Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Daniil
“What do we know?” Steepling my hands together, I tried and failed to keep my voice even. There was anger in it, anger and fear.
Ever since I’d left Lily alone with that monster, I had known it was the wrong thing to do. And that knowledge was imprinted on my mind when the call had come in that she was seen getting into someone’s car.
I’d told them to follow it, but they had lost it in traffic, and Lily did not come back to the house. That was two days ago, two days of my gut twisting with apprehension. It was like she had disappeared into thin air. We didn’t even have eyes on Greg.
Part of me wanted to believe that they had run off together, but I knew better than that. She hadn’t gone back to him because she wanted to. She’d done it because I had forced her out.
Falling in love with her had frightened me, and that had made me lash out.
I had known when I had stood on her doorstep that Greg was lying to me, but I’d walked away anyway.
I would never walk away from her again. I would find her, and I would love and protect her for the rest of her long, happy life.
“Well?” I snapped when neither one of them said anything. They just stood there, not looking at me.
Rolling my eyes, I leaned forward. “If you’ve found nothing, then I will find more competent men.”
The one on the left let out a sigh. “We think we know whose car she got into.”
I waited for them to continue. Neither one of them spoke.
“Tell me”, I ordered.
“You’re not going to like it, boss.”
My stomach bottomed out. “Tell me,” I said again more firmly.
“We can show you. One of her neighbours had a doorbell cam, and we managed to hack the system.”
I waited, and they kept dragging their feet. It didn’t fill me with hope. Pulling out their phone, they pushed it over the desk to me. I took it and hit play.
There she was, my beautiful Lily. The thick makeup on her face did nothing to hide the bruises on her face. Just seeing her beaten like that made me want to throw the phone across the room. I closed my eyes.
“Keep watching.”
My eyes flew open. Two men appeared behind her, one with blond hair, and one with dark. I could only see the face of the dark-haired man, but I didn’t need to see their faces to know who they were.
The twins Dominik and Piotre.
The worst kind of men, no morals and no loyalty to anyone but each other. They dealt mostly in human trafficking. Bile rose up in my throat. I dropped the phone to my desk, breathing heavily through my nose as I fought back the rising panic.
I was a powerful man. I had connections all over the world, but the girls who were taken by them were very rarely found alive.
And Greg had given Lily to them. More than that, she had gotten into that car on her own accord, which meant she was either threatened or she had no idea what she was getting into.
“Boss?”
Snapping my eyes open, I played the video again, trying to track every single minute detail.
“I’ve seen enough.” My voice was ragged as I tossed the phone back to them. “I want everyone on this. I want to know where they took her. And find me that asshole as well.”
“Which one?”
“All of them. But Greg.” The twins would die for this, but Greg had sold the woman he was meant to love and cherish. I’d torture him myself. And I would enjoy every single screaming minute of it.
“I don’t care who you have to hurt. Just get me the information I need.” I sucked in a wet breath. Fear was making me lose control. I needed to keep my head and figure out what to do. Not getting Lily back wasn’t an option, so I had to be smart.
Pushing away from the desk, I cracked my neck. “I want her found, I’m going to go—”
I was about to say to the gentleman’s club that I knew the twins owned when a phone chimed.
“Shit. Boss, you’re gonna want to know this.”
“Know what?” I was halfway towards the door. Unless it was a sighting of Lily, it could wait.
“The boyfriend, Greg, just arrived home. Alone.”
I paused and turned slowly.
Ok, it wasn’t Lily, but it was a step in the right direction.
We didn’t knock.
One swift kick bowed his front door open, and I strode through like I owned the place.
“What?” Greg whirled around, wearing nothing but a towel and a smug expression. It was clear that he had just gotten out of the shower, but I didn’t care.
“You can’t be here.” He took a stumbling step back. “What are you doing here?”
“I think you know.” Throwing my arm back, I aimed a punch into his chin. Sending him sprawling into the nearest chair. “Why don’t you take a seat so we can have a nice little chat?”
Nursing his jaw. Greg stared up at me. And there was absolutely no fear in his eyes when there should have been. He should have been pissing his pants, terrified. Yet he was staring up at me like he had won.
“She doesn’t want to see you.” He cracked his jaw. “It’s pathetic for a man of your—”
I hit him again. Loving the sound his nose made when it broke.
