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Chapter Thirty-One
Jaxson
She was out there all alone, and I was the only one who could save her.
Jayden and I pulled up outside Sergio’s house. The door had been left open, the house abandoned.
While I’d expected a slew of men guarding his home like Angelo had, the fact was Sergio wasn’t a mob boss. At least not yet.
I didn’t know who would take Angelo’s place, probably Gino, his second in command, but wars had been fought for far less amongst such men.
Jayden unholstered his gun as we quickly searched the house and the perimeter.
“They couldn’t have gone far,” I said. I stopped and bent down, picking up a dark cotton hood.
Jayden glanced at the material in my fist. “Think she ran?” he asked.
“Like hell I do.”
Ariella was a fighter, and she’d do everything in her power to stay alive. If that meant a chance at escaping, I knew she’d take it.
I exhaled a nervous breath. I was scared for her.
She’d been through hell in a single day and was probably tired, exhausted, and I didn’t even want to consider the ramifications it meant on her health.
Would she be able to run and escape?
I knew I was fit, and I’d probably be tired after being dragged around, tossed from one compound to the next, and sold at a slave auction. The trauma she’d endured alone was staggering, and thinking Sergio was still after her. To say I was worried, was an understatement.
The bastard wasn’t going to give up. Not easily.
Neither would Ariella. She’d fight until the bitter end.
“We need to spread out, find her before it’s too late.” I unholstered my gun from my hip.
The forest extended as far as I could see, with a winding gravel road that I’d traveled in on. I hadn’t spotted her cross the road, and frankly, she could be anywhere.
A shotgun rang out in the distance.
“She’s got to be that way,” I gestured, hearing the shotgun.
“He’s hunting her, has to be,” Jayden muttered under his breath.
“Or chasing her because she ran away from him.”
It was as much as the fact she tried to flee that resulted in Sergio hunting her down with a shotgun.
Either way, she was in danger, and I needed to find her before Sergio.
“Do you think he’s got sight of her?” I didn’t slow down as I popped the latch of my truck. I unzipped my tactical gear bag and retrieved a set of night vision goggles. It was the only way to find them in the dark.
While she probably hadn’t been careful in her escape, examining shrubbery and broken branches would take too long. Hopefully, they hadn’t gotten too far ahead.
I tossed a second pair at Jayden.
“We need to find Ariella before Sergio gets to her.”
“It may be too late,” Jayden said.