Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Ariana
Dinner had been cold for hours. Not that I was hungry. Not anymore.
Every few seconds, my eyes drifted to the clock on the microwave, watching the green numbers change as time marched on.
9:47.
9:48.
9:49.
I checked my phone again.
No missed calls.
No texts.
No response.
This wasn’t the first time Henry had been out late.
Over the past week, he’d been preoccupied.
Phone calls taken outside.
Meetings that couldn’t wait until morning.
The occasional night when I’d wake up in the darkness and discover his side of the bed empty.
Whenever I asked, he’d tell me he had a few work-related things come up.
It sounded plausible enough. But I couldn’t shake the feeling he was hiding something from me. Something connected to Sarah.
As much as I hated the thought of Henry putting himself in danger, I understood why he couldn’t walk away.
What I didn’t understand was why he kept me in the dark, even after promising he wouldn’t.
I swallowed down another large gulp of wine and grabbed the cell phone Henry had given me, hitting his contact again.
And again, it went straight to voicemail.
I slammed the phone down on the counter, surprised the screen didn’t break. After downing the rest of my wine, I pushed back from the kitchen island.
If Henry wasn’t going to tell me what was going on, maybe someone else would.
I stormed out of the house and down the stone path leading toward the pool house. I didn’t bother knocking. Instead, I shoved the door open and marched inside.
Blake sat at the small kitchen table, his attention fixed on a large monitor while his fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard of his laptop.
The second he saw me, his posture stiffened, and he punched a key.
Whatever had been on the monitor disappeared, but not before I caught a glimpse of the grainy surveillance footage of what appeared to be a port, large containers surrounding several men.
Two men held a third on his knees while another pointed a gun at him.
My heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach.
“Was that...” The words caught in my throat. “Was that Henry?”
Blake’s eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet, hobbling toward me. “Oh, god. No.” He ran his hands down my arms, attempting to reassure me.
“Then who was it?”
His expression flickered with worry for a beat before he offered me a small, reassuring smile. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
His words taunted me, making my frustration with this entire situation grow.
“Nothing for me to worry about?” I repeated somewhat incredulously. “Well, I am fucking worried, Blake.” I pushed out of his hold. “Henry…” My voice wavered on his name. “He isn’t home.”
“You know Henry.” His tone was deliberately casual. “He probably got held up.”
I didn’t know Blake all that well, but over the past few weeks, I’d spent some time with him. Gotten to know his tells. And right now, something about his demeanor made me think he was keeping something from me.
“Did he tell you where he was going?” I pressed.
He shrugged. “I have no idea where he is right now, Ariana. I swear to you.”
“That’s not what I asked.” I narrowed my gaze on him as I placed my hands on my hips. “Did Henry tell you where he was going? What he was doing?”
Blake parted his lips, but no response came.
This was the only confirmation I needed that Blake knew exactly what he was doing and was probably instructed not to tell me.
“Fine.” I spun around. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll figure it out myself.”
I slammed the door before stalking back toward the main house. The entire walk, I heard Blake limping close behind me, but ignored him.
Once inside, I headed straight for the console table where Henry kept the spare keys, finding the fob for one of the SUVs.
I stormed toward the garage, but stopped short when Blake stood directly in front of the door.
“Move,” I seethed, my blood bubbling with anger.
“Where are you going?”
“I told you. Since you won’t tell me where Henry is, I’m going to figure it out myself.”
“I can’t let you do that.” His expression darkened.
I barked out a laugh. “I don’t need your permission.”
“Ariana…,” he soothed, attempting to placate me.
“No.” I stepped toward him. “The only person who gets to tell me what I can and can’t do is me.”
“You’re still technically missing. You can’t just suddenly reappear. It’s too dangerous.”
“The only threat to my life is dead.”
“We don’t know that for sure. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I tried to move around him, but he stepped sideways, blocking me again.
“Fine.” I spun from him and hurried toward the front door. “I’ll walk.”
“Where?” he called out after me.
“I don’t know.”
The answer sounded ridiculous even to me.
I wasn’t actually going to find Henry. I had no idea where to start. I just needed distance.
From Blake.
From this place.
From the idea that the one person I’d put my trust in was making decisions for me.
Just like Victor had.
I reached the front door and pulled it open, the humid night air drifting inside. As I was about to step outside, Blake’s voice stopped me.
“He went to talk to Mikhail Volkov.”
I didn’t move for several long moments. Then I slowly faced Blake. “Mikhail Volkov?”
“He’s the Pakhan of the Miami Bratva.”
A fresh wave of panic crashed through me. “And Henry asked you not to tell me?”
“He didn’t want you to worry.”
I huffed a laugh. “That’s rich.”
“I tried talking him out of it. Told him to stop chasing ghosts and to focus on what he has now.”
With a long exhale, I closed the front door and walked back into the living room, lowering myself onto the couch. “He’d never do that. He’ll search every corner of the earth until he uncovers the truth about Sarah.”
“I know,” he sighed as he sank onto the couch beside me.
A heavy silence settled over the room, the only sounds that of the faint ocean waves and the clock ticking on the wall.
Finally, I turned my eyes back toward Blake. “This Pakhan… Will he hurt Henry?”
The words felt like sandpaper. I hated even asking. Hated giving voice to my biggest fear. But I had to know.
Blake didn’t answer right away, weighing his response.
“If there’s one thing I know about Henry Fontaine, it’s his ability to walk into situations that should kill him and somehow walk back out again.”
I swallowed hard, the vice squeezing my heart becoming even more painful.
“I hope you’re right.”
Blake looked toward the darkened windows.
“So do I.”