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“He’s got a live one there.” Mark grins, slapping my shoulder as he walks past me.
“Oh, she’s definitely that,” I laugh, following him and the others.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Emily
I can only assume that Hawke is aware I am missing by now. This should have been obvious, though, from the moment they found my belongings and the fact I’d been gone for over twenty-four hours.
When we left my office, Andres had the driver escort us directly to the airport, where Antonio had a charter plane ready and waiting. The flight was extremely long and bumpy at times, yet I sat quietly, refusing to allow my fear to engulf me. I may no longer be that terrified teenager who fled eighteen years ago, but I’m also not impenetrable. I have cracks in my armor; I’m just refusing to allow them to widen further than they already have.
“Many things have changed since you were last here,” Antonio reveals from his position in the front of the car, driving us to his compound.
I want to reply sarcastically to his revelation but decide against it.
“I don’t understand why you have kidnapped me,” I confess, staring out the window.
“There has always been something about youpreciosa … precious, even when you were merely anina … child.”
Antonio’s admission has me quickly diverting my attention from the window to him.
“There was aninocencia … innocenceabout you that made you different from the others,” he continues. “AninocenciaI didn’t possess but so desperately wanted.”
I still don’t understand.
As the car speeds toward Antonio’s compound, his vision never strays from the road ahead, yet he presses on, telling me he has adored me since he was eleven years old. His admission sends shock waves throughout my body and catches Andres off guard.
According to Antonio, he always planned to make me his bride; he was just waiting for me to become eighteen. He spent years trying to locate me so that he could bring me home where I belong … by his side, as his queen.
“And if I refuse?” I quietly inquire.
Turning in his seat, he looks at me directly and declares, “If I can’t have you, Luciana, nobody can.”
Returning to his original position, Antonio faces the front once more. Silence now takes over with the absence of his voice, and a tense atmosphere suddenly creeps throughout the confined space within the car we are traveling.
As his compound presents itself, the anxiety I once felt all those years prior starts knocking at the door, begging to be let back in. I want to open that door, but if I do, it will eat at me until I can’t fight against it anymore, which I won’t allow.
Please, Hawke, come find me.
I need him to find me, so please, God, if you are listening, please ensure he finds me. He must so that our life can grow in a way I doubt we ever believed it would.
I don’t want my life to end at the hand of the Beast of Bellavista.
CHAPTERNINE
Hawke
What was initially meant to be a three-person team to retrieve a missing arms shipment has now turned into an interagency collaboration to bring Emily home safely. Standing before me from Cole Security are Jackson, Mark, Liam, and Quinn, and next to them are Sean and Mandi from the CIA. Throw in the mix Sean’s wife Hadley, ex mafia family alum, and we have a fiercely constructed team who will be a force to reckon with.
I can only compare the camaraderie I have witnessed since joining Jackson’s security team to that of the one I share with the Valentine family. There is a unity to this group that is obvious to anyone who meets them. You’d never guess it’s been forged by years of joy and tragedy. I am extremely honored to be considered anything more than an associate and will struggle to find a way to thank Jackson and the others for their help in retrieving my love.
Antony Valentine, though, has been my closest friend since childhood, and we have united over much joy and tragedy. There has never been any doubt I would lay my life down for my friend, just as I know he would for me. Our allegiance to each other is unspoken, which is why he will be by my side in Bojayá.
Only second to that is the bond I have with his wife and children. The closeness between myself and his son Sean has grown in the past year. I’d never admit it to Sean, but I am closer to his wife, Hadley, than him. There is a presence about that girl, which is undeniable. It’s what attracted Sean to her in the beginning, regardless of her being the daughter of a Brooklyn Mafia family head and what continues to draw people to her even now.
Thanks to Hadley, we learned that Antonio’s chartered plane left Norfolk International yesterday evening around five o’clock. If this intel is correct, Emily will already be a prisoner in Antonio’s compound, and I can only pray that she is unharmed and safe until we land.
“It feels like déja vu,” Hadley casually announces beside me.
