Page 74 of Ruthless Riches

For a moment, I wondered if the tunnel entrance could be in either of those bathrooms, but then I remembered where the dot was when it disappeared. It was right in the center of the alley, not off to the side.

I turned my attention to the cobbled ground and spotted a wide iron grate. It looked exactly like an old sewer grate, but when I crept over and squinted into the darkness, I could just make out some steep stone steps leading downward.

This was it—an entrance to Satan’s Penthouse.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, picturing Alexis trapped somewhere beneath my feet. “I’m coming,” I murmured. “Just hold on.”

As I imagined her curling into my arms, I could almost smell the sweet vanilla scent of her hair lingering around me. It warmed me against the freezing night air and urged the adrenaline to pump harder in my veins.

I opened my eyes and knelt in front of the grate. Moving painstakingly slowly, just in case Sascha was still close, I pulled it open all the way and let it come to rest on the ground with a soft thud.

Then I stepped into the darkness and began to descend, slowly and silently.