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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

NIALL

I shifted in my seat, staring blankly out the car window, the scenery not registering.

I was restless and edgy, a feeling I couldn’t shake, no matter how hard I tried.

It had started as Finn and I were meeting with some of his senior men, discussing areas and things that needed improvements.

Finn looked after his territories, making sure they were kept up.

Bad roads? Finn had them fixed. Trouble brewing with a new gang wanting to move into the turf?

Finn had them removed. A family business failing?

Finn made sure to send people their way.

Many in the syndicate did the same in their regions, and it was easy to spot as you went through the city.

Last night, Anna had asked me why there were so many different groups in the syndicate. We were lying in bed, her head on my chest, simply talking. I loved being able to do that with her. I craved sharing, listening to her.

“Long ago, there was one ‘family’ that ran everything. But Toronto grew, and it got too big for one group to manage. There was too much infighting and a lot of problems. Things changed, and it was chopped into territories and different groups. It grew again. It’s still growing.

The syndicate has changed with newer, younger generations.

It’s evolved like the city. This generation is about peace.

Maintaining control using different ways than the past,” I explained.

“Finn is tough, but he wants to see his territories flourish. He takes care of them. They, in turn, are loyal.”

“And when they’re not?” she asked.

“Then it is handled,” I said firmly, not wanting her to ask more.

She was quiet, then spoke again. “And you’re willing to leave it?”

“Absolutely. When Finn calls it, I’m with him. I’ll run the hotel if that’s what he wants. Or if he sells it, I’ll find something else.” I chuckled. “Or retire and enjoy life.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “With you.”

“Here or Ireland?”

I thought about it for a moment, running my fingers through her soft hair. The motion relaxed me, and she loved it. “Here. Ireland will forever be my homeland, but this is where I found myself. We can buy a place there to have when we visit, but this is my home now.”

I tugged on her hair, and she lifted her head. I bent and kissed her. “You are my home.”

Her eyes shone with tears, and she pulled my head back, kissing me deeply.

There was no more conversation.

Finn clearing his throat brought me back to the present. He frowned, looking at me and the way my leg was bouncing up and down. “What is up with you?”

“I have no idea. I have this odd sensation something is wrong.”

“With?”

I glanced at my phone. Anna’s tracker blinked, showing her in the hotel. Everything was fine with our meetings. Positive and on track. But still, the pit of anxiety in my stomach grew.

“I don’t know.”

I dialed Anna’s phone, frowning when it went to voice mail.

I looked at Finn, who called Una. He spoke and hung up.

“She was tired, and George said she looked a bit under the weather. She was cold all day. He sent her upstairs early, so she’s probably lying down.

Una will go check on her in a few moments—she’s just waiting for George to come back. ”

That made me feel better. Anna wasn’t a huge cell phone fan.

She carried hers more to please me than anything.

She had no apps, no games, nothing to keep her glued to the screen.

She usually plugged it in by the sofa, refusing to take it into the bedroom at night.

If she wasn’t feeling well, no doubt she was napping and not hearing the phone ring.

She probably forgot it in her purse—it wouldn’t be the first time.

“Great.”

“We’ll be at the hotel in twenty minutes,” Rory called over his shoulder.

I glanced down at the tracker again, confused. It had stopped blinking. It held steady, the light red not green. I refreshed it, the light still red.

I called our security team, demanding to speak to Evan, explaining what had happened. He was in charge of all our toys and was brilliant at it. He tapped on his keyboard. “It shows a malfunction,” he muttered. “I don’t understand. I’m putting you on speaker.”

I looked at Finn. “I need Una upstairs now.”

He called, and I heard him talking, listened to Evan typing. My heart began to race, the feeling of worry I had been experiencing turning into fear.

Evan spoke. “It’s back online.”

I breathed a sigh of relief until his next words. “It shows her somewhere, moving away from the hotel.”

“What?”

Finn looked up, his expression worried. “Una says Anna isn’t in your room. Her phone isn’t there either.”

“Rory! I need back to the hotel now !” I roared.

“On it,” he replied, the sound of the engine revving high filling the car. “Ten minutes.”

“The signal is gone again,” Evan said. “I’m going to work on a different angle.”

“I’ll be there soon,” I said through gritted teeth.

