Chapter 285

ALEXANDER

The car door shut behind me, and for a moment I just stood there in the driveway, keys still clenched in my fist, staring at nothing.

The night air was cool against my face, but it did nothing to cut through the heat of the rage and guilt still burning under my skin.

Every time I blinked I saw the same thing — the empty space beside me where Alina should have been standing. Where she would have been standing if I hadn’t failed her.

The house loomed in front of me — the supposedly “safe” house. I stared at it for a long moment before a hollow, humorless laugh caught in my throat.

What a fucking spectacular choice of name. I looked at the wide-open front doors, warmth spilling out into the night like it was welcoming us home. Safe. Yeah. Brilliant. Really inspiring. Tell that to my wife, who’s currently missing, God knows where, because I couldn’t keep her fucking safe.

Just this morning, Alina had climbed into the passenger seat beside me. She’d spent half the drive teasing me about my driving, arguing with me for the sake of arguing, and laughing at jokes that weren’t even funny. She’d been there. She’d been mine. Now I was walking into our new home alone. The realization hollowed me out.

Fuck.

I had promised her she’d be safe. I’d looked her in the eyes and told her nothing was going to happen while I was there. I’d ordered her to stay behind cover. I’d sworn I would protect her. And somehow… somehow I still lost her.

Every decision replayed in my head with brutal clarity. I should have kept her beside me. I should have seen Santos coming. I should have done something. Anything.

Instead, I was standing outside a house that was supposed to become our new safe place… without the only person who needed to be fucking safe. Because I’d been too busy playing the goddamn hero, cutting down men and barking orders, to notice that my wife had been taken right out from under me. Real fucking impressive.

My eyes burned as I stared through the open doorway. If she were here right now, I could already see her—complaining that the furniture was ugly, stealing the blanket I’d inevitably buy for myself, leaving mugs in places mugs had no business being, turning every room she entered into somewhere worth being. But without her? It was just another building. Brick. Stone. Glass. Empty.

Somewhere out there, Alina was scared. Maybe she was crying. Maybe she was calling my name. Maybe she thought I wasn’t coming. The thought nearly brought me to my knees.

I closed my eyes for a brief second, forcing air into lungs that refused to cooperate.

Hold on. The words echoed silently through my mind. Just hold on a little longer, baby. I know you’re terrified. I know you think you’re alone. But you’re not.

My hands curled into fists so tightly that my nails bit into my palms.

“I’m coming,” I growled into the darkness, my voice rough and raw, barely recognizable. “I don’t give a fuck how many men I have to bury. I don’t care how much blood I have to spill. I’m bringing you home. Or I’ll burn this whole fucking world to the ground trying.”

Behind me, the bus doors hissed open.

The children began filing out in a quiet, uncertain line. Some clung tightly to the older ones, refusing to let go. Others stared silently at the estate with wide, frightened eyes, still covered in dirt and dried tears from the nightmare they'd just survived.

They didn't speak much. They didn't run around or laugh the way children should.

Every loud noise made them flinch. Every unfamiliar face made them hesitate. They looked exhausted, terrified... like they were still waiting for someone else to burst through the gates with guns.

My jaw tightened. No child should ever have to know that kind of fear. Not while I was still breathing.

I looked over them again, and despite everything tearing me apart inside, I made myself one silent promise.

These children mattered to Alina.

That was reason enough for them to matter to me.

Until I brought my wife home, every single one of them would be fed, protected, and treated like they were under my family's roof. No one would touch them. No one would frighten them again.

And when Alina walked back through those doors...She would find every last one of them exactly where she'd left them.

Safe. This time, I was going to make damn sure that word actually meant something.

One of the smaller boys—Matteo—quietly broke away from the group and wandered over to me. His little hand wrapped around the leg of my trousers, gripping the fabric with surprising determination. I looked down. He looked back up at me with absolute certainty.

“You’ll find her,” he said softly. “I know you will.”

Before I could answer, a little girl with two messy braids stepped forward and nodded so hard her curls bounced.

“You're like Superman,” she said with complete confidence, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Superman always saves the girl.”

I stared at her for a moment. Apparently, that was my official job description now.

Before I could respond, another little boy peeked out from behind one of the older children, studying me with wide, serious eyes.

“And you're scary,” he announced. He pointed a tiny finger at me, completely unafraid. “Like... really scary.”

The other children looked between us, quietly agreeing with him.

The boy lowered his voice as if sharing an important secret. “So the bad man is probably scared of you.”

A small girl beside him nodded. “Yeah. He should be.”

A few of the younger children nodded in complete agreement.

For the first time since Alina had been taken, something inside my chest eased. Only a fraction. But enough.

I slowly crouched until I was at their eye level, resting a careful hand on Matteo’s shoulder.

