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“It’s Serena.”
The silence is almost palpable as I fill him in, knowing this is the best solution because they will have more reserves at their disposal. I’m taking a gamble with Serena’s life, but something is telling me this is the right call. The only response I get when I relay the facts is an abrupt,“Keep me informed.”
Then he cuts the call and I immediately try Serena again, praying she is safe and is only out of signal range. If I lose her now, it will break me apart, which tells me I’m a fool if I thought she was merely an itch to scratch. She is so much more than that and now I’m facing the possibility of losing her. If she survives, I am never letting her leave my side again.
CHAPTER39
SERENA
Ihated leaving Alexei, but circumstances are against us. Tonight was Killian’s charity gala and tomorrow we celebrate my grandfather’s birthday. He is in town for once and will be hosting a family dinner at his mansion. Everybody will be there except for one extremely important person to me. Alexei.
How I wish things were different, and I was a normal girl who could date at will without her family becoming involved. I already know that Alexei’s proposition will receive a frosty reception.
Vieris don’t run off unmarried and travel the world as a rich man’s companion.
The women marry and are respected as the wife of a powerful man from a powerful family. Marriage was definitely not on offer and I’m doubting his request came with a lifetime condition attached. When the excitement wears off, I’ll be returned to my family, probably broken hearted.
I should protect myself and walk away now, but I have never fallen so hard for any man before. I already know this goes further than infatuation and sex. It’s him. The man behind the wicked smile and soulful eyes.
The power that surrounds him speaks to my soul. He is the man I would rather be waking up next to, than racing through the streets of Chicago back to my gilded cage.
I am so preoccupied with my thoughts, I don’t register we have made a detour until I stare at unfamiliar scenery.
I tap on the screen and say loudly, “Connor, where are we heading?”
He completely ignores me, and my heart starts racing as I sense something is decidedly off about this.
I tap again. “Connor, where are we going?”
If anything, he increases the speed, and I am thrown back against the seat, my head hitting the corner of the window.
“Fuck!” I rub my head and a sense of danger creeps through my body, telling me something is very wrong with this situation.
I locate my purse and rummage for my phone, but it’s not there. I search again and with a huff of frustration, I remember leaving it on Alexei’s couch.
There is something very wrong about Connor’s behavior and many reasons for that are suffocating me now. I am in danger; I already realize that. It’s a premonition of something I may not survive and so I gather my wits around me like weapons.
I glare at him through the screen, noting how his eyes pierce right through me but hold no emotion.
I turn my face away and stare out at the passing scenery, formulating an escape plan in my mind. However, with no weapon to help me I conclude that I must sit and wait, knowing I have the element of surprise on my side.
* * *
It must befifteen terrifying minutes later that he pulls into a parking lot, and I see a warehouse looming out of the shadows.
I will be safe until I get inside that building, which gives me some hope. I understand how these things work. My own family use places like this to interrogate victims and dispose of their bodies. It’s obvious I’m being brought here for a reason, and I set my nerves back in place and wait for the opportune moment to escape.
The door slams and as he opens mine, he reaches inside and grabs my arm with a hoarse, “Don’t fight me, Serena. It will only make it worse.”
“Why are you doing this, Connor?”
I decide to act calm and try to reason with him because I’m not foolish enough to believe I stand a chance one on one with him.
“It’s business, nothing more. Just do as I say.”
I’m obviously not going to get any information from him, so I don’t fight as he pulls me toward the warehouse and through a steel door.
The air is cold, and its icy fingers curl around my bare arms and whisper dark words of foreboding. The shadows offer no comfort from what could be lurking in them, and the stench of death hangs heavy in the air.
