Chapter 28
Artyom
The ashtray overflowed with crushed butts, and the office reeked so hard it could've made a man cry.
I sat behind my desk, pinching the bridge of my nose. My temples throbbed like a drill had chewed its way into my skull.
The digital clock on the wall blinked.
03:17—seventy-two hours and seventeen minutes since Willow had vanished.
Three days earlier, she had curled up in my arms, her hair brushing my neck, making me itch. She had smiled and told me she was going to make blueberry muffins for breakfast.
I had thought we were good again. I had thought things were finally going to turn.
Then I had come back from the office that afternoon, and the villa had been empty. Nothing. Just one stupid rabbit-shaped knit slipper she'd dropped on the carpet.
And she had been gone.
I had torn the city apart.
I had pulled footage from every highway exit, every station, every airport. I had watched it three times. My people had swept the abandoned plants outside the city, the old docks, every property under my name. Not a shadow. Nothing.
Whoever did it had cleaned up too well—like Willow had never set foot in that villa.
"Sir, still nothing." Maya stood in the doorway, voice low. "We checked her card activity and her communication logs. No movement in three days."
I didn't answer. My knuckles went white. The cigarette burned down to my fingers, pain flaring hot against my skin, and I didn't even flinch.
Rage churned through my veins like molten rock.
I had never lost control like this.
I had let someone take my woman off my turf, out of the villa I'd put her in.
And what tightened my chest worse was the question I couldn't stop asking—what had they done to her? She had been skittish. The kind of girl who got teary-eyed over trouble, who bit her lower lip like it could hold her together. Had she been crying already? Had they hurt her?
Those thoughts stabbed at me, again and again.
I crushed the cigarette into the ashtray. The glass gave a sharp crack. A fracture spidered from the center.
"Stop looking," I said, lifting my eyes to my assistant. My voice came out iced over. "Get me Lily's number."
I should've known from the start.
No one else had the balls. No one else could've ghosted every security system in that villa and walked out with her like smoke.
When I called, it rang three times before she picked up.
Lily's voice stayed soft, warm, familiar. "Artyom? Why are you calling so late?"
She still played innocent.
I leaned back, tapping my fingers on the desk—each beat landing like a hammer on a heartbeat. "Cut the act, Lily. Willow is with you, isn't she?"
Silence for a few seconds. Then her light, lazy laugh floated through the line. "Artyom, what are you talking about? Willow disappeared? Oh, that is such a shame. Do you want me to help you look?"
"I said cut the act." I repeated it, no heat, no mercy. "I already know it is you."
Her laugh died. Her voice turned sharp. "How do you know? Do you have proof?"
Proof? I didn't need proof.
I closed my eyes and saw Willow's face—always a little scared, but she'd smiled at me like she'd forgotten how to be hard.
"Because I never doubted her," I said, voice low and heavy. "She isn't like you. You'd sell out anyone for a payout. You'd even come for me. She never would."
I'd known Lily too long.
She put profit first. Power first. She'd give up anything, swallow anything, as long as it paid.
Willow hadn't been built that way. She'd been the kind of woman who would've turned back for me if I'd been in danger. For me, she wouldn't have counted her own life as a price.
Lily had done plenty of dirty deals behind my back. I hadn't been blind—I'd just been too tired to waste time on her.
But she should've never touched Willow.
"Oh?" Lily gave a cold little laugh, the kind that dripped with mockery.
"And? Artyom, it doesn't matter how much you trust her now.
I'll tell you this—if you want her and the baby in her belly to stay alive, you come alone to the abandoned shipyard outside the city.
No one with you. No tricks. If I see anybody at your side, I won't mind letting you pick up two bodies. "
"What did you say?"
I snapped upright so fast my chair scraped.
A baby?
She was pregnant?
Shock surged up like a wave and drowned everything—anger, panic, all of it.
I remembered how she'd been sleepy lately. How she couldn't eat. How the smell of grease had made her wrinkle her nose and bolt. I'd thought she'd just had a bad stomach, and I'd even had the kitchen switch to lighter meals.
I remembered last week, how she'd hidden something in the bathroom. When I'd asked, her face had gone red and she'd stammered it was "girl stuff."
She'd been pregnant the whole damn time.
And she hadn't told me. Or she hadn't planned to.
In a blink, everything made sense.
No wonder she'd tried to run. Deep down, she'd believed I wouldn't accept the child.
She'd been trying to protect the baby. So she'd run.
My heart clenched in a fist—sour and swollen.
I could picture her finding out—those big, round blue eyes wide, terrified, lost.
Thinking about her spending those days scared out of her mind made me feel like the world's biggest bastard.
Ethan had called me out, and he hadn't been wrong.
And now she—and our child—were in Lily's hands.