Across from me, Finn was speaking rapidly into his phone. “Get every camera searching for Anna. Load up all the images from two o’clock onward, starting from the front desk. We’ll be in the security room shortly.”

He hung up, meeting my gaze. His was focused, intense. “We’ll find her. I’m sure there’s an explanation.” He spoke louder. “Whatever tickets we get for running reds, we’ll pay, Rory. Step on it.”

I swallowed down my panic. I knew what the explanation was.

Somehow, despite all our measures, she’d been taken.

And I needed to find her.

Fast.

ANNA

I blinked at the image of Juan in front of me. His evil smile.

“No. You’re dead.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“But they found your body,” I protested, as if by saying it out loud, it would be true.

He tutted. “They found a body.”

He gripped my shoulders, pulling me from the suitcase.

All my muscles screamed in pain at the rough handling and as the blood flow was restored to my bent limbs.

He laughed, the sound making the hairs on my neck stand up.

He pushed me into the wall, my hands still tied behind my back, the pins and needles unbearable.

I shook with the aches already forming. I fought against the tears, but he saw them, and they delighted him.

He paced the room, talking. “Unlike my cocky uncle, I was wearing a vest. I was shot in the chest and shoulder, and there was enough blood they didn’t even check.

In the chaos, I slipped down the stairs, and I took one of the lab workers who had my build and coloring.

I convinced him I would help him escape what was happening.

We used another tunnel and came out not far from the barn.

” He held up his hands. “Then I gave him his reward. A bullet in the chest. A switch of shoes and clothes, some careful staging, and ta-da! Here I am.” He tilted his head. “Did you miss me?”

“His-his hands,” I stuttered.

“Ah yes. A dull saw, then I let Mother Nature help. Lots of coyotes around there. The blood would draw them. I knew I would be found.” He winked. “Gave me time to call my wife and plan our next move.”

Heidi watched from the chair, looking bored.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why didn’t you run?”

“And leave you, my little pet, behind? Let someone else have you? No.” He shook his head. “ No .”

Heidi stood with a smirk. “My husband wanted you. So, I decided, like the good wife I am, to get you for him. I did the research on your Irishmen and came up with a plan.” She looked at her nails, inspecting them.

“That’s what I do. I befriend people and let Juan have them.

” She narrowed her eyes. “You and your Una refused to let me befriend you. All I needed was to get you out of that hotel so Juan could have you. Your guards proved to be too close to let that happen. You refused to come to lunch. I couldn’t fucking separate the two of you.

So, we came up with a different plan. So simple.

” She eyed the suitcase on the floor. “I walked you right past them.” She laughed in delight.

“I even stopped by the front desk and spoke with Una on the way out. Your stupid men watched me load you into a trunk, and they had no idea. Not a clue the man helping me take you away was the man they were supposed to protect you from.” She clapped her hands. “And now it’s too late.”

I swallowed, putting on a brave face. “Maybe not. Niall won’t stop until he finds me.”

“And how will he do that?” She held up my bracelet. “With this? I saw it as I was tying your hands, and I know your overly protective lover gave it to you. I put it in a blocking device in the car, and this room is protected, so it doesn’t work if he put a tracker in it.”

My heart sank.

She studied it. “Pretty thing. I think I’ll keep it.”

“No, it’s mine.”

She shook her head, looking at it. “I think it goes with my outfit.” She tried to tug it over her wrist, but it was too small.

She yanked on it impatiently, and I got upset. “Stop it—you’ll break it!” I pleaded. Then an idea struck. “I’ll tell you how to open it. Just be careful with it.”

“How?” she demanded.

I tamped down my nerves. “You have to press the toggle twice and hold it each time. It, ah, unlocks it.”

She frowned, fussing with it. “It still didn’t open!”

“Maybe it jammed when you took it off me. Try again.”

She did, and nothing happened. In anger, she flung it at me, hitting me in the face with it, narrowly missing my eye. “Cheap piece of crap.” She stormed away.

Juan watched her, somehow enjoying her ire. “You bruised my little doll.”

I took a deep breath, my hopes soaring. Because as she flung it at me, I saw a small flash of light. I prayed it meant what I thought it did. That somehow my idea would work and Niall could find me.

The hope gave me courage.

“I am not your little doll,” I spat.