Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Silas & Anthea
Silas
"We're still tracking Tomaso and Vanessa's whereabouts, Pakhan." Marcus's voice echoed through the war room.
I stared at the tactical map on the wall, a knot of rage coiled in my chest. That old fox Tomaso had vanished like smoke after I'd torn through his headquarters.
"Double the men," I ordered. "Search every hole he could crawl into. I want—"
My phone rang. The caller ID made my heart seize—the bodyguard assigned to protect Anthea and Olei. He shouldn't be calling. Not at this hour. Unless... My fingers trembled slightly as I hit accept.
"Pakhan, Ms. Carter and Mr. Olei were kidnapped by mercenaries!" The voice on the other end carried raw fear and panic. "We lost several men. We couldn't protect them. Pakhan, I'm sorry..."
Ice-cold dread crawled up my spine and spread through my limbs.
"What the fuck did you just say? What the hell were you doing?!" I roared, nearly crushing the phone in my grip. "Who sent those mercenaries? Where did they take them?"
"Don't know. They didn't identify themselves. Too many of them. By the time we realized what was happening, Ms. Carter and Mr. Olei were already gone. We found the missus's phone at the park." He answered.
Fear bloomed in my chest. I hung up without another word. The bodyguard knew too little. And with Anthea and Olei in those bastards' hands, every wasted second put them in more danger.
I turned to the tech team, about to order them to use every resource to track them down. Then my phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number flashed across the screen.
"Silas, your woman and your son are with me and Tomaso now. Come to the abandoned steel mill in the eastern suburbs. Alone. No weapons. Otherwise... we'll only leave you two corpses. Don't keep me waiting, darling. —Vanessa"
That crazy bitch! My fist slammed the table. I felt no pain.
"Pakhan," Marcus looked at my expression, his voice heavy. "What is it?"
"Anthea and Olei have been taken by Tomaso and Vanessa." I handed him my phone, then pulled the gun from my waist and set it on the table. "I have to go get them. Now."
Marcus's face darkened. He scanned the message quickly, brow furrowed. "Pakhan, this is clearly a trap. You can't go alone. Let me bring men—"
"No." I cut him off, striding toward the door. "I won't gamble with their lives on any possibility."
Marcus fell silent for a moment.
"At least let me position men on the perimeter," he finally said. "We'll stay hidden. They won't know we're there."
I stopped, considered it briefly.
"Fine. But no one moves unless I say so." I said.
"Understood." He nodded.
I crossed the threshold, rushed downstairs, and threw myself into the car.
The two-hour drive got cut down to ninety minutes.
Soon enough, I saw the gates of the steel mill.
At night, the abandoned factory looked like a sleeping beast, its rusted steel frames casting jagged shadows in the twilight.
I parked at the entrance and walked in alone, hands spread wide to show I was unarmed.
Tomaso came to meet me. The old man looked even more haggard than before—losing his headquarters had taken its toll—but the madness and hatred in his eyes hadn't dimmed one bit. He patted me down, checking every possible place I could hide a weapon. I let him.
"Good, Silas. You didn't try anything stupid." Tomaso stepped back, mouth twisting into a grin. "Follow me inside."
I followed him through the mill's doors. Then I saw them.
Anthea was tied to a chair, face pale. When she saw me enter, she shook her head sadly. Olei was bound beside her, teeth clenched. The moment he spotted me, his eyes lit up. Both their mouths were gagged, silencing them.
My heart felt like it was being carved out with a knife.
Vanessa stood beside them, red hair loose, a smug smile playing at her lips. And in the corner stood someone else. Julian Voss. My gaze lingered on him for a moment. This pathetic waste was here, too? He'd thrown in with Tomaso and Vanessa, helped them kidnap Anthea and Olei?
Julian avoided my eyes, his face written with unease and evasion. Pathetic.
Vanessa stepped forward, heels clicking sharply across the empty factory floor. She stopped in front of me, eyes burning with barely contained resentment.
"Silas, do you know how long I've waited for this day?" she said, voice soft and venomous. "You should've known this was coming when you destroyed my family."
I stared at her coldly. "So what does this get you?"
"I want you to suffer." Vanessa's voice turned shrill. "I want you to watch everything you care about get destroyed. You took everything from me. Now I'm going to make you taste that same pain!"
She turned to look at Anthea bound to the chair, voice dripping with malice.
"You know what, Silas? When she was unconscious in the car earlier, I thought about letting those mercenaries have a turn with her body.
After all, didn't you say my private life was a mess?
If Anthea got passed around by those men, would you still want her? "
This bitch. I'd underestimated just how vicious she could be. If she'd actually done that, I'd make her understand what hell really meant.
"Touch her, and I'll make you beg for death." Each word carried undeniable killing intent.
Vanessa flinched back at my expression, but then forced a cold laugh. "You're in no position to threaten me."
