vegas.”
That's a question I’m interested in knowing the answer to as well. I know that I didn't tell anyone anything about having Travis and Blake looking for Analise. Hell, I didn't even know that they had located her so quickly. Once I have her home, I will have to get that story from them. I would have told Grayson, but my best friend has been laying low somewhere for the last few weeks. I don’t have any idea what is going on with him lately, and I want him by my side while we try to figure out where Analise is now.
Turning, I lead them into my apartment and down the hall to my office before motioning for them to get comfortable.
