Chapter 121 -
The line went dead. Nia stared at the phone in her hand, Santiago's voice still echoing in her ears. Her fingers tightened around the phone, her knuckles turned white as her chest caught in ragged breaths she hadn’t realized she’d stopped taking.
Leo took the phone from her carefully, his fingers brushing hers. He didn’t speak immediately, just stared at the screen for a while before blocking the untraceable number, a small beacon of frustration glowing in his dark eyes.
“He’s watching,” Nia said quietly.
“He’s always watching,” Leo said, handing the phone to Micheal. “Try and trace it anyway. See if anything comes through. Even if it's a ping or something, anything that helps our cause.”
Micheal nodded, already moving to the laptop. He knit his brows tight as his fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard.
Christian moved to the window, reflection staring back at him, the swelling of his split lip visible in the dim light. “If he knows we have three days, he knows we’re planning something. He’ll anticipate moves we haven’t even made.”
Leo leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “This simply means we have to be more prepared.”
Nia looked between them, tension coiling beneath the surface like a spring wound too tight. The fight earlier had drained some of their fire, left them raw and cautious, but it hadn’t gone away. Fear and respect mingled in her chest. Exhaustion too, maybe.
“I need fresh air,” she said suddenly.
Leo’s eyes snapped to her. “Nia—”
“I’m not leaving the house,” she interrupted, touching his arm gently. “I'm just headed the balcony. Just give me two minutes, that's all I need right now.”
He sighed as she left. She walked down the hall, past the guards who didn’t flinch, their eyes trained like hawks. She ignored them, pushed open the balcony door, letting the cold night air hit her face. She leaned against the railing, letting the city’s distant hum calm her fraying nerves, even briefly.
The door opened behind her but she didn’t turn.
“You said two minutes,” Leo cut in.
“It’s been two minutes?”
“No.” He moved beside her, leaning against the railing, gaze fixed outward. “But I don’t like you out of my sight right now.”
“He’s going to hurt her,” she whispered.
Leo didn’t answer immediately. His hand found hers, their fingers intertwining.
“Before we get there, before we have a chance. He’ll hurt her because he can, because he knows it’ll break me.”
“Then we get there before he can,”
“You don’t know that,” she shot back.
“No,” he admitted. “But I know we’ll try. And we’ll keep trying until we get it right.”
She turned to look at him fully now, taking in the bruises forming along his jaw, the split lip, the exhaustion telling on his face. He looked like hell. He looked like the only solid thing in her world.
“I love you,”
He met her gaze without hesitation. “I know.”
“That’s not—” She shook her head, struggling with the weight of her own emotions. “Oh my days, that’s not just something I say. I love you. And if this goes wrong, if I don’t come back—”
“It won’t,” he said firmly, lips pressing together, eyes locked on hers.
“Leo—”
He pulled her close, arms wrapping around her tightly, heartbeat pressed against her chest. “If it goes wrong,” he murmured into her hair, “I’ll find you anyway. In this life or the next.”
She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of him anchor her amidst the storm of fear and adrenaline swirling through her.
“That’s morbid,” she whispered, a half-smile tugging at her lips.
“That’s love,” he said simply.
They stood there, clinging to each other, while the city hummed below them.
When they returned, the meeting room was quieter than before. The earlier chaos seemed to have drained the tension, replaced by focus. Christian leaned over the maps, red pins pressed into strategic points. He moved with precision. Micheal sat at the laptop, typing rapidly, the glow of the screen painting his face in harsh white light. Three techs Nia didn’t exactly recognize were in the corner, running trace programs, analyzing data, watching screens intently.
Leo moved to the table, placing both hands on it. “We've got updates,” he said, voice low but carrying authority.
Christian pointed at the map. “Here are three locations Santiago’s used before. There are warehouses, all within twenty miles of the city. We have drones on two of them. The third one is too exposed to monitor without being noticed.”
Micheal looked up. “The call pinged off three towers before disappearing. It's completely untraceable, just like we expected. But one of the towers covers this area.” He tapped the industrial district on the map. “Abandoned factories. Lots of hiding places. Too many for a direct raid without risking her life.”
“Better than nothing,” Christian muttered, voice clipped.
Nia studied the red pins, the marked territory, the calculated paths. It looked like a game. A game she had to win, but Isadora wasn’t a piece. She wasn’t something to move and sacrifice casually.
“What about Jordan?” she asked softly, but the three men turned to her.
“The body with the tattoo,” Leo began. “The surveillance photos. If he’s alive, if he’s working with Santiago—then he’s there too.”
Christian’s jaw tightened. “We still don’t know whose side he’s on. Could be his own.”
“Maybe he’s playing everyone,” Micheal said. “We can’t assume loyalty. Only actions.”
Nia’s eyes sharpened. “Then we find him before Santiago does.”
“And how exactly do you propose we do that?” Christian asked, tone skeptical.
“You said Victor gave up names,” she reminded them. “Other traitors that are inside this space.”
Leo nodded slowly. “Use them. Feed them information. Let them think we’re focused elsewhere. Let them lead us to Jordan.”
Christian shook his head. “That takes time.”
“We don’t have time,” Nia said firmly.
“She’s right,” Leo said quietly. “We use what we have. Victor’s contacts. The names he gave up. We flip them or we follow them. That’s our window.”
Micheal stood. “I’ll start working on it,” he said, already moving toward the tech corner.
Christian looked at Leo, tension easing slightly. “If this works—”
“When it works,” Leo corrected, dark eyes steady.
Christian almost smiled, tight-lipped. “When it works. But we still have to get her out. All of her. Safe.”
Leo’s hand brushed over the table, tracing lines between pins, his mind calculating every risk. “We will.”
Nia watched them. Brothers, bound by blood and history, planning a rescue that could kill them all if missteps were made.
Her phone buzzed suddenly, again from an unknown number.
She answered, heart in her throat.
“Nia—”
The voice was Isadora's. Nia panicked immediately, going into a frenzy. The line cut. Her blood turned to ice.
Leo snatched the phone. “Trace it now.”
Micheal was already moving, tapping on his laptop furiously.
Nia stood frozen, her mind spinning. Her heart pounded as Isadora’s voice lingered in her ears.
Isadora was alive at least…for now.