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Lazarus’s blue eyes darkened to ice. I knew what I was doing. I was unleashing a monster. One who’d bled for me and would do again. But that wasn’t what he was good at. Lazarus excelled at violence, he was bred to control and consume, with the right motivations, he’d bring anyone to his knees.
Including Haelstrom Hale.
Panic raced through my veins. My heart kicked in my chest. I stared into Lazarus’s eyes knowing he thought the exact same thing. I tried to remember what the gunman looked like. “He was so ruthless, so intent. He didn’t even try and go for my rings or my wallet. He wasn’t interested in money, was he?”
Lazarus just held my gaze. “No.”
The answer was cold and so clear. He knew this was calculated. He knew who this man’s target was.
“Is it…him.”I couldn’t even say his name. My body shook as I shook my head. “It’s him, I just know it is.”
Lazarus step closer, pulling me from Freddy’s hold. “I don’t know, but you can guarantee I’ll find out.”
I let my husband hold me, allowed him to be the strength that I needed. I lowered my head; it was filled with thoughts of all kinds of things. None of them any good. “If he hurts her, I’ll kill him myself.” My voice was quiet, but there was nothing dull about that need inside me.
In this moment I would’ve killed anybody just to get her back.
“Laz, Freddy,” Logan called, making me lift my head from Laz’s shoulder finding my husband’s bodyguard striding along the path and heading toward us. “The cops are on their way, and we’ve got some footage from the camera above the restaurant. It confirms what we were told before, a man put a baby in a car seat, and it’s Sophie.”
Adrenaline burned through me. I took a step forward. “Are you sure?”
Logan just nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
It was her…
“Not the only thing,” Logan said, glancing at Lazarus before he found me once more. “The car matches the description of your father’s.”
Ice plunges through me.My father?In my head the image of the tinted black windows rose inside me. “He was there, at the café. He told Monica to invite me there.”
“He’s the reason you left, isn’t he?” Lazarus took a step closer, and I felt that tremor of fear of fear. “Kat.”
I could only nod. “Yes, he wanted to see her.”
“That sonofabitch,” Laz muttered, fixing his gaze on me. “I need you to tell me exactly what he said.”
I tried to recount the events that happened. My mind still trembling, unable to comprehend what was happening. By the time I finished, Laz clenched his jaw. “So, when the bastard couldn’t talk you into letting him into your goddamn life, he decided to force his way in by taking our daughter.”
The sun suddenly grew colder. I shivered, closing my eyes. “Lars, if he has her…”
I’d never seen a man rock backwards by words alone. But Laz did, his face paling. “That’s not gonna happen. That’s not gonna fucking happen, I’ll kill him before he lays one hand on her. Find him, Logan. Whatever you have to do, understand me? Find him, and then finds this motherfucker who beat my goddamn wife.”
My face throbbed; my head stung. The scent of my own blood was choking. But that was nothing compared to the desperation that consumed me. I took a step backwards, dropped my gaze, searching the ground. “My phone, someone help me find my phone.“
Freddie sprang into action, striding off to search the grass and the asphalt, stopping to pick my cell from the ground instead of the screen. “It’s cracked, but it’s still working.”
I was already stumbling toward him, lifting my hands to take the phone from his hands. My fingers shook as I pushed the buttons, finding a number I didn’t think I’d ever call again, but here I was, desperate to hear my father’s voice. “He’ll answer, if he wants me back, then he’ll answer.”
“Speaker, Kitten,” Laz demanded as the phone on the other end started to ring…and ring…and ring…
Until it went to voicemail. I looked to Laz. He just breathed hard, then muttered, “Try again, he’ll answer.”
But I wasn’t sure anymore, hope was fading as I punched in his number and tried again. Then finally that stone, haunting tone filled my ear. “Katerina.”
I didn’t have to ask my father the question, I could hear my daughter screaming in the background. My hands shook with the sound, I tried to hold onto my cell as Lazarus stepped close, placing his hand on my shoulder. It was protective and comforting, but more than that, it was possessive.
“I gave you the option,” my father said. “I told you I wanted to know my granddaughter… With or without her mother on the scene.”
“So you just decide to pay someone to beat me and take her?” I couldn’t stop the shrill sound of my rage cutting through.
