Chapter 94 – The Rescue
Chapter 94 – The Rescue
(Levi’s POV)
We didn’t waste a second after leaving the precinct. The moment we hit the penthouse, Luca was on the phone to our head of security.
“Get the team,” he said. “Full kit. We’ve got a target and a location.”
Within twenty minutes, the men we trusted most were assembled — black tactical gear, weapons checked, eyes sharp. Luca spread Marrow’s file and the old address across the dining table, pointing to the faded building schematic like it was a live mission brief.
“He’ll know we’re coming,” Luca said. “We go in fast, clear room by room. Eden’s the priority. Daniel’s alive only if we have no other choice.”
Cole, one of our best, asked, “We expecting resistance?”
I locked a round into my sidearm. “It’s Daniel Cross. He’s a cop who knows how to stall us and how to hurt her. Treat it like an ambush.”
Luca’s gaze shifted to me. “You take point when we breach.”
I gave a sharp nod. “And you’re on her the second we find her. No one touches her but us.”
(Eden’s POV)
Daniel had left for “errands” hours ago, locking the door with that same smug twist of the key.
He’d gotten comfortable. Too comfortable.
The loose screw I’d hidden weeks ago — stolen from the bedframe — was still tucked under the mattress. My fingers closed around it now, working it into the cuff around my wrist. My hands shook, not from cold this time, but from the thought of freedom so close I could almost taste it.
The first cuff clicked open. Then the second.
I slid off the bed, bare feet meeting icy concrete. The door’s lock was old, stubborn, but the screw gave me just enough leverage to work at it. I was almost there when the low, rumbling sound of engines reached my ears.
Not Daniel’s car. More than one.
(Levi’s POV)
Two SUVs rolled up quiet. The building was a skeleton — boarded windows, rust-stained walls, paint peeling like old skin.
Cole’s voice came through the comm. “Rear team in position. Say the word.”
“On three,” Luca said.
We hit the front door hard. The wood splintered under my boot. From the back, I heard the crash of our second team breaching.
Inside, the air was stale, thick with dust. Movement sounded in the hall to our right — fast, heavy.
(Eden’s POV)
The front door burst open.
I froze halfway down the hall, then saw him.
“Eden!”
Levi’s voice.
Relief rushed through me — then died as Daniel lunged from the side corridor, knife flashing in his hand.
(Levi’s POV)
He came at me with all his weight behind the blade. I caught his wrist mid-swing, twisting until the knife hit the floor with a metallic clatter.
He drove his other hand toward my throat, but Luca was there in a heartbeat, slamming him into the wall so hard the plaster cracked.
Daniel fought like a rabid dog, but we weren’t giving him an inch. I pinned his arm back; Luca drove a punch into his ribs that knocked the wind from him.
Daniel spat blood, eyes sliding past us to lock on Eden. “She’ll come back to me. She always does.”
“You’re delusional,” Luca snarled, pressing him harder against the wall.
I leaned in, my voice low and lethal. “And you’re done.”
Daniel sneered. “She belongs to me.”
“Never,” Eden’s voice rang out, sharp and shaking but unflinching. “I never wanted you in the first place!”
He faltered — just a flicker, but I saw it.
She stepped closer, fury burning through the fear. “You were nothing to me. You will always be nothing to me.”
That broke him. The smugness faltered.
I yanked the zip ties tight, wrenching his arms back. “Hear that? That’s the last time you get to talk to her.”
I shoved him to the ground, his shoulder hitting hard. Behind me, two of our men moved in, hauling him up and dragging him toward the door as he spat curses that no one bothered to listen to.
(Eden’s POV)
My knees went weak the second I saw him being taken away. Luca was there before I could fall, his arms locking around me, holding me like I was the only thing keeping him standing.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured, voice low and rough against my hair.
Behind us, Levi kept his eyes on Daniel until the SUV door slammed shut, sealing him inside.
Daniel was gone.
For the first time in months, I believed I might actually be free.