Page 147 of Thorns of Death

Konstantin snatched the phone from my grip. His jaw clenched as he watched the video, Kian’s dark expression not far off.

“I’ve got something,” Kingston announced.

I was in his face in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t smart. Kingston hated anyone too close to him, but I was too much of a fucking mess to worry about his feelings.

“What? Where?”

He pointed to the computer monitor. “Here.”

I stared at the blinking red dot. “That’s one of my warehouses.”

“That’s the source of the message you just got.” He zoomed in, the image turning to a live feed and small red dots moving around the building. “That’s a heat sensor. There are bodies in it. Unless they’re your men.”

“I’m going.”

Manuel’s hand came to my shoulder. “No. If you go in there, you could be walking into a trap.”

I shook his hand off. “I don’t give a shit. I’m going.”

Konstantin spoke next. “We do this right, or you might end up dead. Then my wife and Isla will have my balls.” I was too tired to ask what in the fuck that meant. “We have to coordinate.”

I shoved my hands in my hair for what felt like the hundredth time. I was surprised there was anything left on my scalp. All I knew was that I was falling apart. I had to get her back. I had to rip Donatella’s skin from her bones. Cut Giulio up piece by piece and feed them to the fucking sharks while he watched until there was nothing left of him.

I took a deep breath in and exhaled. “Okay, let’s coordinate.”

Manuel shared a look with Kingston before returning his gaze to me and Konstantin. “Nipote.Konstantin.” The pitying look he gave me set my teeth on edge. “You have to prepare for the worst. She—”

“She’ll make it,” I roared. “She’s strong.”

The sheer terror at the thought of any other possibility caused my heart to stop beating.

* * *

The ride from my compound to the warehouse in Rome was too long. I wanted to use helicopters, but they’d hear us coming from miles away, so we had them on standby in case we needed them. The images from the video kept playing in my mind. In that state, she wouldn’t be able to run.

I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that. I needed to get my head straight and in the game so I could get my wife out. I needed her alive. The minutes passed agonizingly slowly.

My stomach was in knots. My brain was on an endless loop of what-ifs. I was terrified of the possibility of not getting to Isla in time.

“Almost there,” Konstantin said, and I finally focused back on the road ahead of us.

“We are a few miles outside the radius,” Kian added, studying the satellite map on his screen. He hadn’t said much since he arrived, but I knew he was reliving the loss of his sister. Except, I couldn’t find the words to comfort him. Instead, I was in my own hell, fighting off my own nightmare.

There wasn’t a highway around. We were on a deserted side road. The car slowed to a stop and the engine shut off.

“We get out here and go the rest of the way on foot,” Manuel stated.

We all got out and then we moved in. It took us fifteen minutes on foot to make our way through the trees that surrounded my warehouse. This place was isolated for the sole purpose of smuggling my shipments. Never in a million years would I have thought it’d be used to bring my wife here. To torture her.

Silently, we accessed the location. Kingston, who was still at my castello, was watching over my sons while guiding us via satellite. We could have gone in guns blazing, but then we would have risked casualties, Isla included. Instead, we scoped out the location, and once it was clear, I nodded.

It was time. “How are we getting in?” Konstantin asked.

I held up a grenade.Blow the door, storm the building.“On three.”

And then it began.

FIFTY-TWO