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Chapter one
Declan
Twenty-Three Years Old One Month Later
“Finn. I don’t care what you have to do. I want her back,” I snap as I glare at my best friend sitting across from me at my desk.
"Declan,Ihavebeenlooking high and low for her. She has done very well at covering her tracks.” He sits his laptop on the desk and rubs his face with his hands. I know he’s tired, clearly exhausted with the bags under his eyes. I have kept him well past midnight every night for the last month trying to find Natalia. We have gone through almost every avenue we can think of in hopes of finding the tiniest lead. Facial recognition, bank withdrawals, tracking her phone and her car, all leads have been a miss.
“You’re supposed to be the best at this.” I smack the desk with my hands, rising to my feet. “Why the hell can’t you find her?”
Finn stands so that we are eye level, shoulders square, and he gives me a serious expression. “I know that you are hurting. I get that. However, I am justoneperson, Declan. The last time she was picked up on a security camera was at Philadelphia International Airport, that was a dead end from what I was able to gather. She is using cash everywhere, and no doubt bought a burner phone. She isn't stupid. She grew up in this business. She's covering her tracks, she doesn’twantto be found. You have to understand that.”
I stand there gaping at him as he speaks. His words have stunned me to silence. If this were anyone else, I would have already shot them in between the eyes.No oneis allowed to speak to me that way. Not even my deadbeat father. However, I let him. I let him because that’s what a right hand man does. He rarely loses his temper with me, so when he does, I know it's because I need to hear it.
“You need to get a grip on reality.She is gone. We are to blame for not coming clean about Siorc the moment we found out. Right now, I need you to focus on making a plan to overthrow your father. Maybe if we get rid of him, she will come home.” He continues and I fall back into the black leather chair behind me. “Also, I can’t keep running this business for you.Yourbusiness. I have been patient. Mywifehas been patient. My daughter misses her father, and I can’t be more absent than I already am. That’s not fair to them, either.”
When he mentions the word wife, a flash of pain flicks across my face and squeezes my heart. I try to push it away before he sees it, but the look of pity that takes over his features tells me I was too late. My stomach turns with guilt, my chest constricts from the physical pain of hurting him. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. I have been treating him like shit lately. Aside from the fact that Natalia is gone, everything has been going smoothly, and I haven’t had an outlet for my anger.
“Look man,” he leans forward, placing his hands on the desk. “I’m not saying you need to get over her, or stop looking for her. That’s not it at all. I’m just trying to get you to realize that you have a business to run. You can’t stay in this dark hole. Allowing it to swallow you whole will only make things worse. It’s time to come out. People are starting to talk, Declan. Of all people, you know that’s not going to go over well.”
Although my head agrees with him, my heart doesn’t. I would spend every single waking moment looking for her. If I have to, I will search the globe until she is back home with me. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I don’t know how to go back to life without her. I refuse to let her go. This can’t be how things end with us. I made an oath to her that I plan on mending before it can become a fatal vow.
“I’m sorry man,” I mumble. “Go home, see Skylar. Give her an apology from me for keeping you out so late every night for the last month.”
He nods, walking to the door. “For what it’s worth, I know she will come home. You just need to give her time. Lay off on the searching. She will let us know where she is when she is ready. In the meantime, I will keep rotating out the food at the safe house in case she decides to come back there.” With that, he turns and walks out the door.
Just as he walks out my phone rings on the desk. The name on the screen makes my heart drop. I’m almost too stunned to react, but I pick it up immediately.
“Nat?” The worry in my voice is noticeable.
Silence.
“Baby, please come home.Please,” I plead. A small glimmer of hope pulls against my heart over the simple fact that she called me. Maybe Finn’s right, and she will come home. Maybe she needed to spend time on her own, get to see the world without me before she came back.
“I… I can’t. I’m sorry.” Her voice is soft, but it cracks a little and I know she’s been crying. A quiet sniffle travels down the line from her end, another sign that she’s not okay.
“I love you, Natalia. I won’t give up on you,” I promise. The sob that comes from the other end of the phone cuts through me. Just as I go to ask if she’s okay, she ends the call.
I’m left staring at the phone in my hand. A million different emotions running through my mind.Sadness. Hearing her voice for the first time in a month made the already deep fissure in my heart worse.Worry. She was crying, and I’m not sure if it was because she missed me, is still mad at me, or if she’s hurt.Hope. It’s like she wanted to say yes when I told her to come home, but something was stopping her.
I know that the call wasn’t long enough to track her location, so I don’t bother telling Finn. It can wait until tomorrow, and he deserves the time with his wife. Skylar has been such a saint, not batting an eye when I kept him out late every single night. Not to mention he told me that Ava, his daughter, has been crying for him every night for the last week. I make a small mental note to send her some flowers or chocolate as an apology as well.
Finn’s dad was one of my fathers top men, so it only makes sense that Finn is now my right hand man. We were acquaintances for a while, but after Dmitri and Natalia were no longer allowed around, Finn stepped up and filled the role of my best friend. He used to joke about being the second choice. I know that even if they had been in my life around the time Finn came up into the business, he still would’ve ended up in the same position. There is no doubt about that. He’s been my number one since the banishment, and I couldn’t be happier. I know this is hard on him and his family, so I hope he actually focuses on himself tonight.
Gathering the paperwork on my desk, I’m standing to leave just as Eric walks in.
“Hey man, what’s going on?” I question as he hovers in the doorway.
His hand moves to the back of his neck. He rubs it nervously, not wanting to make eye contact with me. He shifts from foot to foot, looking as though he’s trying to find the right words. “I need you to come with me,” he mumbles. “There’s something you should see.”
“Alright,” I drag then pause, looking over at him for a moment with unease. “Let me file these and lock everything up.” I walk over to the filing cabinet and put the papers in their respective folders. Turning to him, I gesture for him to lead the way.
“We are going for a ride.” Not saying anything else, he leads me out of the house and to his car that’s parked out front.
“Okay…” I climb inside and look over at him once he’s situated in the driver’s seat. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ll see when we get there,” he answers as he pulls out of the driveway.
