Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Gwendolyn
At this rate, the casino was becoming my second office.
I’d spent a good portion of my days here after Max declared I’d be safer while he was in meetings.
He’d then surprised me with a new, fandangly setup in a room close to his.
It had so many new pretty babies. I would always love my ones at home, but these needed my care too.
I was never in the meeting room with him, though.
I didn’t need to be. I was here if he needed help finding something—or someone—in between some coding I was doing for a game I was creating on the side.
Max just liked to keep me as close as possible, which I wouldn’t complain about because I loved being near him just as much.
Whether I was right next to him or a few rooms away, we were never far apart, and we always had lunch together.
With a stretch, I shut my coding down for now and focused on the cameras on my left screen, flicking through the security feeds of the casino downstairs.
I liked keeping tabs on the businesses to ensure things ran smoothly for my man while he was tied up in meetings.
Which brought my mind to another topic. Now that Max and I were dating, we were going to have to have a chat about my wage. I still liked helping him with the work he trusted me to handle for the organization. But lately, every payment he transferred felt heavier than it used to.
Before, it’d been business. Clean and simple.
Now, it felt like a price tag hung between us.
I didn’t want to feel like an employee he also happened to kiss at night. I didn’t want there to be numbers attached to what we were building together.
It was a conversation we needed to have soon—even if it would be uncomfortable.
The buzzing of my phone pulled my attention away from the screens. Looking at the contact, I saw Felix’s name. After pressing Accept, I put it on speaker and relaxed back in the chair. “Yo, bro, what’s going on?”
“Uh, hey, Gwen. Did you happen to pick Melly up already?”
I shot upright in the chair as my stomach dropped. Worry rode my next words. “No. Why? Where is she?”
“She hasn’t met me at the car.” His voice tightened with fear. “And she’s not answering her phone, Gwen.”
No.
No, no, no. My girl’s okay. She’s going to be okay.
“Gwen, you there?”
Clearing my throat, I said, “Yeah, I’m here.
Sorry, Felix. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out.
” My mouth felt dry. I pulled myself back to the desk and reached out with a shaky hand to jostle the mouse to reawaken my computer.
“There has to be a reason. Maybe she’s still with her friends, and her phone’s on silent. ” My hands flew over the keyboards.
“S-She’s never late, Gwen. And if she was, she would message to let me know.”
“I know.”
Shit, fuck. Keep it cool. Keep it together for Felix.
“Okay, I’m pulling up her location right now.”
“All right…. Okay, sis.” He was trying to sound calm, but I could hear the concern etched in his voice.
“Come on, come on…,” I grumbled. The screen was loading way too slow. “I’ve got it—”
I tensed.
This can’t be right.
“Gwen?”
“Felix, it says she should be near you. It’s pinging just down the road a little bit more and to the right of you.”
“What? Okay. Shit, okay.” I heard his car door slam. “I’m getting out and having a look. There’re people still around. Maybe she’s behind someone. She is small—has your height.”
“That she does,” I whispered. Louder, I added, “I can see your location moving. You shouldn’t be far.” I stared at the dots on my screen. “She should be a few more feet in front and—”
“Fuck.” His voice cracked. “She’s not here.”
My stomach dropped. “Are you sure?”
“Gwen.” His fearful tone had my heart racing. “Her bag’s still here.” His breathing turned ragged. “Her backpack’s here on the ground. Her phone must be in the bag. But she’s not here, Gwen. She’s not anywhere around here.”
My heart faltered and the room spun.
No, no, no.
Not my baby. Not Amelia.
I choked out, “She wouldn’t just leave her stuff.”
“I know! I know, Gwen, but she’s not here. What do I do? What do I do?”
The red blinking dot on my screen felt like it was taunting me.
Right there. She was supposed to be right there.
Then the thought I tried so hard to ignore slammed into my brain.
Something’s wrong.
Very wrong.
I snatched up my phone while jumping out of the seat, sending the chair flying backward. “Ask every single person there if they saw her. I’m going to get Max. We’ll find her, Felix. We will. Stay on the line, but start talking to people.”
“Okay,” he breathed. I heard him call out to someone nearby, but I couldn’t let myself focus on their replies as I ran for the door.
When I yanked it open, it banged against the wall. On the other side stood Reaper, and I could tell he saw the pure fear on my face when he grabbed my wrist and began rushing us down the hallway.
“What’s going on?” he asked roughly.
I swallowed thickly and let out a whine before I told him, “Amelia’s missing.”
Malice
Sitting at the ten-seat round table in the meeting room, I began pulling apart my piece with steady hands, laying the components in a neat line along the table in front of me as I listened.
The members were outlining the next month’s shipment plans.
Torment sat to my right, noting down the main points of today’s meeting.
The previous month’s run of drugs and body parts had gone smoothly—no losses, no noise, no surprises.
But ever since the screwup with Robert, his son, and the other two fucks, everything was under a microscope.
Every gram and crate got counted twice. Each name checked and rechecked.
Merchandise accounted for at every step of the way, no exceptions.
And if a mistake was found, punishments were delivered swiftly.
No more fuckups.
One mistake could be considered an accident. Two was a fucking weakness, and weaknesses made empires fall.
“Next month’s numbers are higher,” Marco said as he shifted the papers on the table. He was the leader of the syndicates responsible for producing my merchandise, focusing on coke, heroin, and opioids.
And ever since we took over Sullivan’s streets in Ireland, the demand had gone up.
“Right,” Sebastian started. He was our financial advisor for the organization. But before he could continue, the door slammed open, rattling the room and coaxing silence from the members.
Reaper’s broad body rushed through—and behind him was her.
My doll.
Her wide eyes were red, tears streaking down her cheeks. She was shaking with terror, clutching her phone like it was a lifeline.