Every atom of my being wanted to keep punching him until his face looked like hamburger meat. The only time I had ever been this angry and out of control was when I had found out Claudia had died.
This felt different, though, because Claudia was gone in the blink of an eye, but I still had a chance to save Lily.
I dropped my arm to my side and stepped back to survey my handiwork. “I think we both know that isn’t true,” I said in a smooth, calm voice. Crouching down, I bounced on the balls of my feet. “So why don’t you just tell me where she is.”
In answer, he spat at me. A bloody glob of saliva hit my cheek. I wiped it off with the back of my hand and prepared myself to hit him again.
“She’s gone.”
“With the twins, Domink and Piotre?” I cocked my head to the side. Smiling at his confused look. He seemed shocked that I knew that. “I know. What I need you tell me is where they took her.”
He smiled, his teeth stained red with blood. I wanted to wipe that grin straight off his face, knock all of his teeth out, and then cut out his tongue so he would never smile again. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that he wouldn’t be able to talk if I did that, and I needed him to talk.
“Where,” I stressed each word, “is Lily.”
“Somewhere you will never find her.” His grin grew. But his eyes darted to the window like I would find the answers there.
“Check this piece of shit’s car. He’ll have sat nav. I want to know the last place he went.”
One of my men ran out before I’d even finished the sentence.
“It won’t do you any good.” Greg’s laughter brought my attention back to him with a snap. My eyes narrowed.
Why was he laughing? Ice ran through my veins.
“Where is she?” My voice shook.
“Boss, they were at an abandoned hospital about fifty miles away. I’m checking to see if there’s any working cctv around that area, but it’s a pretty run-down part of town.”
I didn’t turn to him. “Check anyway.” Keeping my eyes on Greg, I pulled out my phone and typed out a quick message, ordering more men to rush over there. There was a very slim chance she was still there, but I wanted my men there just in case.
I flicked all of my attention back to Greg, fighting the urge to just put a bullet in his head and be done with it.
“Why did they take her there?” I ground out.
“You know them.” He shrugged, and it was clear he was talking about the twins. “You know what they deal with. So you already know.”
Fuck.
“But,“ Greg leant forward, “if you want me to tell you, I will. They took her there to be checked out. After all, they need to make sure the merchandise is clean and sellable.
I swallowed hard. He was her fiancé. He was meant to love her, and yet he was talking about her like she was nothing but an object. The betrayal Lily must be feeling would be heartbreaking. She would be so scared. But she was strong. She could survive this.
I would be getting her and bringing her home as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately for Lily—”
My eyes snapped back down to him. “Unfortunately?” I hissed.
“She’s in a very delicate way right now. But it’s fine.” He shrugged.
He was enjoying this, I realized. He thought torturing me like this gave him power. It didn’t. It just made me want to kill him quicker.
“Piotre has taken a shine to her, and everyone knows that he’s very good at breaking things. Nine months in his care, and she will be the perfect little sex slave for the highest bidder.”
My brain tried to make sense of what he was saying. Why would the twins keep her for nine months?
“Once she’s healed from bringing your little brat into the world, if the thing survives, then they will have two things to sell. Your whore and your child.”
Nine months.
“Lily’s pregnant?” I whispered as realization hit me. I jumped up.
Craning his head to look at me, his smile grew so much that he looked like the Joker. “Yeah, she’s having your kid.” His eyes swept over me. “Well, maybe. The beating she just got might mean she loses it. And of course, if the twins get their hands on her, and do all the things they like to do—”
Closing my hand around his throat, I lifted him half out of his seat. “If anything happens to her, I will—”
“You’ll do what?” Even with me squeezing the life from him, he still mocked me. “You can’t touch me, Daniil. If I don’t check in twice a day, they will know something has happened to me and kill her. The choice is yours. You can kill me, or you can save her. What’s it going to be?”
I dropped him like a sack. And he fell coughing into his chair. Rubbing his neck.
“I will find her,” I growled out.
“No, you won’t. Lily will be sold to the highest bidder before you even get a hint of where the sale is being held. They have buyers already lined up.” Greg’s eyes glittered with pure hatred.
This was the man Lily had been in love with. This monster.
“Maybe if you are lucky, they will offer you your bastard. But I doubt it will live that long,” he laughed. “Maybe you can buy its little corpse.”
I lost control, my anger bubbling over to homicidal rage. I threw myself on him.