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I tap my fingers in agitation against the keyboard, waiting for the program to refresh. It’s been a long day, filled with frustration.

After the sweet phone call from Lara earlier this afternoon, all I want to do is rush home to see her.

I don’t know what it was about the call, but it gave me so much hope.

She wants to tell me something. And it’s important enough to be a face-to-face conversation.

My heart is telling me that she might say she loves me.

Or at least that she wants more from our relationship. It’s what I want to hear.

She sounded so happy on the phone.

I’m daring to hope, daring to allow myself that excitement.

I would have left ages ago, but stupid things keep happening at work. Annoying mess-ups that don’t make sense. And when I look into it, nothing is actually wrong—it’s just the hint of things going wrong.

“What the fuck,” I grumble, leaning back in my office chair and huffing loudly when I realize the truck we thought was stolen just had a weird glitch with the tracking device.

“What is going on today?” Roan sighs, as agitated as I am. “Things keep happening, but we haven’t actually lost anything. It’s annoying.”

“I have no idea….”

Suddenly, my mind fits the pieces together and I understand. “ It’s a fucking distraction ,” I snap, standing up and knocking my coffee over.

“Fuck,” Roan snarls, immediately knowing I’m right. He stands up too and grabs his jacket as we bolt towards the door, running out of my office to the car.

“We have to check on Ulyana,” I say tensely, my heart hammering like a wild bird in my chest.

She would be the first target. She has always been a target, and if people are looking to distract me, it’s because they have something bigger planned and it’s happening right now.

Roan has the phone out, on speaker, so I can hear, already dialing her number.

Each ring makes me more tense.

I start the car, Roan in the passenger seat next to me.

His jaw is clenched as tightly as mine. The phone is still ringing, over and over again, until finally it goes to voicemail.

“Fuck,” I growl in anger. “Try her again.”

“We should go straight there,” he says, pressing to dial again.

My tires grind against the gravel when I spin out of the parking area and turn, skidding again, into the road.

Ulyana doesn’t answer the second time either, and my heart has sunk into the pit of my stomach.

Roan says nothing, setting his phone down, he pulls his gun out of the holster and places it on his lap.

After a tense moment of silence, he mutters, “We’ll find her, sir.”

When his phone rings, we both jump, and he grabs it.

“Ulyana?” he says, sounding angry.

“Hi, Roan. I have two missed calls from you. Did you dial me by accident?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at home with Mom. Why? What’s going on? Where is Nestor?”

“I’m here. Has anything happened? Are you two safe?” I say, tilting my head towards the phone in Roan’s hand.

“Yes, what is going on? You’re scaring me.”

“Sorry, I—I don’t know. Just—stay in the house, okay? I want to make sure everything is okay. Just be safe.”

We end the call, and Roan dials the head of security at my mother’s place. He informs him of what we suspect, and the guy confirms he will get another team on the property.

“Call Lara,” I say, suddenly realizing my family has grown. And while our marriage is still new, she would be as much of a target as Ulyana.

Roan dials Lara.

He dials her again.

And again.

He dials the security team on my property at home, and they confirm she hasn’t been back since she left early this morning.

“Track her car. And her phone,” I yell in terrified frustration.

Turning the steering wheel, I change direction, heading home instead of to my mother’s place.

Roan sends instructions out to our team to prepare. We don’t know what for yet, but we need to be ready.

“It has to be Miron,” I say, nausea churning in my stomach.

“I agree,” Roan says darkly. “But, Nestor, we need more men. Half of them are guarding your mother’s place. If Miron has decided he’s bold enough to take your wife, then he’s lost his mind, and we need to go in there prepared for the worst—over-prepared. We need more men.”

“You better track Miron’s phone as well. And I need to contact Benedikt. I never wanted to owe that man anything, but it seems there are some things worth being in debt for.”

At my mansion, men are rushing back and forth, fitting Kevlar and unpacking crates of weapons.

I’m pacing, waiting for them to find out where Miron is, and I’m about to make a call to Benedikt, asking him a favor.

Roan stops in front of me. “Her phone and her car were parked outside Angel Memorial Park. She was driven off the road. There wasn’t any blood on the scene, but there was a struggle.”

My jaw clenches tightly as the muscles twitch over my face.

“Thank you. And Miron?”

“We’re still looking for him.”

I nod, waving Roan away so that I can make this call.

I clear my throat, holding the phone against my ear. I’m standing next to a wide window, looking out into my garden.

This place won’t be a home without her.

The thought makes me angry. It’s intrusive, suggesting she isn’t coming back. But she is. I’ll fucking tear the world apart to get her back.

“Nestor, hey man, how are you?” Benedikt answers calm and relaxed.

“My wife has been taken, we suspect it was my stepbrother. We are busy planning a full-scale attack, but I need more men. Are you still in San Francisco?”

“Fuck,” Benedikt mutters. “Yes, I’m here. I’ll pull my team together. Where are we going?”

“Come to my place. We’re looking for his location now. As soon as we have it, we’ll attack.”

I push my hand through my hair, closing my eyes to try and calm my thoughts.

“I’ll get my tech guys on it as well. See if we can find him. I’ll be at your place as soon as possible. Hey, Nestor. We’ll get her back, man. And we’ll tear that weasel to pieces afterwards.”

“Thank you, Benedikt,” I say quietly.

It’s a horrible sensation to be trapped in limbo like this. I know she needs me, and I’m ready to go in the blink of an eye, but I have no idea where to point my anger. I have no idea which direction to run in.

The team behind me, prepping for war, is an excellent force of power. Men I trust with my own life.

I want to sit in the car, waiting for the signal. But instead, I just stand here, staring out the window, terrified that my intrusive thought might be real.

I want her back.

I love her.

What?

I love her.

I love her.

The thought is so deeply true that it slams into my heart like a tidal wave.

My throat tightens, my fear deepens. I’ve never been in love before. Not like this. I cannot lose her. It simply isn’t an option.

Thirty minutes later, Benedikt arrives with two SUVs full of men.

Everyone is ready.

Everyone is on edge.

It’s another twenty-five minutes after that before Roan comes bursting into the living room and shouts, “We’ve got a lock on him.”

Everyone stands up at the same time and grabs their gun, all hyped up and eager to get moving.

Benedikt shouts, “Everyone in the car.” His men immediately obey. I don’t even have to tell my team, they know what to do. We’ve been prepped and waiting for hours.

I climb into the front seat of my own SUV. The windows are heavily tinted, thick with bulletproofing, and the car is more truck than SUV. It’s solid enough to drive straight through a building, and I’ll do that if it’s what it takes to get inside.

“I want to be the one to kill him, but if it comes down to it, and you have the shot, you take it,” I say to Roan.

He nods, staring at the car and pulling onto the road behind Benedikt’s SUV ahead of us.

I’m coming, Lara. It’s going to be okay, little one.