Chapter Sixteen
~ They’re Back ~
Soren
I’ve been sitting in this chair for hours. The study is dim now, late afternoon light bleeding through the heavy curtains in thin, dusty shafts. The laptop screen is the only real brightness in the room, casting a cold blue glow across my desk.
I’ve watched the footage on repeat so many times the timestamps have started to blur together.
I keep rewinding to the same moments: Kit’s small, genuine smile when we left Harrods, the way his eyes flicked up at me every few steps like he was checking I was still there, the shy little glances he stole when he thought I wasn’t looking.
Then the bastards who shoved past him, treating him like he was invisible.
My chest feels like it’s being crushed from the inside. If I get him back… fuck… when I get him back, I’m never letting him use a public toilet again. I’d rather he’d had an accident in the car on the way home. Anything would’ve been better than this.
I drag both hands down my face, trying to organise my thoughts, but they’re spinning too fast. My world doesn’t stop for anything, not even for this. I still have people to take care of, businesses to run, deals to close. But right now, none of it feels real.
I don’t do this; I don’t care this deeply about people. If one of my men went missing, I’d be pissed, I’d want blood, but it wouldn’t burrow this deep, this sharp, like something vital has been ripped out of me.
A sharp knock at the door brings me back to reality.
My voice comes out raspy and worn when I finally speak. “Come in.”
Ray steps inside, carrying a large steaming mug. He sets it down carefully on the edge of my desk. “Lorraine told me to get this to you.”
I nod once, the motion feeling mechanical. “Thanks.”
He sits down in the chair opposite me without being invited. He looks tired, the kind of tired that comes from running around all day with no answers.
I haven’t even spoken to Lorraine yet. She was the closest thing to family Kit had here… the one person I actually let him spend real time with. She’s probably taking this worse than anyone.
I clear my throat. “How is she?”
Ray hesitates. “Not too good, boss. Selina and Aria are trying to distract her, but…”
He doesn’t need to finish the sentence. She’s probably imagining the worst right now, and she has every right to.
Ray swallows and starts again. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner, boss, I…”
I hold up a hand to cut him off and shake my head. “The world doesn’t stop just because one kid goes missing.”
The words sound cold even to my own ears. Ray winces slightly, but he doesn’t argue. It’s the truth, no matter how ugly it feels right now.
Ray leans forward, elbows on his knees. “There’s something more important you should know though.”
I nod. “Go on.”
“I drove past the Vanderburns’ garage on the way home. The brothers were there.”
My eyes widen a fraction. “What? I thought they were gone for a few more days.”
Ray exhales. “Guess when half your crew dies and one of your businesses goes up in flames, that’s a good enough reason to come home early.”
I slam my palm down on the desk, the sound cracking through the room. “Fuck!” I compose myself just slightly, inhaling sharp. “Did you see them?”
Ray continues, voice steady. “I only saw Mitch and James, they were talking out front with a few guys.”
“No Finn?”
Ray shakes his head.
I lick my teeth, the familiar bitter taste of rage rising. “That fucker…”
Ray finishes the thought for me. “It can’t be a coincidence. And we know how unhinged Finn is now.”
I run both hands down my face again, trying to think. My thumb finds the comms button on the desk that goes straight to the security room. “Luke?”
His voice crackles back instantly. “Here, boss.”
“I want a couple of you looking into where Finn Vanderburn was this afternoon.”
Luke sounds surprised. “They’re back?”
I let out a short, bitter laugh. “Would I be asking if they weren’t?”
Luke clears his throat, the hesitation obvious. He knows that was a stupid question.
“Ray saw Finn’s brothers at the garage,” I continue, voice low and cold. “I want to know exactly where that little fucker was when Kit went missing. And whether or not I need to pay them a final visit.”
Final because I will butcher every last one of them if they had anything to do with this.
Luke answers quickly, all business now. “You got it, boss.”
I release the button and look back at Ray. My throat is tight, the words scraping out like gravel. I try to keep my voice steady, the way I should, but it still cracks halfway through. “We need to find him.”
I swallow hard, jaw flexing as I force the rest out. “We need to… even if…”
The pause stretches. I can feel the fracture widening behind my ribs, but I refuse to let it show on my face. My fingers curl into fists on the desk until the knuckles go white.
“Even if it’s just his body,” I finish, the words rough, almost choked, “we need to bring him home.”
The thought of pulling Kit’s broken little body out of some ditch or trunk makes something sharp and ugly twist deep in my chest. I shove it down, bury it, lock it behind the cold mask I’ve worn for years.
Ray’s face pales slightly. He nods once, voice quiet. “Of course. I’ll, uh… go check on the girls.”
