Page 179 of Savage Empire

“Hello, Rayna,” Luis drawls. My chest feels like it’s caving in as he lifts a pistol from his side. “Goodbye, Rayna.”

There’s no time to digest the betrayal. No time to beg or plead, or figure out where my brother is. He’s going to kill me without another word.

But just as I’m looking down the barrel of his gun, and my life is flashing before my eyes, his head snaps back. Blood splatters out of his skull, and I almost faint from fear and relief.

Shot after shot rings out, and none of them come for me.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Apollo

My phone rings only a handful of minutes after my wife leaves. Seeing her contact light up my screen, I answer without delay. I always keep my phone close, but especially when she isn’t with me. I need to be available to her, even if it’s for something unimportant.

“Rayna?” I say, putting the phone to my ear. “Did you need me to bring something over to the house?”

Dead silence greets me, not even the sound of her breathing comes over the speaker. I stand up from my seat in an instant, paranoia being my default response. It may not be good for my blood pressure, but it keeps people safe.

“Rayna?” I repeat, already heading for the front door. “Rayna, baby, can you hear me?”

More silence. But then there’s a crash, like shattered glass. It’s faint, but unmistakable. The sound that shouldn’t come from baking fucking cupcakes.

Springing through the front yard, I keep my phone at my ear, turning speaker mode on just to make sure I hear anything else the phone picks up.

“Rayna,” I say again, louder and more desperate. I need her to say something, to sayanything.

Still not receiving a response, I run through the back door of the main house, leading into the kitchen. There’s no sign of my wife, nor my sisters.

“Jade!” I call out, running deeper into my childhood home.

“We’re in the living room!”

We.

Please let that ‘we’ include Rayna.

My hopes are tattered the second I step into the space, my wife nowhere to be found. Only Ana, Jade, their husbands, Ivan, and Matteo are gathered.

“Where’s Rayna?” My question comes out harsher than I intend it, but there’s nothing I can do to calm down. Not until I have answers.

“What do you mean?” Ana asks, wrinkling her nose. “Wouldn’t you know better than us? You live with her.”

“Jade called her and she came over here ten minutes ago and now I can’t fucking find her. Her phone is calling me right now, but she’s not responding.”

Again, my voice is too severe to be speaking with my sisters.

Jade shakes her head, face falling. “Apollo, I never called Rayna.”

Fear builds up faster and in an instant, it’s more horrible than I’ve ever experienced, settling into my gut like a cold brick. Refusing to let fear paralyze me, I don’t stay and chat. Needing immediate answers, I storm up the stairs, calling out for my little brother.

“Remo!”

I hear footsteps trailing behind me but don’t slow down. My fist raises up to pound on his door but it swings open before I can.

“What’s wrong?”

“Track Rayna’s phone now, hack it, fucking ping it from local satellites, I don’t care just do it fast.”

“Shit, okay,” he curses, striding back into his room. A wall of computers is already lit up as he slides into his rolling chair, hands flying over the key board.