Chapter 169
Serena
"Shut up." Wesley's voice was strained. "I can kill you right now. You know that, right? I have nothing left to lose. My reputation is destroyed. My future is gone. My relationship with Lance—" he laughed bitterly, "—assuming there was one to begin with—is finished. So yeah. I can pull this trigger. And I will."
"Will you?" Felix's tone was infuriatingly calm. "Because I'm looking around this room, nephew, and I'm seeing a lot of reasons for you to care about consequences. I'm seeing, for instance—" his eyes slid to me, "—someone whose life you seem quite invested in protecting."
Wesley's arm tightened around Felix's throat.
"Let us go," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Felix, this is over. Lance is on his way. His security team will be here in minutes. Maybe seconds. Just let us walk out, and I'll—I'll tell them you cooperated. I'll say you helped. That you weren't—"
"Will you?" Felix cut me off, and something in his tone made my blood run cold. "Tell me something, Serena. If Lance has been listening this entire time—if he knows exactly where you are, if he's heard every threat, every danger you've faced—what's stopping him from bursting through that door right now? Why isn't he here already?"
The question hit like a punch to the gut.
Because... why wasn't he here? I'd been counting on Lance. On Vincent. On the cavalry arriving any second.
But the door stayed closed. The hallway stayed quiet.
"Fuck," Wesley breathed. Understanding dawning. "You—"
One of the Corsetti men stepped forward, grinning. He held up a small device—black, rectangular, covered in blinking lights.
"Signal jammer," he said in heavily accented English. "We activate when we arrive. No audio transmission. No GPS signal. No tracking." His grin widened. "Your boyfriend? He hears nothing. Knows nothing. Gets nothing."
The floor seemed to drop out from under me.
"No." My hand went to the necklace. "But—the feed was working earlier. Lance heard everything before you—"
"Before we arrived, yes." Felix's voice was smug. Triumphant. "I'm sure Lance heard your lovely heart-to-heart with Wesley. Heard Wesley's touching confession. Heard him defend you so bravely." He chuckled. "And then? Silence. The feed cuts out. The GPS goes dark. And Lance—clever, paranoid Lance—immediately assumes the worst."
My breath caught. "Then he'll come faster." The words came out sharp. Desperate. "If the signal died, he won't wait. He'll send everyone. He'll—"
"Oh!" Felix's smile turned vicious. "I forgot to mention. We prepared for that." He gestured casually. "You see, when the GPS signal died, Lance didn't just sit there wondering. He looked at the last known location—which was outside this restaurant, in the alley." He leaned forward. "Where he saw, with his own eyes, a woman being dragged into a pickup truck. A woman with your height, your build, your hair color. Being forced into a vehicle that immediately sped away."
The floor dropped out from under me.
"What?"
"They're probably halfway across New Jersey by now," Felix continued cheerfully. "Lance chasing that truck with his entire security team. Following it deeper and deeper into nowhere." He chuckled. "By the time he realizes it's a decoy, we'll be long gone. And so will you."
My legs went weak. Actually weak. I felt myself swaying.
"No," I whispered. "He wouldn't—he'd check—"
"Would he?" Felix's voice was poisonous. "When every second counts? When the woman he loves is being taken?" He shook his head. "He acted. Like I knew he would."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Lance wasn't coming. There was no rescue. We were—
"Serena!" Wesley's voice cut through my panic. Sharp. Commanding. "Serena! Stay with me! I'm getting you out of here!"
But his voice was desperate. Because he knew. We both knew.
Felix had won.
"So here's what happens now—" Felix started.
He never finished.
Because Wesley—with a sound like a wounded animal—slammed the gun into Felix's face.
The crack of metal against bone was sickening. Blood exploded from Felix's nose, streaming down his face, his expensive tuxedo shirt.
"Let her go!" Wesley screamed. "Let her fucking go, you piece of shit! Or the next bullet goes through your brain!"
Felix staggered, hand going to his shattered nose. "Fuck! You—"
The Corsetti men surged forward. Guns coming up. Safeties clicking off.
But Wesley had gone completely feral.
His eyes were wild. Burning with something beyond rage. Beyond desperation.
Like he'd finally, finally stopped caring about consequences.
Before anyone could fire, he brought the gun down again. This time against Felix's temple. Hard.
Blood burst from the wound. Felix's knees buckled.
"I said LET HER GO!" Wesley's voice was inhuman. Raw. "She leaves! Now! Or I keep hitting until your skull cracks open!"
The men hesitated. Looked at Felix, bleeding and dazed.
I stared at Wesley. At the blood on his hands. At the absolute certainty in his eyes.
And for the first time in three years—maybe the first time ever—I saw him doing exactly what he wanted to do. Not what Vanessa wanted. Not what Felix demanded. Not what anyone expected.
Just pure, unfiltered Wesley. Violent. Protective. Completely unhinged.
And his eyes were so clear. So focused. Like he'd finally found something worth fighting for.
"Fuck!" Felix spat blood. "Fine! Let the bitch go!"
The men stepped back slightly. Creating a path to the door.
I didn't move. Couldn't move.
"Serena." Wesley's voice was hoarse. Still holding Felix in that brutal grip. "Go. Now."
"I can't—Wesley, they'll kill you—"
"GO!" He screamed it. "I don't want—" his voice cracked, "—I don't want to die with you thinking I was a fucking coward! I don't want your last memory of me to be—" He choked. "Just go. Please."
His eyes met mine. And in them, I saw everything. The rage. The fear. The guilt for every moment he'd failed me before.
The desperate, absolute need to do this one thing right.
"Wesley—"
"GO!"
I stumbled backward. One step. Then another.
The Corsetti men parted, creating a path to the door.
My hand found the doorframe. I could leave. I could actually—
A wave of dizziness slammed into me. Sudden. Violent.
My head swam. Strange. Heavy.
I took another step toward the hallway.
THUD.
A massive crash behind me.
I spun around.
Wesley had collapsed. His body hitting the floor like dead weight, limbs sprawling, the gun skittering away across the tiles.
Felix stood over him, that vicious smile splitting his bloodied face.
"Did you really think I'd let either of you leave?"
My knees gave out. The floor rushed up.
Darkness.