"Never thought I'd see it, Silas." Tomaso's voice dripped with mockery. "The great Pakhan of the Bratva, completely devoted to some woman. Your father would be so disappointed."
"Enough talk." My voice was ice. "They have nothing to do with what's between us. You want me. Let them go."
"Let them go?" Tomaso let out a grating laugh. "Do you know what it feels like to lose everything in one night?"
He stepped closer, voice edged with madness and desperation. "You killed my men, destroyed decades of my work! How the fuck could I just let your woman and your brat walk away? I'm going to make you taste that same pain."
Tomaso reached slowly for his gun. Every muscle in my body tensed.
"Silas, since you care about them so much, I'll give you a choice." His gun barrel moved back and forth between Anthea and Olei, eyes crazed and cruel. "Your woman or your son. You can only save one. The other gets to keep my guys company in hell."
Vanessa stood to the side, arms crossed, smiling viciously.
"You're insane." I stared at him, forcing my voice to stay level.
"I am insane!" Tomaso roared, voice full of derangement. "Choose! You have five seconds, or I kill them both!"
My mind raced, searching for any possible opening. Tomaso had completely lost it—he would actually pull the trigger. And Julian... that waste was useless.
My gaze landed on Anthea. She was looking at me too, eyes holding both fear and trust. Even in this desperate situation, she still believed I could save them. That trust made my heart ache with guilt. I'd put her and Olei in this position.
Wait. Her hands... I watched carefully and saw her wrists moving slightly. She was using the edge of the chair to saw through the rope binding her.
Our eyes met. In that brief instant, without words, I understood what she meant. She'd gotten free.
Anthea
From the moment they'd tied me to this godforsaken place, I hadn't stopped struggling. I'd been using a sharp edge on the back of the chair to saw through the rope around my wrists. The rough hemp scraped my skin raw, but I bit down and kept going.
Now the last fiber snapped, and my hands were free. I carefully gripped the loose rope, pretending I was still bound, and looked up at Silas. His gaze swept over me. His pupils contracted slightly.
He saw it.
"I choose—" Before Silas could finish, he lunged at Tomaso.
The gun flew from Tomaso's hand as the two men crashed together.
"Damn it!" Vanessa shrieked, snatching up the gun from the floor and trying to aim at Silas, but the two men were locked together—she couldn't get a clear shot.
Now. I rushed forward and tackled Vanessa from behind. She screamed as the gun flew from her grip.
"You bitch—" She struggled to flip over, sharp nails clawing at my face, but I pinned her down hard. Six years hadn't been wasted—my strength and reflexes were far beyond what they'd once been.
"Julian!" Vanessa screamed at the man standing frozen nearby. "Pick up the gun! Kill Silas!"
My heart plummeted. If he actually shot... I fought to hold Vanessa down, watching Julian from the corner of my eye, my heart in my throat.
Julian walked toward the gun. He bent down, picked it up, and slowly raised it.
No...
"You never planned to let Anthea live, you bastards!" Julian did something I never expected. He pointed the gun at Vanessa.
I exhaled, finally able to breathe.
"What are you doing?" Vanessa shrieked. "Are you insane? Put the gun down!"
"Stop struggling, or I'll shoot." Julian made a show of pressing his finger toward the trigger.
"You worthless piece of shit!" Vanessa cursed furiously but didn't dare move.
I took the chance to bind Vanessa's hands with the rope I'd freed myself from. Vanessa cursed me with the foulest language she could muster. I ignored her. Finally, I had time to pull the gag from my mouth and gulp down fresh air.
"Julian, watch her." I turned and ran to Olei.
Julian followed, gun still trained on Vanessa.
"Mom!" The moment I pulled the wadded cloth from Olei's mouth, his eyes went red.
"It's okay, baby. Mommy's here. You're safe." I quickly untied the ropes and pulled him into my arms.
His small body trembled as he clung to my neck. I rubbed his back gently. Once he'd calmed down, I released him and looked toward Silas. He'd already subdued Tomaso—the old man lay face-down on the ground, seemingly knocked out cold. Silas stood and walked toward us.
Relief flooded through me so hard I nearly cried.
Blood smeared Silas's face—his or Tomaso's, I couldn't tell. I held Olei and stood, wanting to go to him.
Then I saw Tomaso's eyes snap open. He pulled a small handgun from somewhere, barrel aimed at me.
"Watch your woman go to hell, Silas!" Tomaso laughed maniacally, his eyes filled with desperate resolve as he pulled the trigger.
Everything happened too fast. I heard the shot. I saw the bullet racing toward me.
Time seemed to stretch in that moment. I should have moved, but fear locked my body in place. I watched helplessly as the bullet closed the distance.
Was this how I'd die? Never seeing Olei again? Never seeing Silas?
But a figure stepped in front of me, moving so fast I only heard the dull thud of the bullet tearing through flesh.
"No—!"
My scream ripped through the air.