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“I need to find her!”
“Boss, it’s not safe.” He stared at me in the rearview mirror. “It’s. Not. Safe.”
“We were almost there. She’d be with me now if we had gotten there ten minutes earlier.”
“Or you could be dead.”
I glared at him.
“I’m just saying whoever took her might have killed you instead.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t have. They want money. I’m sure of it.” Whoever had kidnapped Shelby at the museum wereprofessionals. They’d even left her engagement ring and shoes in the parking lot. I had no way of tracking my fiancée.
It could’ve been the Mexicans or the Russians.
Or many other enemies I’d made over the years.
I couldn’t go to my beach house where I’d held meetings before I moved Shelby in. There was no one I could call, because I hated everyone and liked to keep my personal circle small and tight. Most of my dealings were manipulating and blackmailing people, so I didn’t get my hands dirty. I’d been born into money, but I’d increased my net worth with what I called “one shot” contracts. I’d do one job for the individual, then move on to another.
“You’ll just have to wait for the call,” Elliot muttered. He’d become my personal bodyguard since my grandfather died. He’d served my granddad for twenty-one years and needed employment. Who better to work for than the grandson of the man he had admired and gave his loyalty to?
“What call?”
“The one with their demands for her release. How much will you pay?”
I let his words sink in. How much? I was a billionaire, but even I had a limit and would be prudent. Shelby Smithfield was my fiancée, and I’d do anything to get her back, within reason.
If she’d been raped and tortured, I’d have no use for her. It was hard enough not to think of her fucking her ex-boyfriend, Cade. He had made me insecure, and I knew Shelby wanted him. Which was why I had to force her to marry me.
Nobody could have her except for me.
I’d get her back.
21
Cade
The small plane came to a rolling stop on the grass landing strip, twenty minutes away from town. I didn’t know about this location and honestly didn’t care. But I was curious about how Mack had pulled it off, and I was damn grateful to him.
“Shit, I’m nervous,” I told Diesel in a low voice. He’d come with me because I was worried about Shelby’s injury. No matter which way I’d played it out in my head, no scenario made sense on how she’d cut her palm.
“Don’t forget there’s blood on her clothes.”
I cut my gaze at him. “I didn’t forget, and I’m fucking furious about it.” Shelby was my heart and soul. It was physically impossible to forget anything about her or not protect her when she needed me, like today.
Mack had left Shelby’s shoes, concerned Jake might have put trackers in them, so I’d brought her old moccasins to wear. She’d left them at my place the day she broke up with me, and I couldn’t throw them out. Now that I thought of it, I should’ve brought a change of clothes. I hadn’t thrown out any of her things she’d left behind. How pathetic was that?
“And I know how you are. But you can’t flip out, man.”
“I won’t.” I’d try not to.
The door opened, and my stomach clenched tightly. We stalked toward the small plane. A man who looked like a WWFwrestler, with dark hair in a man bun, came out first. He must’ve been Mack. He helped Shelby, but watching him touch her arm lit a territorial fire in me.
My steps halted. “Jesus Christ,” I hissed at the blood on them. I trotted toward Shelby and put her shoes on the ground so she could slip them on and avoid touching the pavement.
She teared up as I squatted to help her. Our gazes locked, and it felt like my heart had jumped into my throat. There was a shadow below her eye that looked like a faded bruise. I would kill that motherfucker for hurting her.
“Howdy,” Diesel said first.
