Chapter 9
JULIET
My first instinct was to drive straight back to the Sokolov mansion and find out whether the Flynn patriarch was bluffing.
I reached for my keys, then stopped.
What if that was exactly what they wanted?
What if driving back meant walking straight into another trap?
If they had managed to take my mother despite the mansion’s heavy security, then I couldn’t assume I was safe either.
My pulse hammered in my ears.
God...
What had happened to the security at our family estate?
No one should have been able to get inside.
Not unless something had changed.
My father’s disappearance had left our household vulnerable.
With its leader gone, cracks had formed in the fortress we had always believed was impenetrable. People who would have never dared challenge us before were suddenly bold enough to strike at the very heart of our home.
My mother...
She wasn’t just vulnerable.
She was gravely ill.
A stroke had stolen so much from her already. She depended on medication, routine, and constant care.
Who kidnaps a woman who couldn’t even care for herself?
The thought of her lying somewhere frightened, helpless, and without her medication sent ice flooding through my veins.
Unable to stand still any longer, I climbed out of the car and walked into the bungalow.
My thoughts were so tangled that I barely noticed the silence inside.
I had expected to find Romeo.
Instead, Keegan was sitting comfortably in the living room, watching television.
The moment he saw me, he switched it off and stood.
Without saying a word, he walked to the dining table, picked up two pills that had already been set aside, poured a glass of water, and brought both to me.
“What is this?” I asked, eyeing the tablets suspiciously.
“Emergency contraception.”
His tone was matter-of-fact.
“Romeo doesn’t like taking chances. He instructed me to make sure you take it.”
For a moment, I simply stared at him.
A dull ache spread through my chest.
It wasn’t the pill itself that hurt.
The truth was, I had no intention of bringing a child into this nightmare.
But the way it had been handled...
So cold. So clinical.
As though my body belonged to Romeo, and I was simply following instructions.
Then again...
This was the same man who had humiliated me before hundreds of people at our wedding and promised to make my life miserable.
Why had I expected anything different?
A surge of anger rushed through me.
For one reckless second, I wanted to slap the glass from Keegan’s hand and watch it shatter across the floor.
Instead, I swallowed my pride.
I needed Romeo.
More importantly...
I needed Romeo’s help.
Without another word, I took the pills and washed them down.
The bitterness lingered on my tongue.
“So,” I said flatly, handing him back the empty glass, “are you done here?”
Keegan slipped on his jacket.
“Yeah. I’ll be leaving now.”
He had barely taken three steps before I found my voice.
“Wait.”
He stopped and turned.
“Someone broke through our estate security and took my mother.”
The casual expression disappeared from his face. “What?”
“My mother was kidnapped.”
His brows knitted together. “Isn’t she bedridden after the stroke?”
“Yes.”
My voice trembled despite my efforts to steady it.
“She can barely take care of herself, and somehow they still took her.”
I swallowed hard.
“Romeo’s grandfather took her.”
Keegan let out a long breath and rubbed a hand across his jaw.
“That old man just won’t quit,” he muttered under his breath.
He immediately pulled out his phone and called Romeo.
The call rang.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
“He must be in a meeting,” Keegan said, lowering the phone.
I searched his face desperately for reassurance.
He stepped closer.
“Don’t worry.” His voice was calm but firm. “We’ll handle this.”
He held my gaze. “Your mother will come home safely. We’ll make sure of it.”
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to.
But his promise felt fragile against the terror clawing at my chest.
The only person I wanted to hear those words from was Romeo.
If only he would answer his phone.
“Trust us, Juliet,” Keegan said quietly.
Then he turned and walked out.
A few seconds later, the sharp screech of tires echoed through the estate as his car sped away.
Silence settled over the bungalow once more.
It was suffocating.
My breathing grew uneven.
Nothing can happen to her.
Nothing.
My knees suddenly felt too weak to support me.
I stumbled into the bedroom and sank onto the edge of the bed.
My hands trembled uncontrollably in my lap as my heart pounded against my ribs.
Every horrifying possibility crashed through my mind.
Was she frightened?
Was she lying somewhere alone... waiting for me to save her?
I pressed trembling fingers against my mouth, fighting back the panic threatening to consume me.
Forty-eight hours.
That was all the time the Flynn patriarch had given me.
Forty-eight hours to choose between my mother’s life...
...and Romeo’s.
THE ENTIRE DAY PASSED in agonizing silence.
I couldn’t sit still.
