Chapter 46 Chapter 46
I couldn’t breathe; everything spun. I tried to hold on, to yell, but my voice disappeared. Darkness came fast, pressing in, swallowing the sounds of tires, screams, and chaos. I felt the world tilt and flip and then… nothing.
When I came back to, pain shot through me, hot and sharp, and every nerve was alive. My body ached in ways I didn’t think were possible. I tried to move, tried to call out, but my mouth felt dry, and my head was pounding so hard it felt like it might split open. Panic clawed at me; I realized I wasn’t in the car anymore. The faint smell of metal and dust was everywhere, and the ropes cutting into my wrists reminded me I wasn’t alone or safe.
A shadow moved in front of me. I blinked against the dim light, trying to focus. Lorenzo fucking Moretti. He stood there, calm, watching me, and my stomach dropped. He didn’t say anything and didn’t even smile. Just looked at me, and in the way he held himself, the way he lingered, I could feel his thought; he had me, and through me, he thought he had Nikolai. The way he glanced down at me, like I was fragile, like I couldn’t do a thing, sent a cold shiver through me. I didn't say anything; I just held my breath. My body tensed. I wasn’t going to make it easy.
Nikolai
I was still in my office going over some work when my phone vibrated. Isla had been gone for over two hours now; I wasn't worried. She had Wesley with her, and she was at Jacob's. I grabbed the phone, and I froze; my stomach tightened.
UNKNOWN: We have what you love most. You want her back? Don't move.
I slammed the phone down, my chest hammering. I shouldn’t have let my guard slip, shouldn’t have thought she could just casually go out and be safe. I clenched my fists. My mind raced. Every scenario, every angle, every little thing I had learned about Lorenzo over the years flashed through my head. He thought he had me cornered. He thought I would panic; he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
I cursed under my breath. That was the problem. I knew he had her, and there was nothing I could do about it right now without putting her in worse danger. My blood boiled, fingers tightening around the phone. I could hear my own heartbeat, fast and heavy. I wanted to storm out, to grab anything and go after him, but I knew better. I had to be smart. One wrong move, and he’d see her hurt in an instant.
My mind shifted rapidly, calculating. Every ally, every asset, every piece of intel I had on him, all of it was spinning in my head. I thought about the cameras, the trackers, everything. I already knew she wasn’t alone in her fight, that she had strength in ways Lorenzo didn’t understand, but he didn’t have to. He just needed me to make a mistake, to let my anger give him leverage.
And he almost did. I took a deep breath, shaking my head, trying to calm the surge of rage. I couldn’t lose it, not now, not when she was somewhere out there counting on me to stay in control. My fingers tapped against the phone, sending quick orders, checking contacts, ensuring every angle was covered. Lorenzo had made the first move, but the game wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
I stared out the office window, lights flickering in the distance. Every shadow could be him, every car a potential threat. I clenched my jaw. He thought he had my most important thing, that I’d crumble. But he didn’t know me. He didn’t know what I’d do to get her back, and when I did find her, he was going to regret thinking he could get away with it.
The second the message from Lorenzo hit my phone, my blood ran hot, adrenaline surging like a live wire. My fingers barely registered as they dialed Brax. He picked up on the first ring, calm as ever, but I didn’t give him a chance to breathe.
“Brax, get me everything. "Now," I said, voice low but sharp. “Camera feeds, trackers, phone pings. Anything. I need her location, and I need it fast.”
“Understood, sir,” he replied, calm as usual. But I knew him well enough to read the tension in his voice, subtle though it was. He knew I wasn’t in a mood to wait.
I slammed my phone down on the desk, eyes scanning the monitors in front of me. I could feel my jaw tightening and fists clenching, and yet, I forced myself to stay grounded. I knew how Lorenzo thought and how he moved, and I refused to give him the satisfaction of me losing control. Not now, not with Isla out there somewhere.
“Brax, I want every security team we have out there. I don’t care if it means shutting down the city around her; I want her safe,” I said, pacing, unable to sit still. “And start tracing Wesley. If he’s alive, he’ll know where she is.”
“Yes, sir. I’ve already pinged his car. GPS still active. Tracking now,” Brax replied, the calm precision in his voice grounding me slightly. I ran a hand over my face, dragging my fingers through my hair, trying to shake the feeling of panic threatening to creep in.
The thing about Lorenzo was that he was reckless in some ways but smart in others. He thought he had her, thought I’d lose it, and thought he could control the narrative. He had no idea how far I’d go, how far I always go, to protect what’s mine.
I grabbed my phone again, calling Wesley directly. No answer. The line went to voicemail. My knuckles whitened around the phone as I slammed it back onto the desk. Fine. Then we’d find him the old-fashioned way.
“Brax, check the last known coordinates of Wesley’s car before the accident. Start running every traffic camera within a five-mile radius. I want movement patterns, anything that might indicate where he went after the crash,” I said, pacing now, every muscle coiled tight.
“Yes, sir. Already on it. I’ll have a feed ready in minutes,” he replied.
I ran my hands over my face again and took a breath, trying to push the anger down and trying to think clearly. But I couldn’t stop the storm of images running through my mind: Isla trapped, Lorenzo looming over her, her stubbornness, and that fire in her eyes she always tried to hide. She wasn’t helpless. She’d never been helpless. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t in danger.
“Brax, I want a perimeter set up. All exit points were blocked, all vehicles were stopped, and all surveillance teams were ready. If Lorenzo moves her anywhere, I need eyes on him before he even thinks about leaving,” I ordered, my voice tight.
“Yes, sir. I’m already coordinating with the teams. Everything is moving now,” he said.