Page 15 of The Billionaire’s Siren (S.E. Smith Signature Romance: Heart & Soul #1)

Nine

The elevator doors slid open with a chime, but no one in the executive suite looked up. Alexandros’s office had become a full-blown command center, humming with urgency and focused chaos.

LED monitors lined one wall, maps flickering in real-time, live feeds streaming, data updating second by second. The once pristine glass-and-steel space was a nest of cables, blinking laptops, and determined voices speaking in hushed, rapid tones.

Theo stepped inside, flanked by two men with close-cropped hair and military bearing. Nikos and Markos peeled off to the perimeter, eyes already scanning the layout and assessing the scene.

Four more were on the way.

This wasn’t a rescue mission—it was a declaration of war.

And it was personal.

He locked eyes with Demetrius first and gave a curt nod. The security chief’s expression was tight, his jaw clenched like a man barely holding it together.

Alexandros stood at the head of the room, his shoulders rigid, his back to the massive windows. There was something different in his posture. In his eyes .

Theo had seen a lot of men under pressure. But the look on his brother’s face chilled him more than any battlefield.

Controlled. Coiled.

Deadly.

The bastard who took Dani has no idea what he’s unleashed.

“Alexandros,” Theo said, crossing the room.

“Theo.” Alexandros gripped his hand, then stepped back. “Thanks for coming.”

Theo didn’t need thanks. Not for this. “Tell me everything.”

Demetrius jumped in, already handing over a map layered with notes and photos.

“Dani’s trawler. Taken sometime between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Forced entry through a hatch.

Signs of a struggle inside. The security guard assigned to her was attacked—bludgeoned and tied up.

Discovered this morning by a friend of hers, Carlos. ”

Theo’s jaw flexed as he scanned the photos. Rope burns. Blood. A bloody wrench.

He pointed. “Water or land?”

“That’s the problem,” Demetrius said. “We don’t know. Her trawler’s moored here—” he pointed “—but the area backs up to a service road. If they went by water, they could’ve disappeared before anyone noticed. If they went by land, they had a hundred escape routes.”

Theo’s voice was clipped. “Any cameras?”

“Disabled. Power cut to the dock lights too.”

“And communication from the kidnappers?”

Alexandros’s voice was low. “Only one, only once. They used Dani’s phone to call me. Threatened to send her back in pieces if I didn’t deliver fifty million euros. Location drop is offshore. International waters.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed. “Someone who is familiar with being on the water. And since then?”

“Nothing.”

A weighted silence fell over the room.

Theo felt it. That sickening quiet between storms.

The type of silence that turned men into monsters or heroes .

Then—Alexandros’s phone rang.

Everyone froze.

Theo stepped closer to look over Alexandros’s shoulder.

Unknown number.

Alexandros answered on the third ring with lethal calm. “Kallistratos.”

Demetrius handed him an earpiece connected to Alexandros’s phone so they could all listen in to the call. What came through the line was not what Theo expected.

“Took you long enough,” barked a gruff American voice. “You don’t keep an old man waiting. I’m Stuart. Dani’s grandfather. Where’s my granddaughter? I know she was with you last night, but she’s not answering her phone this morning.”

Theo blinked. So, Dani was American. That explained the fire in the old man’s voice.

Alexandros straightened. “Mr.—Stuart. Dani… she’s been taken. She was kidnapped last night off her trawler after I left.”

The room stilled again.

Alexandros’s voice cracked—just slightly—when he said her name.

And Theo felt it like a blow to the gut. The moment his brother’s heart slipped further from his chest.

There was a long beat of silence on the other end of the line.

Theo stiffened when Stuart spoke again. “Dani wears a tracker—hidden in jewelry. She can activate it manually. The battery lasts twenty-four hours tops.”

Theo surged forward. “Can he access it?”

Alexandros put the call on speaker. “Stuart, can you access it?”

“One moment. Let me check… Hang on…”

Theo paced like a lion in a cage, every muscle taut, eyes glued to his brother’s face. Each second crawled.

The entire room waited with bated breath. Monitors flickered as the tension thickened.

A minute passed before?—

“I’ve got it,” Stuart said, his voice coming fast now. “She triggered it about thirty minutes ago. I’m sending the data now. Give me a second to patch it through.”

One of Demetrius’s techs called out. “Signal received. I’ve got the beacon.”

The map on the wall updated in real-time. A pulsing red dot appeared.

Theo leaned in. “That’s near the fishing wharf. East side. Warehouses.”

Demetrius cursed. “That area’s a goddamn labyrinth. Half those buildings haven’t been occupied in years. Perfect place to vanish.”

