Page 41 of Ruthless Commander

Rhys turned and headed toward me, his long, commanding strides closing the distance rapidly. "No go on the jet, the wind is too strong. There's no way they could get us in the air safely. "

I just stared at him, feeling mixture of sadness and desperation. The roar of the wind gusts made me feel even more panicked and desperate.

"Don't worry," he said as he pulled out his phone. "I'll make a call to the captain and get us on the boat out of here, okay?"

I just nodded, standing in front of our suitcases. But even as he lifted his phone and pressed the button to summon the caption of the boat, I knew it was hopeless. There was no way we were getting out of here. Not tonight…and by the way the winds were picking up, probably not even tomorrow. My phone rang and I looked down, expecting my father, but it was Finley Salvatore…and he never called. I answered it instantly. “Fin?”

"Where are you?" he asked, his voice hard and strange.

Screams echoed in the background, savage male screams, roaring of rage and retribution. I caught the sound of Lazarus Rossi…and someone else…someone I didn’t know. “I’m at the hangar,” I answered unhesitatingly. “What’s going on?”

“I need…I need you to get here, can you do that, X?”

Panic spiked at the desperation in his voice. I was already moving, already leaving Rhys and our suitcases behind. "What's happened?"

"Kat and Anna have been attacked.”

Attacked? No…I lunged to the door, bore down on the handle, and shoved. But the door didn’t budge, locked in place by the force of the wind. I almost dropped my phone as I gripped the handle with both hands, fighting the gusts as I dropped my shoulder and drove my body forward, slamming into the metal door with all I had, and stumbled out.

No…not like Baldeon…not like him.

The door flew backwards, slamming against the side of the building with aboom!But the sound was quickly swallowed by the screaming wind. I dropped my head down and hurried, fighting my way forward, pressing the phone to my ear. “Are they alive?”

“What?” His words were muffled.

“Are they ALIVE!”I screamed.

“Yes,” he answered carefully, as though he didn’t understand what he was saying.

Fin wasneverlike this.

“I need you to get here,” he pleaded. “Can you do that?"

“Where are you?" I stumbled toward the buildings in the dark.

That unknown male voice howled in the background of the call, muffling Fin as he answered.

“Shut the fuck up!”Lazarus Rossi roared.“I’m going to fucking KILL YOU!”

“Fin!” I shouted.“Where the fuck are you?”

"I'm at Kat and Anna’s. I didn't know what to do, X. I don’t know…”

“I’m on my way, okay?” I lifted my gaze to Kat and Anna’s building in the distance and drove myself forward.

“Xael!”My name was yelled behind me.

But I couldn’t slow for Rhys now. I couldn’t do anything but thrust my phone into my pocket and charge forward, praying to hell I wasn’t too late.

My boots hit the ground hard, but my heart beat even harder as I charged around the rear of their building, my breaths burning like fire in my lungs. I shoved my hand into my pocket and wrenched out the card before slamming it against the scanner.

There were no bodyguards in the foyer. No men protecting the building at all that I could see.

This was bad…

Really…really bad.

The doors opened, letting me charge through.