Chapter 48

Luca didn’t flinch when I asked, but his jaw tightened like he was chewing glass. “Are you coming or not?” I repeated, my voice sharp, edged with anger and annoyance.

He nodded slowly. “I’m in. But if this is the kind of trouble I think it is, you’d better not keep me in the dark.” I nodded, beckoning him to follow me downstairs. We went into the basement room that Dan keeps all his stashes, his mancave.

My fingers trembled on the keypad, punching in the code. The door clicked open, revealing the hidden room Dan had sworn me never to enter without his presence. But I'm sure he will understand when I explain the circumstances to him. Luca’s sharp inhale broke the silence as we entered the room.

Stacks upon stacks of cash filled the shelves, some bound in neat rubber bands, others spilling from duffel bags like forgotten laundry. The sterile white lights glinted off silver cases and a small collection of weapons mounted on the wall. This is a lot than I remember the last time I came in here.

“Jesus Christ,” Luca muttered, stepping inside, eyes wide. “I knew he was a millionaire, but this? Why is it not in a bank?”

“Because banks leave trails,” I said flatly, moving to the shelves. My hands shook as I loaded bundles of notes into a large black duffel. “And Dan doesn’t like trails.” I don't even understand why he doesn't like trails or what it means.

Luca whistled low, dragging his hand across a stack as if to test whether it was real. “This is insane, Emerald. Do you even know how much—”

“One million.” My voice cracked as I zipped the bag shut. “That’s what they asked for. That’s what they’ll get.” One million of my husband's hard-earned money, which they are getting for free. This will probably feel like a jackpot for them, but I swear on my mother's grave, I will get my revenge on this person.

His eyes darted to the wall where two pistols hung. Before he could say a word, I reached up and unhooked them both. The cold metal sent a shiver down my arm. I checked the magazines with clumsy fingers and shoved one into Luca’s hands.

“We’re not walking in unarmed,” I said.

“Em—” he started, but my glare cut him off. The look of hesitation on his face vanished. He checked the safety like it was second nature and slid the gun into his jacket. It's a good thing to know that he knows how to handle a pistol; great backup partner.

We left the house in silence, the weight of the money pressing between us like another passenger. Luca drove, knuckles pale on the steering wheel, his jaw set in that way that told me he was biting back words. The city blurred past, every light smearing across the windshield.

“You’re scaring me,” he finally muttered.

“Don't be scared,” I said, eyes locked on the road ahead. “We’re the victims here.”

The meeting wasn't at the vacant land I saw on Google Maps. Instead, it was unkept and looked like it was no longer for sale, the kind of place no one came at night unless they wanted to do shady dealings. A single car idled under the yellow glow of a flickering streetlight.

She stepped out when we pulled up. A tall, thin woman with hair pinned into a tight bun, dressed too neatly for a ransom exchange. Her lipstick was a smear of red in the shadows, her expression calm, almost bored.

She's the woman he walked out with at the bar, but her demeanor seems different. Earlier, she had seemed bubbly and bright, but now she just seems dark and dead inside. Just taunting the rest of the world to get her way with things.

“Where is he?” I demanded the second my boots hit the gravel. Her smile curved, slow and deliberate. She tapped her manicured nails on the car trunk. “Inside. Sleeping, let’s say.” Suddenly, it felt like the world tilted, and I could feel myself losing energy and getting dizzy, but I used my anger to fuel my powers into my body to avoid falling. My pulse roared in my ears.

I shoved the duffel toward her. “Here. One million, as you requested, now open the trunk.” She took the bag with a laugh that made my skin crawl. “Desperate women always pay fast.” She slung the bag over her shoulder and turned toward her car. Something in me snapped. I don't know if it's the choice of words from her or if it's being taken advantage of, but I suddenly had the urge to end her life. I aimed the gun at her head and shot.

The sound of my pistol splitting the night was louder than thunder. The recoil bit into my palms. She stumbled mid-step, turning around to face us as her eyes widened in shock, and her body crumpled to the ground. The bag hit the gravel with a dull thud. The silence that followed will forever haunt me.

Luca’s voice was ragged. “Emerald, what the hell did you do?” I stared at her body, chest heaving, the gun still warm in my hands. “She wasn’t going to let him go,” I said, though my voice shook. “I saw it in her eyes. She wasn’t going to keep her end of the deal.”

Luca grabbed my arm, yanking me around to face him. His eyes were wild, his breath hot in the cold air. “This is not what we agreed on! You just killed her. What are we supposed to do now with her body?”

The question slammed into me like a blow. I hadn’t thought that far; I just reacted out of pain and anger. I've never killed anyone in my life. My throat closed, my palms still burning from the shot.

The woman’s lifeless form lay sprawled across the gravel, her blood a black shadow under the flickering light. I lifted my chin, meeting Luca’s frantic gaze. “We deal with her later,” I said hoarsely. “First, we need to open the trunk.”

Luca swore under his breath as he crouched beside the woman’s body, checking for a pulse even though it was pointless. I couldn’t move. My hands felt fused to the gun, my chest tightening as I forced myself toward the car.

I reached for the latch, every second stretching thin and unbearable. My heart hammered, torn between hope and dread. The trunk popped open with a metallic click.

My breath stuttered. I blinked hard, like my eyes were lying. Just the black hollow of steel and the faint smell of gasoline. "No…” My whisper scraped raw against my throat. “No, no, no…” Luca straightened, his face pale under the sickly light. “Empty?” I backed away, shaking my head, my whole body trembling. “She said he was here. She made me believe—”

“Well, she played you,” Luca cut in, his voice sharp, cold. “And now she’s dead. Which means the only person who knew where Dan really is… is gone.”

The words cracked something deep in me. I spun on him, eyes burning.

“Don’t you dare put this on me. She was lying. She would have taken the money and vanished, and Dan would still be—” My voice broke. “He would still be gone.”

Luca’s hand dragged down his face, his breathing rough. “Jesus, Emerald. Do you even realize what you’ve done? This wasn’t saving him. This was, this was reckless.” He kicked the gravel hard, sending stones skittering. “We’ve got a body and no husband.”

The woman’s lifeless form lay in the shadows, her blood pooling slowly and darkly. The duffel of cash sat beside her, untouched now, almost mocking.

My hands trembled around the gun, the fire under my skin itching to break free. “Then we think of another plan to find him, we can't stop looking for him.”

Luca’s eyes met mine, searching, torn between anger and something else I couldn’t read. “And what if next time you shoot the wrong person?” he asked softly.I kept quite unable to answer as my gaze drifted back to the trunk’s empty hollow, and a single thought pounded in my skull: where's Dan?