Chapter 82 Chapter Eighty-one
ARA
I dropped the phone on the bed, sweat breaking out on my skin, my fingers trembling.
They shook as I dialed Thayne’s number, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure it could be heard through the walls.
It didn’t ring. Not even once. The call failed immediately, like the line had been cut on purpose.
“No,” I whispered, trying again. But I got the same result as before.
Panic slid cold fingers down my spine. Thayne had to see the video. He had to know Sasha was being forced, that this was a setup, that someone was rewriting reality right in front of the world’s eyes.
But telling him would mean saying the words I’d been avoiding since the note first burned in my palm. My father.
I wrapped a thick night robe around myself, my movements rushed and clumsy, and stepped into the hallway.
The entire fortress was silent, as though I was the only one around. That didn't feel right.
There had been boots echoing faintly before, radios were murmuring before, too, plus the low hum of security doing their job.
Now there was nothing. Too much nothing.
I walked faster, peering into corners, looking down long corridors and past doors that should have had guards stationed beside them.
“Hello?” My voice sounded small, swallowed by the vastness of the house.
There was no answer.
My pulse spiked. Security didn’t just vanish, right? Thayne had issued orders for them to keep their eyes up. So why hadn't I found one yet?
A thought struck me so sharply I almost stopped breathing.
What if they hadn’t vanished?
What if they’d been….removed? No… I was overthinking things. This place was impenetrable, I had to believe so.
I turned a corner, and a hand shot out of nowhere. Strong and fast.
It clamped around my arm and yanked me off balance, dragging me into the nearest room with brutal force. The door slammed shut behind us.
I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand crushed over my mouth, cutting the sound off instantly.
My heart went feral. I kicked, thrashed, clawed blindly, terror exploding through me as the scent of unfamiliar cologne filled my nose. The grip on my arm tightened, unforgiving.
“Quiet,” an unfriendly voice murmured close to my ear.
The voice was not loud or rushed, it was calm.
That terrified me more than shouting ever could.
My breath came out in panicked bursts against his palm as he leaned closer, his grip unyielding.
“If you scream,” he continued softly, “you’ll miss your chance to hear what your father wants to say to you.”
My blood ran ice-cold. Father. The word echoed in my head, heavy and sickening.
Slowly, the hand over my mouth loosened.
I didn’t scream. I couldn’t. Because suddenly, I knew. Sasha hadn’t been kidnapped just to send a message to Thayne.
She’d been taken to reach me.
My breath trembled out of me in shallow pulls as the door clicked shut behind us.
The room was dark. Not pitch-black, but dim enough that shapes blurred at the edges. Heavy curtains. A desk. The faint glow of a lamp left deliberately off.
The man released my arm but stayed close, too close. I could feel the heat of him at my back, the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly how much fear he was inducing.
I turned slowly to look at him. He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed like security, down to the earpiece still clipped in place. He'd been the one to fold that note into my hand.
He was not a part of Thayne's security.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
He smiled. It wasn’t cruel. It wasn’t kind either.
“It’s funny,” he said mildly, “how often people confuse ‘safe’ with ‘familiar.’”
My heart pounded.
“Where are they?” I demanded. “Where are the guards.”
“Resting,” he replied. “They’ll wake up with headaches and no memory of the last hour. Assuming they wake up at all.”
Cold fear slid down my spine.
“You work for him, don't you?” I asked him.
He tilted his head. “Smart girl.”
The confirmation hit harder than denial ever could.
“My father,” I whispered.
He nodded once. “He asked me to make sure you received the message. You tend to… miss things when you’re distracted.”
He was talking about Sasha. The video.
“This is about Sasha, right?” I said. “She’s alive.”
“She is,” he confirmed. “For now, anyway.”
My nails dug into my palms.
“What does he want?” I asked. “Is it money? Control? Thayne?”
The man laughed softly, like I’d made a joke.
“He wants you,” he said. “He’s always wanted you. You just didn’t realize how valuable you became.”
“Valuable how?”
He stepped aside, gesturing to the desk.
“Sit.”
“I’m not—”
The gun appeared so smoothly that it felt unreal. He didn’t point it at my head. He aimed it at my stomach.
I froze, my eyes widening in fear.
“Sit,” he repeated, still calm.
I did. The chair was cold beneath my thighs. My heart felt like it was going to tear itself apart.
“He says you’re the key,” the man continued conversationally. “The one variable Thayne Slade doesn’t control. The one pressure point he’ll bleed for.”
Rage flared through the fear. “So this is leverage,” I spat. “He kidnaps a woman, ruins Thayne's reputation, then terrorize me—”
“No,” he cut in gently. “This is escalation.”
He reached into his pocket and placed something on the desk.one, but it wasn't mine.
“This is a secure line,” he said. “It will ring in exactly thirty seconds. And when it does, you’ll answer.”
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes flicked meaningfully to my stomach again.
My throat tightened at the silent threat.
“What do I say?” I asked.
He smiled wider this time.
“You tell your father,” he said, “that you’re ready to come home.”
The words rang in my head like a school bell. What?
“I don’t have a home with that monster! You call him and tell him I said that.” I snapped.
He chuckled darkly. “You do now,” he replied. “And if you don’t cooperate, Sasha’s next video won’t just be words.”
The phone vibrated once and I jumped. When it vibrated the second time, I swallowed.
I stared at it, dread clawing up my chest. Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed.
Voices echoed faintly, raised and urgent. Thayne was back.
Hope flared in my stomach, and the man’s smile vanished.
“Well,” he said quietly, lifting the gun again, “it seems we’re out of time.”
The phone kept vibrating, and I had exactly one choice to make.