Page 2 of Victorious: Part 3

Nothing.

My heart races frantically behind my ribs as I race around the room searching for something, anything to give me a fucking clue.

Then something catches my eye.

A glint of gold near the foot of the bed.

I kneel down, and my heart stops completely.

Her cactus wedding ring.

The delicate gold band with the tiny cactus that she swore she’d never take off. Not to shower, not to sleep, not even when we’re fucking and I’m gripping her hands above her head.

She wouldnevertake it off voluntarily.

She left this here to tell me she didn’t leave on her own.

My hands shake as I pick it up, the metal still warm like it hasn’t been off her finger long. The sight of it, abandoned, sends a primal rage coursing through my veins that threatens to tear me apart from the inside.

Some fucker took her.

Someone came intoourroom and tookmywifewhile I was getting her fucking breakfast.

Panic washes over me so intensely that it hurts as my fingers rush through my hair and I begin pacing the room. “Jesus, Clo,” I mutter under my breath, my heart racing so fucking hard that if I were Clover, her watch would be going off like crazy right now.

My eyes widen as I let out a small, maniacal laugh. “Fuck! That’s it. Her watch. Please be wearing it, baby,” I mumble to myself.

I grab my phone, my fingers trembling when I dial Sin’snumber.

“Phoenix? It’s early. Why are you calling me—”

“They took her,” I interrupt, my voice raw with barely contained panic. “Someone took Clover. I left for maybe thirty minutes to get breakfast, and she’s gone. Her cactus wedding ring is on the floor, Sin. She wouldnevertake that off. And there was a sheet inside our door, like they wrapped her in it and dropped it when they were loading her up.”

“Breathe,” Sin’s voice cuts through. “We’re ten minutes out. Don’t touch anything. I’ll bring some guys. We’re gonna get her back. No one fucks with Defiance on my turf.”

“Sin, if something happens to her—”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to her,” he says firmly. “We’ll find her. I promise you that, brother.”

The line goes dead, and I’m left alone with Dracula and the worst thoughts my mind can conjure.

Images of what could be happening to herright now.

What they might be doing to herright now.

I think about the Cartel connections we’ve been tracking. About Javier and his network of sick fucks who traffic women and children, turning them into assassins. About all the enemies LA Defiance has made over the years.

Any one of them could have followed us here. Could have been watching, waiting for the perfect moment when Clover was vulnerable.

WhenIleft her alone and vulnerable.

Jesus. I’m a fucking idiot!

I pace the room like a caged animal, my hands clenched into fists, the rage building to a boiling point. Dracula has stopped his frantic pacing and now sits by the door, as if he’s waiting for backup to arrive too.

Seven minutes later, I hear the rumble of Harleys pulling up out the front of my room. I’m at the door before they even knock,yanking it open to find Sin flanked by four of his brothers—Nitro, Ghost, Mace, and Koa.

“Talk,” Sin says, pushing into the room.