Chapter 40
Vera's POV
I stood over Juan’s body, the smell of blood thick in the air. His eyes were still open, staring blankly at the sky, his chest soaked in red. The shot had been clean. Precise. No sign of a struggle. No panic. Whoever pulled the trigger didn’t hesitate.
And Antonio wasn’t here.
I scanned the tree line again, then the road behind me. Nothing. No gunfire. No tire marks. Just silence stretching for miles and the wind whispering through the leaves like it knew something I didn’t.
For a moment, my thoughts twisted. Maybe Antonio went after the shooter. Maybe he’s injured. Maybe he’s chasing Claire down after Juan took her.
That’s what I told myself. That’s what I wanted to believe.
But the scene didn’t add up.
Juan was the one on the ground.
Antonio was the one missing.
And Claire... Claire was gone.
My stomach turned. My fingers curled into fists. And then, slowly, the truth began to settle like ash in my lungs.
Antonio did this.
Antonio killed Juan.
Antonio took Claire.
I trusted him. I gave him permission. I handed her over to him like a goddamn idiot.
And now Leo had her.
I pulled out my phone, my hands cold despite the fire building in my chest. Gabriel answered on the second ring.
“Bring the truck,” I said. “Everyone.”
“What happened?”
“Leo has her.”
There was a pause, too long, and I knew Gabriel heard something in my voice I wasn’t saying.
“You’re sure?”
“I found Juan. Dead. One bullet. No struggle. Antonio’s gone. Claire’s gone.”
Another pause.
And then Gabriel said, “I’m on my way.”
I ended the call, shoved the phone back into my pocket, and crouched beside Juan. I stripped the keyring from his belt, found a backup gun in his jacket, and took it without flinching. I didn’t say anything. Didn’t offer him peace. He was just another casualty in the war Leo started.
I walked back to my bike, the gravel crunching under my boots like bones. I opened the side pouch, pulled out the worn map tucked against my tools, and marked the road Juan’s body had been found on. The route curved straight toward Leo’s territory—toward the safehouse I hadn’t hit yet.
Now I would.
I shoved the map back in, pulled on my helmet, and swung onto the bike.
Claire was out there.
And I was going to burn Leo’s fucking world to get her back.
Claire's POV
The car was silent.
Antonio kept his eyes on the road, hands steady on the wheel like this was just another mission, another errand. But I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers tightened every few minutes as if he wanted to say something and couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.
I sat stiffly in the passenger seat, my wrists still bound. The road stretched endlessly ahead, trees rushing past in a blur of green and shadow. I didn’t know where we were going—not exactly—but I knew who was waiting.
Leo.
I pressed my back into the seat and stared out the window, jaw clenched. Every mile we drove, every turn we made, felt like another step away from Vera. From safety. From the only person who would burn the world down to find me.
I had no idea if she knew yet. No idea how long it would take her to realize Antonio had handed me over. The thought made my stomach twist. I wasn’t scared of Leo. I wasn’t scared of what he might do.
I was scared of what it would do to her.
The car slowed as we pulled into a fenced property nestled between thick trees. Two men stood at the gate with rifles—military-grade, polished, calm. Professionals. They barely glanced at us as Antonio rolled down the window and gave them a name. We were waved in instantly.
I glanced around as we entered. The place was too open. It looked like a first drop point, not a place meant to hold someone like me. That’s when it hit me—Leo wasn’t keeping me here. This was temporary.
The front door opened before we even stopped.
Leo stepped out like he’d been waiting.
Same cold, smug eyes. Same tailored clothes. Like this was a goddamn dinner party.
Antonio got out, came around, and opened my door. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t need to. I stepped out, keeping my head high even as the bile rose in my throat.
“Claire,” he greeted, voice smooth, casual, like this was a reunion. “You’re even prettier in person.”
“Shame I can’t say the same,” I shot back.
He laughed. Not loudly. Not genuinely. Just enough to show he didn’t care if I snapped. He enjoyed it.
He gave Antonio a nod, then looked back at me with something close to amusement. “We won’t be staying long.”
My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said calmly, “Vera will come here first. We both know that. So we’re going somewhere quieter. Somewhere she’ll take a little longer to find.”
Of course he knew. He knew she’d come for me.
A black SUV pulled around the side of the house, engine purring.
Leo opened the back door and motioned for me to get in. “Let’s not waste time.”
I didn’t move.
