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I glance in the rearview mirror and see Isabella watching me, listening. I don’t want to say anything to scare her. “Not now. Send Toma to the penthouse. I need someone to sit with Isabella.”
“I can do it. I’ll be there in—”
“No, I need you ready to handle whatever other fires flare up today. I have a feeling this is just the beginning.”
Stefan sighs, but relents. “Okay. Toma left not long after you did. He should be close. I’ll call him.”
“Thanks, sobrat.”
We hang up just as I pull up to the building. Isabella is silent as we walk through the lobby and take the elevator up to the top floor. She isn’t her usual bubbly self, sharing every stray thought that passes through her head. I don’t blame her. She has been through too much today already.
Unfortunately, I’m about to put her through more.
Inside, I give her a blanket and a juice box with a straw. Then I kneel down in front of her once again. “Isabella, I need you to tell me as much as you can about what happened.”
“Where is Mama?” she asks, her lips quivering.
“That’s what I’m going to find out. But I need your help. Can you help me? Can you be brave?”
She takes a deep breath, her tiny shoulders lifting slightly. Then she nods.
“That’s my girl.” I give her an encouraging smile. “Can you tell me what happened? Start at the beginning. What did you do after I left?”
Her forehead wrinkles as she thinks. “Mama and I went for a walk. She asked me if I liked living at the penthouse or the big house better, and I said the big house. But I just want you and Mama with me. And Mama said that’s all she wanted, too.”
I squeeze her knee. “Good, good. What next?”
“Then I wanted to buy a flower, but Mama didn’t have any dollars in her pocket. I said we could ask the men in the car. The secure—secure—”
“Security?”
I’d called the security team on my way into the city, and they didn’t answer, either. I tried to convince myself it was because I was calling from my burner. My call probably wasn’t getting through the spam blockers on their phone or some bullshit like that.
But this makes a lot more sense.
It was a coordinated attack.
She nods. “The security. But they weren’t there. The car was gone. Mama was taking me home when we ran into the lady. She said she found Travis.”
“It was the woman who found Travis last night? That’s what your mom said?”
“Yeah. She had a big boo-boo on her face. And I could see her belly button. Her shirt was really short.”
The extraneous details are painful, but I access my deepest reserves of patience. Calm. Precise. “What happened after you saw the woman?”
“We were going to go get a s’mores Pop-Tart at a coffee store. But when Mama was checking her phone, the woman hit her.” Isabella’s lip wobbles. I can see fear cloud her vision, the memory playing in her mind. “Mama fell down and then the woman hit her again.”
“Then she told you to get away?”
“Mama yelled for me to go, so I did,” Isabella says. “I drove my wheelchair as fast as I could, but I didn’t know where to go. The security was gone and Mama was gone, and I just hid because I didn’t know where to—”
I pull her into a hug, cradling her head. “You did great, princess. You did a perfect job. Your mom is going to be so proud of you when she gets home.”
She sniffles. “Really?”
“Almost as proud as me.” I pat her cheek. “Now, I need you to stay here. I have to make a call and then I’ll be right back.”
I step into the office and push the door mostly closed, leaving only a tiny crack to keep an eye on Isabella. Even inside my supposed safehouse, I can’t let my guard down. Not when I don’t know where the attacks are coming from.
I pull out my phone. My phone, not the burner. There’s no need to hide anymore. Not now that someone has Emery.
I hold the phone to my ear and wait. I’m not entirely sure anyone is going to pick up. But just before I hang up, the line connects.
There’s silence. I break it first.
“Hello, Veronika.”
She sighs. “Adrik.”
“Were you expecting someone else?”
She doesn’t answer, but I don’t need her to. I need her to listen.
“Emery has been taken,” I say, presenting the information as clearly and unemotionally as I can. “I need to get her back.”
“And why in the hell do you think I’ll help you?”
“Because you want your husband alive.”
The silence is loaded. She isn’t denying me, which means I have her attention.
“I don’t know if Yasha is behind this,” I continue. “And it doesn’t matter. All I want is Emery returned to me, alive and unharmed. And if Yasha makes that happen, I’ll let him live.”
“Like hell you will,” she snaps. “You’re a liar.”
“When have I ever lied, Veronika? When has my word not been good?”
This time, she doesn’t say anything because she can’t. She knows I’m right. And right now, I’m willing to honor this promise.
Yasha won’t be able to live in New York, of course. He’ll have to find some remote spot in a distant corner of the globe to live out his days, somewhere I’ll never cross paths with him again.
But I’ll let him live. Which is better than the agony I’ll rain down on him if he refuses.
“Talk to your husband,” I say. “Tell him that, if he took her, he can give her back and save his life. If he didn’t, then it’s his duty to help me. And if he does that, he lives. Pass on the message.”
I hang up and step back into the kitchen just as the elevator doors open. Toma walks in, looking grim. But as soon as he sees Isabella, he smiles.
“Hi there, little one. How are you?”
Isabella manages to find a smile for Toma, but it’s thin and weak.
“You’re going to stay here with Toma, okay?” I tell her, bending down to look into her eyes. “He’s going to keep you safe while I go get your mom.”
Her eyes widen. “You’re going to bring her back?”
