Page 40 of Devour (Blood and Roses #1)

Luca

S omething felt wrong the moment I walked back into the store. It was eerily quiet—too quiet. Ariel and the woman that doctor came with were the only customers earlier, but I saw them drive off when I stormed out of the store earlier. Still, something was off.

There should’ve been attendants coming forward as soon as I stepped in. I head straight for the dressing room where I left Ariel.

The moment I reach the area, my heart stops. Rose, the one that attended to Ariel, is lying unconscious on the floor, close to the curtain. It’s half open. “Shit,” I curse, rushing forward. I yank the curtain all the way back—but Ariel isn’t there.

“Ariel!” I call out, kneeling to check Rose pulse. She’s alive. Just out cold. I grab my phone and immediately call my security team waiting outside. “Secure the perimeter. Now.”

Adrian, my head of security, bursts in with two guards, and we sweep through the store together. We find four store employees unconscious in different areas. I remember seeing only five workers when I came in earlier—so none are missing. Except Ariel.

“Someone wiped the CCTV twenty minutes ago,” Adrian says grimly.

“They can’t have gone far,” I gritted out.

At the back of the store, I find an exit door—slightly ajar. On the pavement outside, fresh skid marks. “They escaped through here.”

I take off running down the alley, chest tight with panic, hoping—praying—I might still spot the vehicle. I can’t think straight. I messed up. I shouldn’t have left her side. I never should’ve let her out of the house in the first place.

I don’t stop running until I reach the main road, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. People pass by, oblivious. I rake a trembling hand through my hair as fear pulses through every vein.

“Boss, we found something.”

Adrian holds out a phone. My hands are clammy, but I take it. The video plays. It’s footage from a pastry shop’s hidden camera near the intersection, just before the road merges with Main Street.

A white van pulls into traffic. The timestamp matches the window of the abduction.

“We’re running the plates through the system now,” Adrian says.

Another guard approaches.

“Sir,” he nods, addressing Adrian.

“The plates are fake, but they were able to trace the van’s last known location to an industrial area near the old rail yard. After that… nothing. No cameras beyond that point.”

A phone rings. The sound slices through the silence like a blade. Adrian’s voice cuts in.

“Boss, it’s your phone.”

I pull it from my pocket. The moment I glance at the screen, my heart plummets. Unknown number. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I swipe to answer.

“Nephew.”

That grating, familiar voice slithers through the speaker. Vito . I take a breath, steadying myself as I inject every ounce of loathing and fury I feel into my tone.

“If you so much as touch a single strand of her hair, I’ll find you. I’ll hack off every cowardly limb, one by one. I’ll make you beg me to end your miserable life—and I still won’t.”

“Save your threats.”

His voice is smug, unfazed. I start pacing, my free hand raking through my hair.

“Where is she? Where the fuck is my wife?”

“She’s safe… for now,” he says, cool and deliberate. “But I can’t promise that’ll last— not unless I get what I want.”

I know he’s baiting me, leading me into a trap. You’re never supposed to let the kidnapper control the negotiation. But none of that matters right now.

This isn’t just business. This is Ariel. My sweet, innocent Ariel. My wife. My world. She deserves everything good and soft and beautiful—not this nightmare. My voice comes out calmer now, deadlier.

“What do you want?” There’s a pause. Then:

“I want the cargo.”

He didn’t have to finish. I already know what cargo he’s talking about. The one we hijacked from the Italians. This is starting to feel like a setup.

“You already know what’s inside.”

I do. It’s drugs. Blue pills. I’ve heard of them before—a new, dangerously potent strain. A single pill is enough to send someone spiraling into a euphoric high so intense they forget their name, their past, everything. It makes people feel like gods.

It’s insanely popular among the rich. One pill goes for thousands—and I’ve got hundreds of boxes locked up in our secure warehouse.

Giving it to Vito would be like handing him the ammunition to destroy me and I know it isn’t about profit. It never was. He wants to crush me. Take everything my father built. And he’s using Ariel to do it.

“You hand that over to me,” he says coldly, “and you can have your wife. You have 24 hours to decide.”

My phone pings.

“I just sent you a little something… to help.”

Tick… Tick… Tick…

The line goes dead. I check the message. It’s a short video of Ariel. She’s still in the short white wedding dress. Her body slack in sleep, her breathing shallow but steady.

They must have drugged her. “Fuck!” I tighten my grip on the phone, my jaw clenched. This is all my fault. I let that bastard beat me at my own game. He played me—deliberately.

He knew I’d come after the cargo if he pushed me hard enough. This was always a trap. And I walked right into it. If I give it to him, I lose face. My men will see me as weak. They’ll question my leadership, my strength. And Vito will use that to turn more of the family against me.

He won’t stop until he buries me. Then it hits me. “Noah.” The word leaves my mouth like a prayer. He’s at home. Alone. Yes, the house is secured. Guards on every floor. It’s the safest place he could be. But still—I have to see him. I have to see with my own eyes that he’s okay.