Stuart’s voice returned. “You tell me—can you handle this, Alexandros? Or do I need to call in favors of my own?”

Theo glanced at his brother.

Saw the fire behind his eyes.

The fury under control.

“No,” Alexandros said quietly. “I’ll bring her back.”

Theo nodded once, solidly. “We’ll bring her home.”

Stuart exhaled. “Go. I’ll be on the first flight out of New York.”

The call ended.

Theo turned back to the map, his eyes locked on the pulsing dot. “We’re on the clock. That signal could drift—off by a hundred meters. Easily, if it is a civilian tracker. We need to move fast and quietly. If they see us coming before we reach her…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t have to.

“The rest of the team is assembling downstairs now. I’ve been keeping them up-to-date,” Markos said from the doorway. “We’ll be ready to move in ten.”

Theo turned to Alexandros. “You stay here. We go in.”

Alexandros’s glare could’ve scorched steel.

“She’s mine, Theo.”

“And that’s why you don’t go in. You’re too close. One mistake—one slip—and she dies. Let us do this.”

Alexandros didn’t speak. He had to trust Theo. He had no other choice. He drew a shuddering breath and gave Theo a short, sharp nod.

Theo turned back to the room. “I want schematics. Old blueprints. Sewer access. Drone footage—whatever we can get. Demetrius, keep the local authorities out of the area. I don’t care what you have to do. Rob a bank if you have to. Just don’t let them engage.”

“We’ll keep the area secure,” Demetrius promised.

Demetrius’s team scattered into motion.

Organized chaos erupted—calls made, favors called in, routes mapped, equipment loaded. Weapons readied.

Theo moved with a general’s purpose. Every clipped command sliced through the tension like a blade.

“We have one focus. We get in. We locate the girl. We neutralize the threat. We bring her home alive.”

He looked once more at the red dot.

“I’ve done missions for kings, generals, and billionaires,” he muttered. “But this one… this one matters most.”

Hope flickered in his chest—thin, but fierce.

Hold on, Dani, he thought, his jaw tight with determination. We’re coming for you—and hell’s coming with us.

The plastic strap bit deep into Dani’s wrist, slick with blood and sweat. She had twisted, tugged, even tried a trick she once saw on social media—wedging the hem of her skirt under the strap and yanking—but the plastic refused to give. Her skin was raw. Her fingers ached. But she kept at it.

Until finally—defeated—she let her head fall back against the wall with a dull thud.

Her breath trembled in and out.

Gripping the bottle of water between her knees, she uncapped it, poured a splash onto her skirt, and used the damp fabric to clean away the blood from her wrist. The cuts stung fiercely—but pain meant she was still here. Still fighting .

Her eyes lifted toward the small window near the ceiling. The angle of the light had changed. How long had it been? Hours?

Too long.

Her bladder ached, but the thought of Zayan returning—touching her, even speaking to her again—froze her in place. She’d rather piss herself than give him that power.

She closed her eyes, her heart twisting as a fresh wave of fear surged through her.

Alexandros must be frantic by now.

She had wanted to sound strong when Zayan had called him. Cool. Calm. Like she had everything under control. But the second she heard Alexandros—his teasing greeting and his warm voice—her confidence had vanished like smoke in the wind.

Tears pooled and slowly ran down her face as she tried to cling to a tiny fracture of hope. She closed her eyes and focused on the image of Alexandros’s face. He was worth fighting for. He was her future. She had to stay strong.

Her grandfather’s words came back to her: “When I saw your grandmother for the first time, I knew I’d never be the same.”

Her chest clenched.

Alexandros…

She had felt the same.

Tears blurred her vision.

If he still wants anything to do with me… a small voice whispered.

But then she laughed—a short, breathless sound.

No, a man who dove off a yacht to chase me isn’t the kind to run from danger. He’ll still want me. I’ve got to believe I’ll see him and Gramps again. If I get out of this, I’m going to see what we have. It’s special.

She tried not to think of her parents. If she did, she knew she would give up. She couldn’t go into that dark place again. What she felt for Alexandros was different. What she felt couldn’t be like what her parents had.

She breathed, trying to calm the panic rising in her throat. Alexandros wouldn’t run from a situation like this. Especially not from some sick, twisted freak like Zayan .

She shifted, and the mattress beneath her crinkled with a hollow, scraping sound. She opened her eyes, and her gaze drifted down, searching for the cause. A flash of something clear and smooth caught her eye.

She used her heel to pull the edge of the mattress back a little farther.

The flash caught again.

Dani froze, her eyes widening with hope.