I wandered from room to room, unable to focus on anything for more than a few seconds before my thoughts circled back to my mother.
Food tasted like ash in my mouth.
Even swallowing water felt like forcing down shards of glass.
Every few minutes, I reached for my phone and dialed the nurse’s number.
No answer.
By evening, I had called nearly two hundred times.
Every attempt ended the same way.
Voicemail.
The silence was becoming its own form of torture.
I had no idea whether my mother was alive.
The helplessness was suffocating.
Around nine that evening, I stepped onto the balcony overlooking the bungalow’s private garden.
The night air was cool against my skin, carrying the scent of damp earth and blooming jasmine, but even that couldn’t calm the storm raging inside me.
I wrapped my arms around myself and drew a slow, shaky breath.
It didn’t help.
My phone suddenly rang.
Egor.
I frowned at his name flashing across the screen.
Once upon a time, he had been my closest friend.
Someone I trusted with almost everything.
Now...
That version of us felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
After a moment’s hesitation, I answered.
“Hi.”
His voice was rough.
My thumb hovered over the screen, already tempted to end the call.
There had been a time when hearing his voice made me smile.
Now it only exhausted me.
“Did you see the picture I sent you?” he asked.
“What picture?”
I switched the call to speaker and opened my messages.
The moment the image loaded, my breath caught.
Romeo.
He was seated beside a hospital bed.
Yarina rested comfortably against him, her head nestled on his lap as though it belonged there.
One of his hands was gently stroking her hair.
The hard, unreadable expression he wore around everyone else was gone.
Instead, concern softened every line of his face as he looked down at her.
Yarina looked peaceful and safe.
As though she had found exactly where she belonged.
A sharp ache spread through my chest.
Keegan had told me Romeo was probably in a meeting.
Instead...
He had been with my sister.
The realization hit even harder because only hours earlier Romeo had taken my virginity—and we had fucked with a force that still left my body aching.
After everything that had happened between us today...
After crossing a line that could never be uncrossed...
He had gone straight to Yarina.
My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.
The pain was sharper than I wanted to admit.
“I’m at Club 007,” Egor said, breaking through the silence. “You should come.”
I didn’t answer.
“Let’s talk.” His voice softened. “Like we used to.”
Still, I remained silent.
“You can’t keep staying loyal to a man whose heart is permanently glued to your sister.”
Permanently.
The word echoed through me long after he said it.
I closed my eyes.
My mother had been kidnapped.
No one had found her.
No one had called.
No one had given me a single update.
And now...
The first image I saw after sharing my first truly intimate moment with my husband was of him cradling another woman.
My own sister.
Everything inside me felt stretched to its breaking point.
For the first time all day...
I wanted to stop thinking.
Just for a few hours.
I wanted silence.
I wanted numbness.
Maybe losing myself in loud music and crowded strangers was exactly what I needed.
“I’ll be there,” I said quietly.
Before Egor could respond, I ended the call.
I didn’t care whether Romeo’s men were watching me.
I didn’t care if they reported every move I made.
Romeo couldn’t spend his nights comforting another woman while expecting me to remain locked inside this house, alone with my fear, my grief, and my heartbreak.
Not tonight.
I stood and crossed to the closet, yanking open the doors.
I scanned the rows of dresses until my hand landed on a style I hadn’t worn in years.
Black. Short. Provocative.
The silky fabric clung to every curve, ending high on my thighs, while the plunging neckline left little to the imagination.
Perfect.
I pulled it on with jerky, impatient movements, dragging the zipper up harder than necessary before fastening a pair of strappy black heels around my ankles.
Every motion carried the same simmering fury.
I didn’t even glance at the mirror.
I already knew exactly what I looked like.
The dress was far too revealing for a married woman.
Then again...
Could I honestly call myself one?
This marriage was nothing more than a prison built on lies, obligation, and resentment.
It had never felt like a real marriage.
Not for a single day.
Grabbing my keys, I headed for the front door.
Minutes later, I was behind the wheel, speeding toward Club 007.
The moment I pulled onto the road, I cranked my favorite playlist to its highest volume.
The car filled with pounding bass and heartbreak-soaked lyrics that seemed to echo everything I couldn’t put into words.
I sang along at the top of my lungs.
My voice cracked more than once, but I didn’t care.
If I sang loudly enough...
Maybe I wouldn’t have to hear my own thoughts.
Maybe I could drown out the image of my helpless mother.
Maybe I could forget Romeo.