He leaned in slightly, voice colder now. “Or would you rather I sedate you?”
My pulse jumped, but I held his stare for a long second before stepping into the car.
As the door shut behind me, I looked back at Antonio.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Coward.
The SUV rolled forward, leaving the house—and Vera’s first stop—behind us in the dust. My chest tightened as I watched the trees swallow the place whole.
She’s going to be there soon.
And I won’t be. But she’ll figure it out. She always does.
Vera's POV
I didn’t wait for backup.
Gabriel’s truck was still ten minutes behind me, but I couldn’t sit still. Not while she was out there. Not while I was standing on the edge of a place I knew she’d been taken to. I didn’t need confirmation. I could feel it in my bones.
The gates weren’t locked.
That was the first sign something was off.
Leo always locked things down. He didn’t leave threads loose. But now? The safehouse door was wide open, like an invitation. Or a trap.
I parked the bike just inside the gate, engine still humming. My boots hit the ground hard as I stalked up the steps and shoved the door open, gun already in hand.
The place was too quiet.
Claire wasn’t here—I felt it the second I stepped inside. But someone else was.
I moved through the entry hall, sweeping corners, listening.
Then I heard it.
A footstep. Low voices. Calm.
Two men stepped out from the kitchen, both armed, both wearing that smug, practiced look that told me they weren’t afraid of me. One more followed behind them, leaning in the doorway like he had all the time in the world.
Leo’s men.
I didn’t even hesitate.
“You’re a little late,” one of them said with a smirk.
I raised my gun and fired without blinking.
His shoulder exploded backward as he crashed into the wall, screaming.
The others shouted, drew their weapons, but I was already moving—low, fast, heart pumping fire through my veins.
I wasn’t here for negotiations.
I was here for her.
The second man lunged, but I caught him in the throat with my elbow, shoved him back into the table hard enough to splinter wood. The third aimed at me, but my gun was already up.
Two shots. One to the leg. One to the ribs.
He dropped.
I stood over the mess, chest heaving, smoke still curling from the barrel of my gun.
“Where is she?” I growled.
The first man, still conscious, groaned on the floor, trying to crawl back. I kicked him hard in the side and knelt, grabbing him by the collar.
“Where is she?”
He coughed, blood on his lips, eyes wild. “They—they moved her.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know,” he wheezed. “Leo said this place was a decoy. Said you’d come here first.”
Of course he did.
He knew me.
I dropped him and stood, fists shaking.
I handed Claire to Antonio.
And Leo played me like a fucking game.
I stared down at the man wheezing on the floor, his shirt soaked in blood, and all I could hear was the sound of Claire’s voice echoing in the back of my mind. Her laugh. Her sarcasm. Her fucking stubbornness.
I should’ve known better.
I did know better.
And still—I handed her over. Told her to go with Antonio. Gave her away like she wasn’t the only thing left I couldn’t afford to lose.
The pain didn’t feel like pain. It felt like fire crawling under my skin, something too big for my chest to hold.
I turned away from the man on the ground and walked deeper into the house, clearing every room, every hallway, even though I knew she wasn’t here.
I knew the second I stepped inside this was just Leo’s smoke screen.
By the time Gabriel arrived with the truck and two more of my crew, I’d already finished checking the place. My hands were still shaking when I stepped back outside.
He took one look at me and knew.
“She’s not here,” he said, his voice tight.
“They moved her. This was just for show,” I muttered. “To waste our time. To buy him a head start.”
He looked past me at the blood trail dragging out from the door. “You didn’t wait for us.”
“Didn’t need to.”
Gabriel didn’t argue.
I walked past him to the bike, pulled open the side pouch, and unrolled the map across the hood of the truck. My finger traced the surrounding roads, every fallback location I knew Leo used in the past. If he planned this far ahead, he wouldn’t take her to a known base.
No. He’d move her to one of the newer ones. One of the ones we haven’t touched yet.
Gabriel stepped beside me. “You think she’s still local?”
“He won’t risk moving her too far until he’s ready. He’ll keep her close enough to monitor, far enough to stall me.”
I looked at him, jaw tight. “I want everyone mobilized. Spread out. Hit every property Leo has touched in the last six months. I want eyes on every inch of land within a fifty-mile radius.”
Gabriel nodded, already moving.
I grabbed my helmet again, sliding it down slow, breath steadying as the fire inside me found its focus.
She was still out there.
And I was done playing defense.