Chapter 58 When the World Stops
Alexander — POV
I pulled the car up in front of the campus building ten minutes early.
I always arrived early.
Isabella liked to tease me about it.
You know I’m capable of walking out of a building on my own, right?
My mouth had twitched then.
I know.
Then why are you here thirty minutes early every time?
Because I like looking at you when you walk out.
The memory flickered through my head as I leaned back in the seat.
Students were pouring out of the building now.
Laughing.
Talking.
Walking in groups.
But not her.
I picked up my phone and dialed her number.
It went straight to voicemail.
No ringing.
My brows pulled together.
That was odd.
I tried again.
Voicemail.
The tight feeling in my chest sharpened.
I texted her.
Where are you? I’m outside.
No reply.
Another minute passed.
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
Now the feeling in my chest wasn’t tight.
It was wrong.
Something was wrong.
My jaw tightened.
I opened my contacts and hit Sarah’s name.
She answered on the first ring.
But instead of a greeting—
I heard crying.
Not quiet crying.
Not sniffles.
Full, panicked sobbing.
My entire body went still.
“Sarah.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to speak through tears.
“Alexander—oh my God—”
My stomach dropped instantly
“Where is Isabella.”
Sarah cried harder.
“They— they just left.”
A cold weight dropped into my chest.
“Who left.”
“Three guys,” she said, her voice shaking badly. “They just walked out of my apartment.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What guys.”
“I don’t know who they are!” she said quickly. “They just showed up at my door and they said they have Isabella.”
For a moment the entire world went silent.
The campus outside.
The traffic.
Everything.
The only thing I heard was my own heartbeat slamming in my ears.
“What did you just say.”
My voice came out low.
Dangerously calm.
“They said they have her,” Sarah cried.
My hand slammed into the leather seat.
“What exactly did they say.”
Sarah sniffed hard, trying to remember.
“They told me to tell you something.”
“Say it.”
“They said… if you want her alive, you’ll come alone when they text you.”
The words landed like a gunshot to the chest.
My breathing stopped for a second.
“And?”
Sarah hesitated.
Then whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“They told me to tell you to try to guess who has her.”
My jaw clenched.
Of course.
Of fucking course.
But Sarah wasn’t finished.
“They also said… the boss loves stressing you out.”
The boss.
Moretti.
The name flashed through my mind like lightning.
My hand tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No,” she said quickly. “They didn’t touch me. They just said to give you the message.”
I exhaled slowly.
Good.
At least she was safe.
But Isabella—
Jesus Christ.
My voice came out tight.
“They said they’ll text you.”
“Yes.”
“Did they say anything else?”
Sarah sniffed again.
“No… just that you’ll know what to do when the message comes.”
My mind was already moving.
Fast.
Too fast.
Moretti.
This had his fingerprints all over it.
Old grudges.
Old wars.
Old blood.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah whispered again, crying. “I should have—”
“You couldn’t have stopped them.”
I hung up before she could say anything else.
My chest felt like someone had wrapped barbed wire around my lungs.
I immediately dialed my security line.
The call connected on the first ring.
“Tell me you have her,” I said.
My voice was already shaking with rage.
“Tell me what I think just happened didn’t actually happen.”
“Sir—”
I cut him off instantly.
“You had one job.”
My voice exploded through the phone.
“ONE FUCKING JOB.”
The driver flinched in the front seat.
“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?”
“Sir—we’re inside the building—”
“Why are you inside the building now?” I roared. “Why wasn’t she already outside with you?”
“We had visual on the exits, but she—”
“But what?.”
A pause.
Then the words came.
“We lost her.”
Something inside my chest snapped.
“You lost her.”
Silence.
“You lost the woman I told you never to let out of your sight.”
His voice dropped.
“She went into the library bathroom.”
“And?”
“When she didn’t come out, we went inside. She wasn’t there.”
My grip tightened.
“So where the fuck is she?”
“We immediately went to the school cameras,” he said quickly. “We’re reviewing the footage as we speak.”
My breathing slowed.
Dangerously slow.
“And?”
He hesitated.
Then spoke again.
“I’m looking at the hallway camera now, sir.”
My fingers dug into the seat.
“What do you see?”
Another pause.
Then—
“Sir… it looks like it might be her.”
My chest tightened.
“What.”
“She’s wearing a wig,” he said slowly. “Different clothes. Two men walking beside her.”
My hand slammed into the divider between the seats so hard the entire car shook.
The sound echoed violently.
“You didn’t recognize her.”
“She had a wig and different clothes,” he said quickly. “They walked her out of the building and got into a car.”
My breathing turned cold.
Controlled.
“You watched her walk out.”
My voice dropped to something colder than ice.
“If a single hair on her head is harmed because your men couldn’t recognize a wig…”
The silence on the other end was absolute.
“I will bury every single one of you myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Cameras,” I snapped. “Cars. Traffic lights. Parking lots. I want every second of footage from that campus.”
“We’re already pulling it.”
“FASTER.”
I ended the call.
Outside the window, students were still walking past.
Laughing.
Talking.
Completely unaware that my world had just collapsed.
Isabella.
My chest tightened painfully.
This morning she had smiled at me before walking inside that building.
She had teased me for worrying.
Nothing is going to happen to me.
I leaned back slowly against the seat.
My hands were shaking now.
Not from fear.
From rage.
Because somewhere out there—
Someone had touched what belonged to me.
And when I found them—
I wasn’t going to stop until there was nothing left of them to identify.