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Chapter Twenty-Five
Duncan
I left that damned hospital as quickly as I could when I found out Ion had landed in London. There isn’t any time to waste. Willow is gone and in the clutches of someone who I know only wants to bring harm to her. The second I get near this Felix bastard I plan on shooting him dead. I don’t want to hear his pleas, him begging for mercy, or anything close to it. There is only one place he deserves to b; a place that Willow thought he had been for years – in the ground. The only difference is that this time I’ll make sure he’s actually dead.
Ion calls me and instructs me to meet him at the Adame townhome. What he doesn’t know is that I jumped ship at the hospital and my ass is already here, instructing the rest of the team to try to track down Willow’s whereabouts. I have men already on the streets, driving around and seeing if they can find any information. One of the household staff approaches me. “Duncan, Mr. Petran is here to see you.” I nod, thanking the woman for telling me and head into Kristof’s former study where Ion is to be waiting.
A stern look drags across his face, his arms are crossed in front of him, and he stares out at the street below him. “You have one job, to protect her. How is it that you failed at the one thing you are supposed to do? The one thing that Kristof himself entrusted you with, and then you tell me that you’re in love with Willow?”
He has every right to be upset with me in the way that he is. It is my fault that she was taken, my fault that she wasn’t protected. I should have argued with her more and made her get on the damn plane. I shouldn’t have let her get her way, but she’s so damn stubborn. She’s too damn stubborn. “Why the fuck do you think I’d ever allow you to be with her, especially given the circumstances?”
I think about what I’m going to say, and about how I should say something appropriate, yet respectful, but this isn’t the time. This is the time to lay down the law, and make sure I’m clear as day. “Because I’m not asking permission. I’m telling you that Willow and I are going to be together, and this is me telling you that I’m going to marry her, whether you or the Clans approve. She will be my wife. Now, let’s stop with this bullshit and find out where the hell they have her!”
I see Ion clench his jaw, obviously unhappy with the tone I’ve just taken with him, but I don’t give a shit. My only concern is Willow, and I refuse to be standing here arguing with him about shit that won’t even matter if we don’t find her. “Everything makes sense now, when you look at the big picture. On the ride over I was able to gather quite a bit of information on this Felix character. He must have been working with Gabriele for the last few years, picking off her siblings one by one, waiting for Kristof to die. Kristof’s death was his opportunity. Idiot.” Ion shakes his head, angered.
Moments of silence pass us by until I can’t bear the quiet any longer. “I’ve had my men hack into every traffic cam in the city, and we still can’t find her. I’m working on it, but I don’t know where to look. She’s a needle in a damn haystack.”
“Relax. I have one of Logan’s men on it.”
“Logan?” I inquire, not knowing the name.
“Logan Steele, he’s a business associate in Atlanta. A gunrunner actually, but he has a man who is amazing with hacking. Even better than your team. He had tracked them down to one place, but then they switched vehicles. I’m waiting on an update.”
“You had information, and you didn’t think to tell me?” I hiss out.
“Yes. I know what it’s like to be on the other side of your woman being kidnapped. I have been there, and it is the worst feeling in the world. So, I know just how feral you are right now, and how you’d likely tell your men and ruin any advancements that we’d make along the way. So, I will keep the information to myself until I have a confirmed location on where Willow is being held.”
I can’t say a word, too shocked to even speak in this moment.
“Did Kristof ever tell you what his ailment was?” Ion suddenly asks, and I think hard on it for a moment.
Shaking my head, “No, never. Although I never thought to ask. His privacy was his own.”
“I want an autopsy performed on him, as soon as this mess with Willow is sorted. I can count on you to see that it is done?”
I nod, wondering what Ion is thinking. “Care to share?”
“With everything that has happened, I am having serious doubts that Kristof died of natural causes. Anything is possible, and we have seen that first hand.”
I’m about to speak when Ion’s cell phone starts going off. With a quick glance, he answers, and I hear him speaking lowly into the receiver. The next few moments flash before my eyes like a movie when he tells me that he has a confirmed location on Willow. I don’t think – only react. My body goes into autopilot as my men and I are heading in her direction. Felix has her in a home on the east side of London, close enough but far enough out of reach. The drive feels like it takes forever, and it does, but the moment we’re parked, every instinct I have goes out the window. The only thing I can do is make sure Willow’s okay. I abandon every rule in the book and break through that front door quicker than anyone can argue with me. What I see before me is horrific. Felix is on top of her, and I don’t think. I react, yank out my gun and fire, aiming right for the back of his head.
