Chapter 40

Marius

Marius sat at the polished desk in his private office in town, the sharp scent of cigars lingering in the air. His fingers drummed the surface of the desk, the rhythmic sound echoing in the otherwise quiet room. The weight of the investigation pressed on him like a steel band around his chest, tightening with each passing minute. The abductions had taken on a more personal edge this year, far more than they ever had before.

The surveillance on Cornell’s campus had been thorough, meticulous—his team was one step ahead of everyone, just the way he liked it. But the thought of the missing girls gnawed at him, more so as each day passed. One of them, he was certain, was connected to something far larger than a mere string of kidnappings. There was no way these girls were simply being taken at random. Someone, somewhere, was controlling this with careful precision, weaving a web too tangled for anyone but the top dogs to see through.

His gaze fell on the old family portrait framed on his desk—his sister, Elisa, her bright smile frozen in time, surrounded by their parents. He hadn't been old enough to protect her back then. He hadn’t even known she was in danger. Now, all these years later, the familiar ache twisted inside him. Every time he saw a girl on the edge of being taken, every time another name dropped from the list of girls to be “disposed of,” it brought back the memory of his sister’s disappearance.

The pain of not having been able to stop it was a burden that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Marius clenched his jaw, forcing the emotion down. He couldn’t afford distractions. Not now, not when they were this close to uncovering the mastermind behind the abductions. Every instinct in him screamed that the person pulling the strings was closer than they realized. He just had to figure out who.

His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts. The screen flashed with a message from Tyrone.

Tyrone: We’ll have eyes on the parties this weekend. We’ll find out where they’re moving the girls once they’ve been taken.

Marius’s lips curled into a slight smirk as he read the message. Tyrone was relentless, always thinking ahead, always calculating. That was what made him the ideal strategist, even if his methods sometimes bordered on reckless. It wasn’t lost on Marius that Tyrone had been the one to push for the surveillance, to ensure they were ahead of the curve. Marius had his doubts about his brother's impulse to get personal with Seri, but Tyrone’s results spoke for themselves.

Marius: Good. Keep me posted on the details. We need to be one step ahead of this.

As he hit send, his mind wandered back to Seri. She had a certain aura about her—independent, distant, almost untouchable. Yet, there were moments when he caught glimpses of vulnerability behind her sharp exterior. He wasn’t sure what to make of her, or why he felt an unexpected draw to her, but he couldn’t afford distractions. Not when they were so close to unraveling everything.

His thoughts shifted to the investigation once again. Every time they moved closer to the truth, Marius felt a storm building inside him. It was inevitable now. Genovese was tied to this—he could feel it in his bones. The Italian mafia boss had been at the center of their operations for years. And Marius knew from experience that Genovese never let anything slip through his fingers without ensuring it was in his control.

That realization tightened the knot in Marius’s gut. The control that man had over everything—and everyone—was far-reaching, and Marius had only scratched the surface. The next phase of their plan had to be executed with precision.

Marius stood up abruptly, walking to the large window overlooking the city. His reflection stared back at him in the glass, the weight of his decisions hanging in the air around him like a storm cloud.

“Let’s finish this,” he muttered to himself.

His phone buzzed again, and this time it was a call from Damon. Marius didn't hesitate before answering.

"What's up?" he asked, his voice low and commanding.

"I think we're missing something," Damon said, his tone sharp. "There’s something bigger at play here, Marius. These girls aren’t just being taken at random. We need to dig deeper into Genovese's connections."

Marius’s pulse quickened at the mention of Genovese. He had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed made the weight on his shoulders even heavier. This was personal.

“We’ll dig deeper,” Marius replied, his voice cold as steel. “We’ll find out what he’s hiding.”