Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
The word uncle flicks like a blade across my nerves.
He’s the reason I’m currently married in secret.
I turn my head slowly. “Then he’ll get one.”
Rafe’s eyes stay on the road, but his voice lowers, careful. “You’ve got blood on your collar.”
I glance down at the dark smear on the edge of my shirt. Not mine.
“Fashion statement,” I retort. “I’m embracing colors this season.”
Vin’s mouth flickers like he’s trying not to smile. “You’re going to get shot for sarcasm one day.”
“I know,” I reply sweetly.
By the time we pull into my estate’s gated drive, it’s 4:03 a.m. Rafe punches the code, and the gates roll open.
The moment the car stops, I jump out, desperate to see Victoria. My boots crunch on gravel. I throw the front door open, then step inside.
“Where is she?”
The guard blinks. “Sir?”
I stop in the foyer, staring at him. Who the hell does he think I mean? Why is he so fucking confused? “Victoria,” I tell him.
The guard swallows. “She was—”
“She was what?”
I don’t wait for the guard to finish choking on whatever he’s trying to say. Instead, I take the stairs two at a time. I hit the second-floor landing, then stalk down the hall until I reach her room. The door is closed. I throw it open.
The room is empty.
Before I freak out, I decide to check my room. Things are different between us now, so maybe she decided to wait for me in my bed.
I head down the hall, throwing open my door, but I’m met with the same sight. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
My gaze snaps to the window.
Still closed.
Locked.
And curtains drawn.
My jaw locks so hard it hurts.
Where the hell is she?
I stalk back to her room and straight into the closet. One drawer is half open. Clothes thrown sloppily around.
Was it always this messy? Or did she grab a few things and leave?
But why would she leave? And where would she go?
I hear footsteps behind me. Rafe stands in the doorway, gaze on the open drawer. His face tightens. “Where is she?”
My head shakes. “Not sure. Where’s Nico?”
“Haven’t seen him,” Rafe responds, while typing into his phone. Most likely texting the security team to see if they know where he is.
When he shakes his head at me, my throat goes dry.
I rip my phone out of my pocket and call him.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
No answer.
I call again.
Straight to voicemail.
My hand tightens around the phone until my palm aches.
Rafe watches me like he would watch a ticking time bomb. “Try the staff.”
“Try everyone,” I snap, already moving out of the room. “Wake everyone. Now.”
The next few minutes are a blur.
I swing open doors and throw on the lights. I search high and low for Victoria.
“Where is she?” My voice cuts through the hallway.
A few feet away, the maid’s eyes go wide. “S-sir, I—”
“You saw her?” I press, stepping closer until the maid backs into the wall.
The maid shakes her head violently. “She never came home from her parents’.”
“What did you say?” Rafe’s voice cuts in. “Repeat that.”
“She never came home.”
“And before that . . . had Nico said anything that could be considered out of the ordinary?”
The maid’s lip trembles. “I heard him say that he’d handle her—”
My vision tunnels, and the world tilts.
Panic rises so fast inside me that my body doesn’t know where to put it.
I slam my fist into the wall, cracking the plaster.
Rafe is suddenly beside me, hand catching my shoulder. “You need to stay calm.”
“I need to find her,” I snarl, yanking out of his grip.
“And to do that, you need to breathe and think.”
He’s right. I know he’s right, but it still feels like an impossible task. Taking a deep breath, I start to walk toward the stairs, then head down to the foyer.
“Lorenzo.”
“What?” I whip around to see Rafe standing at the landing.
“She didn’t leave you.”
“I know. That’s what scares me.”
Things are different now. After everything we’ve been through, especially after yesterday at her parents’, I know without any measure of doubt that Victoria didn’t go off on her own free will.
She didn’t betray me.
She was taken.
My lungs burn.
I stare at Rafe, the room suddenly too bright, too sharp. “I need to find her.”
His mouth tightens. “We will. And Nico is the key. Nico wouldn’t disappear unless he planned to.”
My stomach turns.
I exhale slowly, forcing air into my lungs like it’s a decision. “Get me the cameras. Every feed,” I snap, already moving. “Security room. Now.”
We descend into the belly of the house, down a hallway, until we’re opening the door. The security room glows with monitors, each showing a different area of the house.
In the video, Nico opens the door to her room, and he’s got a bag in his hand.
My stomach drops.
Rafe’s voice comes from beside me, hard. “He took clothes from her room.”
My jaw clenches.
Cold anger slides through me, smooth and lethal.