“I am going to find her,” I said quietly. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in my voice. “I’m bringing her home.”

Matteo smiled. “I know.”

The simple certainty in those two words hit harder than anything else had all day.

Not because he understood what I was capable of… but because he believed in me without question. And for the first time since Santos stole my wife… so did I.

Then the group was gently guided toward the house by two of my men, still looking around with cautious curiosity.

I stayed kneeling for a second longer after they moved on, staring at the gravel.

I had failed her.

I had left her side. I had told her to stay put. And Santos had taken her anyway.

The rage that had been simmering under the numbness surged up so hard my hands shook.

I stormed inside. The moment I crossed the threshold, Alexis was on me.

She grabbed my collar, her face a mask of anger and disbelief.

“Where is she?” Her voice was sharp enough to cut. “How could you have let this happen?” Her eyes blurred with tears as she choked back a sob, her chest heaving. “You promised to protect her, Alexander.”

I didn’t say anything. She was right. I had vowed to protect Alina, and I had failed.

The tightness in my chest returned with a vengeance. Alexis released my collar and sank down, her anguished cries ringing in my ears.

“You promised,” she sobbed. “You promised.”

Another broken sound made my head snap up. Mia stood a few feet away, one hand pressed to her chest as she struggled to breathe.

“I should have stopped her going after you… or stayed with her,” she whispered. “It’s all my fault….”

I ran a trembling hand over my face, forcing myself to stay calm.

“No,” I said, voice rough and laced with bitter, self-directed sarcasm. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who told her to stay put. I’m the one who walked away. I’m the one who promised she’d be safe and then let that bastard take her. So congratulations, Mia — you’re not the failure here. That particular trophy belongs to me.”

“Alex...” Alexis's voice broke, panic thick in every word. “You have to find her.”

She shook her head frantically, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I can't stop thinking about what she's going through right now. She's alone... she's trapped with that monster.”

Her breathing hitched. “You know what he is. You know what he's capable of.”

She grabbed my arm with both hands, her fingers trembling. “She had nightmares about him, Alex. Real nightmares. She'd wake up terrified just because she thought he'd found her.”

Another sob escaped her. “She can't be there with him. She just can't.” Her voice cracked completely.

“You have to find her before he…” She couldn’t even force herself to finish the sentence.

My chest went so tight it was almost impossible to breathe. The anger clawed at me, laughing, taunting, begging for release.

“I will find her,” I said, my voice low and lethal, every word sharpened by the effort of keeping myself in check.

“And when I do, Santos will learn exactly what happens to men who touch what’s mine. There won’t be enough left of him to beg.”

Santos didn’t know what was coming for him. He may have taken my wife, but I was coming for her. I wouldn’t stop until I had delivered every one of his men’s corpses at her feet — and saved the worst for him. My blood roared with the need for vengeance. I would burn everything in my path to find her.

This was the beginning of a bloodbath, and I wasn’t going to stop looking. Not until I had my wife back… and Santos was begging for a death I would take my time giving him.

Alexis stepped in front of me, a single tear trailing down her cheek.

“You promise?”

I nodded. Her eyes held no doubt — only absolute trust.

She hugged me suddenly, arms tight around my middle.

“I know you will,” she said against my chest, voice firm even though I could hear the worry underneath.

“I know you'll move heaven and earth to find her. You’ll burn the whole fucking world down if you have to.”

“I will,” I barely managed to say. “And when I get my hands on him, there won’t be enough left of Santos to bury.”

I stepped past her and continued upstairs. Walking down the hall toward my office, I could still hear Alina’s beautiful laughter and sweet voice in my head. She was everywhere and nowhere at all. A sudden surge of rage tore through me.

Santos had to die. But first I had to find him. And the fucker was smart — a coward, but smart. The moment Alina was in his trap, he had gone off the grid. Nowhere to be found. It had only been hours since she was taken, but it already felt like years.

“Fuck,” I swore, shoving open the door to my office. Before I fully realized what I was doing, I flipped the desk over in a violent crash of wood and paper.

Leo came in right after me, drawn by the noise. He clapped a solid hand on my shoulder.

“We’ve already started pulling every contact we have,” he said quietly. “Cameras, traffic logs, known associates. We’ll find the car. We’ll find the route. And then we’ll find her.”

I was still heaving, but I nodded once. If I opened my mouth I wasn’t sure what would come out — a roar or something far more broken.

I looked out through the office window toward the estate, at the warm light spilling onto the lawns.

I forced air into my lungs.

“Santos is going to fucking learn what it costs to take what’s mine.”

Leo’s eyes were fierce. “Damn right he is.”

His grip on my shoulder tightened once in silent agreement.

“There’s one way we might find her faster.”

I looked at him.

He stared back, expression grim but steady.

“The tracker.”