Fury ripped through me. I almost crushed the phone in my grip. "Lily, listen to me. If you lay one goddamn finger on them, I'll make you—and everyone behind you—die ugly."
"I'm so scared," Lily said, laughing like she couldn't feel fear. "Artyom, I'll be waiting. Remember. Alone. Or you'll be picking up your woman and your kid in a bag."
She hung up.
The dead tone buzzed in my ear.
I whipped the phone at the wall. The screen shattered into a spiderweb of glass. The crash made my assistant flinch at the door, head down, silent.
Willow...
Willow...
I braced both hands on the desk and stood. My fingers trembled.
I had to bring her back in one piece. And our baby.
"Get the car ready. I'm going to—"
A knock cut me off. Maya stepped in, her expression tight and strange. "Sir, Mr. Hall is here. He says he has news about Ms. Pierce."
Ethan?
My brow furrowed.
What the hell did he want now? His father and I had been at each other's throats for years. What was he doing walking into my office?
"Let him in."
Less than two minutes later, Ethan walked in. He wore a black jacket. His hair looked windblown, like he'd driven a long way hard. He carried a tablet, walked straight to me, and set it on my desk.
On the screen sat a building layout—marked up to hell, several spots circled in red.
"This is the abandoned shipyard's internal layout," Ethan said, voice low. "Lily is keeping Willow in the east warehouse. Over twenty people inside. All armed. Cameras at the entrance and every corner. Two snipers on high ground. If you go alone, you'll be walking into your own funeral."
I looked up at him, my gaze cutting cold. "How do you know? What are you to Lily?"
"Lily has been in bed with my father for a long time," Ethan said, mouth twisting into a bitter, mocking smile.
"That deal didn't start yesterday. My father wants the port rights you hold.
Lily wants your seat. They match up perfectly.
Taking Willow is leverage—so you'll hand over your shares and your projects like a good little boy. "
I watched him, tapping the desk once. "So you came to negotiate for your father?"
Old Andrei really was a slick bastard. Let Lily snatch Willow, then send his son to talk terms. Cute.
"Why the hell would I help him?" Ethan laughed, disgust plain on his face.
"He is trash. Years ago he dumped my mom and me to climb higher—married his current wife and never looked back.
When my mom died, he didn't even show up to see her one last time.
Then he found out he was naturally weak—couldn't make an heir—so suddenly he remembered his bastard son.
He dragged me back because he wants a successor for his filthy little empire. "
He lifted his eyes to mine. "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have moved. I wouldn't have been separated from Willow that early."
He paused, his eyes going darker. "So don't worry. I am not going to let anything happen to her."
I snapped my gaze to him, sharp as a blade.
I knew Ethan wanted Willow. Letting a rival help tasted wrong in my mouth.
Like he read it on my face, Ethan spread his hands, calm and blunt.
"Don't look at me like that. I know she is your woman.
I am not going to cross any lines. I just don't want her hurt.
Andrei and Lily are both poison. Alone, you can't beat them.
We work together—I help you get Willow out, you help me bring down Andrei. Deal?"
I stared at him for a few seconds, searching for a crack.
There wasn't one. His eyes didn't dodge.
He meant it. Lily had Andrei's muscle behind her, and the shipyard was a trap stacked on a trap. If I'd gone alone, I wouldn't have saved Willow—I would've died there.
And Hall was Andrei's son. He knew their positions, their habits, their people. With him, my odds got a hell of a lot better.
"Fine," I said, no hesitation. "We work together."
If it brought Willow and the baby home alive, I didn't give a damn what I had to swallow.
Hall looked like he hadn't expected me to agree so fast. He blinked, then smiled. "Good. Then we plan it now. I already have people waiting outside the shipyard. They are solid—no leaks."
He leaned over the tablet, finger moving fast over the map.
"This is the main gate. Tightest security.
We send a small group to hit it—make noise, pull eyes.
I know an old ventilation line that runs straight behind the warehouse where they are holding Willow.
We take men through there and catch them cold. "
I studied the marked route and nodded. "That works. My people will handle the snipers. They are ex-military—been with me for years. They don't miss. You set your team. We move at four a.m. That is when everyone gets sloppy and half-asleep."
"No problem." Hall straightened and picked up the tablet. "I'll go set it up. And—" He hesitated, then looked at me, voice serious. "When we get Willow out, you protect her. Don't let her get spooked. She is pregnant. She can't take a shock."
"I don't need you to tell me," I said, cold and flat. "My woman. My kid. I protect them."
Hall smiled once, said nothing else, and walked out.
The office fell quiet again. I went to the window and yanked the curtain back. The sky stayed pitch-black, streetlights scattered like embers.
Willow. Hang on a little longer.
I am bringing you home. And our baby.
No one is touching you. Not ever.