“Out!” I bellowed.
I stood, and the room emptied within seconds. Now it held only my two right-hand men and my doll. My strides ate up the space between Gwen and me.
Resting my hand on the side of her neck—soft but firm to provide, offering her comfort—I asked in a low voice, “Baby, what’s happening?”
Her words came out ragged and desperate. “Amelia’s missing.”
My blood turned to ice.
Letting my hand linger on her neck, I could feel her trembling beneath my touch.
Someone had crossed the line.
Looking over her head, I met Reaper’s cold gaze and barked, “Where the fuck was Lou?”
Lou was the bodyguard I had on Amelia to ensure she stayed safe. So what the fuck had happened?
“I tried calling on the way here. He’s not answering,” Reaper said, venom thick in his voice, as if he was repulsed that it was the only answer he could give me.
“Gwen?” someone shouted through the phone.
I shifted my attention back to my doll and saw her lift it. “Anything, Felix?”
“Nothing.” The boy’s voice wobbled. “N-No one saw anything. They’re all too fucking busy minding their own business.”
I could sense the sob about to break free from her, so I pulled her against my chest and took the phone from her hand. Turning off speaker mode, I put it to my ear.
“Felix, tell me what’s happened.”
“Malice, fuck.” His voice wavered, the terror obvious. Anger twisted inside me. “Amelia wasn’t at the pickup point, but her stuff is. There’s absolutely no sign of her, and no one around saw anything,” he rushed out.
Untightening my jaw, I said, “I need you to grab her things, Felix. You’re going to leave your car there, and Waylon will bring you home.” I glanced at Torment. “One second, Felix.”
I placed him on mute and said to Torment, “Contact Waylon. I want him to check Lou’s vehicle before picking up Felix. When he gets to the boy, I’ll be waiting on the phone for the report.”
Torment tipped his chin up and moved away to make the call. Waylon and Lou had been paid to follow the kids, watch them enter and leave school, and make sure they got home safely. They wouldn’t approach until requested.
Back on Gwen’s phone, I said, “Felix, wait on the phone with me until Waylon gets to you.”
“What’s happened to her, Malice?”
“I don’t know, bud, but we’ll figure it out.”
“I know you will. Is Gwen okay?”
I glanced down at my woman in my arms. She had her face pressed against my chest, her fingers gripping my jacket with white-knuckled force.
“I’m sure she’s feeling as worried as you are, bud,” I told him as Gwen made a broken noise in the back of her throat. Felix hummed in response but said no more.
Not long later, I heard through the phone as Felix greeted Waylon.
“Felix, pass the phone to Waylon.”
“Okay,” he answered softly.
“Boss?”
“Any sign of Lou?”
“Afraid not, sir. His car’s also missing.”
Fuck.
“Right. Get Felix home.”
I hung up, pocketed her phone, and wrapped my doll up in my arms. “We will find her, baby.”
She sucked in a shuddering breath, then cleared her throat. “I know, Max.”
Curling my arm around her shoulders, I faced the others. Their expressions both showed an eager darkness, ready to fuck things up. “Organize the lieutenants and the top of their teams to be at the community’s meeting room.”
Rubbing a hand up and down her arm, I guided us out as I told her, “I know you have a setup here that you can work from, but I want you back in the community. You can start finding her as soon as we get home. It’s not far,” I reminded her. “Then you’ll be there for Felix when he gets home.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
From the casino, we’d get back to the community within ten minutes. Sooner if we sped.
Which we would.
On the drive, Gwen kept silent, staring out the window. It wasn’t until we pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car that she met me at the front of the vehicle and said, “You do you, mafia man. I’m gonna get to my babies and help in any way I can.”
She’d steeled her emotions to get to work. After all, she was the best hacker in the country. She knew she had work to do to get her sister back and that she’d be the fastest to find a clue to where she was.
Cupping her cheek, I planted a kiss on her lips and told her, “You’ve got this, doll.”
She nodded as the front door to Gwen’s opened. Greg stepped out, waiting, worry carved deep into his face. Someone must’ve told him.
Reaper and Torment were right behind us as we walked toward the house.
Once we were close, Gwen launched herself at Greg. They hugged tightly as Greg said, “Everything’s going to be all right.”
She nodded against his shoulder.
“Come on,” I murmured. “Let’s get inside.”
“Boss.”
I turned to Reaper, giving him my attention while the others went in.
“With Torment here, I’m going to the meeting room to prepare everyone. Vincent’s already there giving them a brief rundown of what I told him on the drive. The team’ll be ready for when Gwen finds a clue.”
I tipped my chin up. “Right. I’ll be staying here until we’re ready to hunt.”
This job shouldn’t have come down on Gwen’s shoulders, but there wasn’t a single person in my organization who could do what she did—and as fast.
“Reaper, I want everyone to understand that this isn’t business. This is personal.”
This was my woman.
Her family.
And whoever took Amelia had just signed their own death warrant.
“Once we have a name, we move. I want weapons, transport—the works—ready. No delays.”
Reaper nodded before moving off, and I turned back to the house and headed through the door.
Greg stood stiff behind the couch with Torment, but Gwen was nowhere in sight.
“She ran up to her office.”
I looked at Greg and grunted before striding forward, taking the stairs two at a time. Within seconds, I walked into her office.
“Come on, come on.” My doll’s eyes were already locked on the many monitors in front of her as her fingers flew over the keyboard.
I leaned down to kiss the top of her head and placed her phone from my pocket onto her desk beside her. “I’ll be quiet and let you do your magic, baby. Are you going to be okay doing this?”
For the first time since I stepped into the room, she tore her gaze from the screens to meet mine. “I will be when we find her and you bring down hell upon the person who took her.”
And with that, all her attention went back to the monitors.