Page 115 of The Devil's Heir

I sit on the bed and put my face in my hands as I try to calm down a little. Joey is right; I'm not going to do Lily any good if I don't keep my wits about me.

"We're having a boy," I say softly. "We just found out seconds before I got the call about the explosion. We couldn't even fucking celebrate together."

"How convenient was that?" Koval states, and I lift my head to see him leaning against the desk, his arms crossed in front of him.

"What are you saying?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, if you ask me, I find it pretty fishy that a warehouse that had nothing explosive inside it and is rarely used blows up, and then your woman goes missing after you leave to go deal with the shitstorm." Koval pushes away from the desk. "You were set up, Boss. They used the explosion as a distraction to get you out of the way."

"Motherfucker!" I stand with my hands fisted. "What the hell do they want? Why take Lily?"

"That, I can't tell you, Boss."

"It has to be about you, Jarek. No offense, but Lily isn't anybody special except to you—and she's carrying your heir," Joey points out the obvious, and although it pisses me off, it's the truth. Lily isveryspecial to me.

The truth is, I have enemies. And as much as I want to believe I can keep Lily safe; the harsh reality is that I can't. She never asked for this, yet now she's out there—alone, vulnerable, and undoubtedly terrified, especially given her condition.

An unfamiliar sensation stirs—one I haven't felt in years, not since my parents died. It tightens in my chest, an unforgiving vise around the organ time has hardened—my heart. The pressure is so tangible that my hand instinctively moves, rubbing at my chest as my breath grows fast and shallow.

"Jarek!" Joey moves to my side. "Sit back down and take a few deep breaths."

"I'm fine…" I pant out, briefly squeezing my eyes shut.

"It looks to me that you're having a panic attack. Now, sit your ass down!" Joey barks out the order, and I glare at him.

"Who's the boss here?"

"Fuck that, Jarek! I'm ordering you as your friend to sit the fuck down and just take a minute to collect yourself." My friend shoves me down onto the bed's edge, keeping his hand on my shoulder as he instructs me, "Now, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly."

In order to shut him up and leave me the fuck alone, I do as he tells me, and then I repeat it a few more times. Although I can still feel a pang in my chest, my breathing returns to normal, and I can think calmly once more.

"There. Feel better?" he asks.

"Fuck off…"

"Yep, he's feeling better," Koval says, chuckling.

"Where the fuck are those security videos?" I call out as I walk from the room.

I don't like my men seeing me weak, and although I can admit that Lily makes me, it doesn't mean that my men need to witness it. The more Ipush the unwanted feeling that caused my breakdown away, the more my anger rises. I want to break things and destroy everything in my path.

I barely hear Joey's phone conversation as I brush past him and burst through the door that leads to the stairwell. This hotel is so old that I'll bet the elevator hasn't worked in years. Not that I could have shut myself inside of it anyway. I'm raging too much to close myself in a small box.

"Uh, we have a problem, Jarek." Joey states as he follows close behind.

I stop suddenly and spin on my best friend. "Don't you dare fucking say it."

I'm not stupid. I knew it was a stretch to ask for security footage when the elevator didn't even work, and the walls were cracked and crumbling in places as we descended each floor.

"Don't shoot the messenger," Joey states, backing up a few steps. "This place has nothing, which we should have known taking in the state this shit hole is in, but the guys found something from the bank's security camera across the street."

I turn and head toward the front, where the hotel manager's office is located. Yanking the door open, I come face to face with a guy who looks just as slimy as the hotel he runs. With slicked-back hair, scabs, and craters all over his face, the man sneers at me, showcasing his black and rotted teeth.

"Like I told the others, I don't have any cameras, and I don't give a shit about what happens in my hotel as long as they pay up. Now, get the fuck out of here before I make you." The guy pulls a pocket knife out and starts cleaning under his filthy nails.

I look over my shoulder at Joey and actually smirk.

Koval steps forward to educate the man. "You do know that you're speaking to Jarek Falcon, don't you?"