Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jaxon
“One last time, tell me what I need to know. Where is Salvatore?” I hold Salvatore’s guard by the throat and place my knife at his ear.
“I don't know any more,” the guard splutters. “I told you everything. He left earlier with his senior guards, and I haven’t seen him since.”
Fuck. This is absolute shit.
I glare down at the guard and slash his throat, accepting he couldn't tell me anything more.
His lifeless body crumples to the ground in a pool of blood.
Vladmir, who was backing me up, lowers his gun and moves closer to me. The look on his face is as hopeless as I feel.
It was pointless coming here.
After we dealt with the attackers at the beach house, I came here with my men to rain down Armageddon. I wanted to catch Salvatore before he got a heads-up that his plans to take Gabriella had failed. But that bastard was one step ahead of me.
All we got from coming here was blood and nothing.
But it won’t end here. The hunt is on for Salvatore, and I’ll make sure he lives long enough to regret this. The motherfucker thought he could come and kill me with mercenaries and take my wife.
“What should we do now, Pakhan?” Vladmir asks, glancing around at the dead guards on the floor.
“We’re leaving these guys here. It will send a message. I need you to arrange a cleanup crew for the beach house, then join the other men on the east side. Report back if you find anything.”
“Okay, but what about you? Tonight was an assassination attempt on your life. I don't think I should leave you.” He glances back at my guards who are outside the door.
I know exactly what he’s thinking. Someone told Salvatore where Gabriella and I were going to be. Only a handful of people knew we’d be at the beach house.
My phone cannot be tapped. Neither can any of the devices we brought with us. One of my people here fed the enemy information. I need to find out who it is.
“I’m going to link up with Micah and search the other side of town.”
Vladmir seems more reassured with that answer and bows his head. “Alright, Pakhan. Let me know if you need me.”
With that, we leave.
Wary of who to trust, I insist on driving and traveling by myself. I’m an hour away from Micah.
Before I leave, I check my phone for messages and see there aren’t any. The last time I used it was to check in with Andrieu to make sure Gabriella is safe. She is. They got back an hour ago.
I wish I could head home and be with Gabriella, but I’m more useful out here dealing with the threat.
I can’t believe the first time I told my wife I loved her was when I was rushing off to deal with a threat that could have gotten me killed.
She told me she loved me, too. Those words have carried me through the last few hours because I wanted to live to hear them again and again.
I tear down the road, cursing myself for not following my instincts about Salvatore. I should've locked him up before he had the chance to put his plans into motion. Now I've left myself wide open while I hunt his ass down.
I knew this was going to happen, so I should have acted. I didn’t because of Gabriella. I didn’t want her to think badly of me.
But I’m sure now that her father has attacked and tried to take her, she’ll feel differently if I kill him.
Micah told me the mercenaries Salvatore hired are known for human trafficking. They were the same type of sick fuckers who kidnapped Gabriella before.
It disgusted me to no end because Salvatore knew what she’d been through and what would happen to his daughter if they’d taken her tonight.
I don’t know what kind of deal he had going with them, but I’m sure it would have involved re-marriage and they would have needed to wait for her to turn twenty-five to get her fortune. Then I’m sure they would have sold her.
I’ll never forget the look of terror on Gabriella's face as that man tried to take her. It was only chance that I heard her screaming at the back of the house.
I was all the way at the front, dealing with the men who were attacking from that side.
They’d snuck onto the property. If we’d been home, it wouldn’t have happened because they would have been dead before they reached the gates.
I reach Micah an hour later and he helps me in my search for Salvatore, which takes us through the night.
At sunrise, I get the unfortunate message that Salvatore has left New York.
My intel found details of him boarding a small private plane, but since they didn’t log the destination, we don’t know where it was going.
The news is like another kick up my ass.
“Damn it,” I seethe, looking back at Micah. We’re standing by my car. We were just about to get in when I got the call. “What the fuck am I going to do now?”
Micah offers a hopeful look. “We'll try to find him.”
“How? I have no destination.”
“Something has to pop up. He wants Gabriella, so he has to come out of hiding to get her. You just have to be ready when that happens.”
“I want to get to him before that happens.”
“I know. We just have to keep our eyes open. For now, it looks like you have a rat in your fold. Who did you tell you were gonna be away?”
I release a heavy sigh. “My father, Eve, my guards, Eric, and Estelle. It’s hard to think that one of those people betrayed me.”
“Somebody did.”
He’s right. Regardless of how hard it is to accept that somebody betrayed me, someone close to me did. Betrayal is a ghost that haunts the powerful.
“I’ve decided to work with the Creed guards for the moment.” I sent some to the house to watch over Gabriella.
Micah nods. “Wise choice. Let's regroup later. I don’t think we’re going to get anything more done for the moment. Go home to Gabriella. I'm sure she's worried about you.”
“Yeah, thanks for your help.”
“Anytime. Hopefully, we can find some more information later.”
I’m grateful for his attempt to give me hope, but I know when I’ve fucked up. As it stands, the situation is that I’ve allowed Salvatore to slip through the cracks and now I can’t find him.
Gabriela flies straight into my arms when I step through the door. I can tell she hasn’t slept and waited up the whole night.
“You’re home.” She presses her face against me and holds me tighter. I hold her, too.
“I’m home.”
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re not hurt.”
I pull back, hold her face, and stare at her. I’m glad we're together again, but I’m enraged at the situation. “I’m fine. I was looking for your father.”
Her breath catches and slows almost to a stop. “I hate him for this. That man was going to take me, and you should have heard what he said to me. Jaxon, I’m scared.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”
I hug her again, and we don't speak, just hold each other. I hope my promise isn’t empty or one I can’t keep.
It’s clear things are getting out of hand.
I can’t slip up and lose her. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.
When my phone rings in my back pocket, I get my hopes up that Salvatore has been found.
Gabriella and I pull apart, and I retrieve my phone. The moment I see it’s Eric, I know it can’t be the news I was expecting. He doesn’t know what happened to us yet.
I answer it, still eager all the same. “Hey, Eric.”
“Hi, Jaxon. Something’s happened.” His voice takes on a low, terrified tone.
The first thing I think of is my father. I assume if something happened to him, they’d get Eric to call me. I don’t think éowyn would do it. “What’s happened?”
“Damien and Yuri were found dead an hour ago. They were poisoned.”