I nod. Ray stands and leaves without another word, closing the door softly behind him.
The study falls silent again, except for the low hum of the laptop and the sound of my own ragged breathing. I stare at the frozen image of Kit’s smile on the screen and feel something inside me fracture just a little more.
◆◆◆
Dinner time comes and goes, but I don’t move from my desk. The plate Lorraine brought up hours ago sits cold and untouched beside the laptop. I stare at the food like it’s an enemy… but the thought of eating makes my stomach turn.
A soft knock sounds at the door.
“Come in,” I mutter, voice hoarse from disuse.
Lorraine steps inside, her usual calm composure cracked at the edges. She looks older tonight, the lines around her eyes deeper, her shoulders slightly hunched.
She glances at the untouched plate and then at me. “You haven’t eaten.”
I don’t answer. I just lean back in my chair and rub my eyes with the heel of my hand.
Lorraine closes the door gently behind her and walks over to the desk. She stands there for a moment, studying me with that quiet, knowing look she’s had since the day she started working here.
“Kit wouldn’t be happy with you if he knew you weren’t eating,” she says softly.
The words crash over me… I freeze; fingers still pressed against my eyes.
Something raw and painful twists in my chest, the same ache that’s been there since the bathroom hallway.
Kit wouldn’t be happy. He’d frown, that little worried crease between his brows, and he’d probably try to push a fork toward me the way I did to him.
Lorraine’s voice drops even quieter, but it cuts deeper. “He never said it out loud to you, but… he cared.”
The mask I’ve been forcing all day feels like it’s cracking again.
Lorraine doesn’t push any further. She simply stands there, patient and steady, the same way she used to stand with Kit when he was too scared to speak.
After a long moment, I exhale through my nose and push the chair back. “Fine.”
I stand, legs stiff from sitting so long, and follow her out of the study.
The hallway feels longer than usual. Every step down toward the dining room is heavy and reluctant.
I don’t want to sit at that table without him.
I don’t want to pretend everything is normal when the chair to my right is empty.
But Lorraine’s words echo in my head with every footfall. Kit wouldn’t be happy with you. And for some reason, maybe because it’s her saying it, maybe because it’s the only piece of him I have left right now, I keep walking.
◆◆◆
I’m sitting at the head of the long dining table, halfway through a fresh plate Lorraine made specially for me, but I’m not really tasting anything. My mind is still looping through the same footage I watched for hours in my study. How the fuck did he disappear right under our noses?
Everyone else left the dining room hours ago, but Selina and Lorraine refused to let me eat alone.
They’re sitting with me now, picking at their pudding.
I’m not really listening to whatever quiet conversation they’re having.
Everything feels numb and distant, like I’m watching myself from outside my own body.
The door opens and Luke walks in, holding a manilla folder. My head snaps up so fast my neck protests. A flicker of desperate hope surges through me, please, have something. Anything.
Luke strolls over and sets the images down in front of me. “Boss, we tracked Finn from the moment they landed.”
He places the first still: the three brothers getting into a cab at the airport. “They went straight home.” Another photo, them arriving at their house.
Then another, a couple of hours later, pulling up at their garage. Luke slaps down a few more images. “They were pissed when they found the police tape and the burnt-out building. We couldn’t get audio, though.”
I nod once, jaw tight. “What else?”
Luke scratches his jaw. “Uh… the older brothers ended up at Mr. Vladski’s strip club.”
I raise my brows. “Is that so?”
Luke nods and lays down proof… clear images of Mitch and James entering the club.
“Then Finn…” Luke hesitates. “Well… he went and hired a car. It was pretty weird, boss. Maybe you can make sense of it.”
He slides the next photo across the table. I don’t recognise the car but Selina leans in, frowning as she studies it.
Luke continues, “So… he stopped by a hospital… uh, then he came out with an empty wheelchair. I couldn’t tell you what for.”
Selina gasps sharply. “I need to see that footage. Now.”
She stands so fast her chair scrapes loudly against the floor. “Boss, now!”
I push up from my seat, concern spiking. Luke gathers the stills quickly and follows us as Selina practically jogs through the halls.
“Selina, speak,” I demand, voice tight.
“I’ve got to show you,” she says breathlessly. “I’ve got to make sure I’m right…”
She bursts into the CCTV room. Sam’s still at his station, eyes bloodshot from staring at screens for hours.
Selina leans over him immediately. “Show me the footage of the bathroom entrance.”
Sam nods and starts rewinding. “Sure.”
The video plays again, Selina points at the screen. “There. Stop. Forward a bit… now wait…”
I loom over her shoulder, heart hammering.
Selina’s voice is shaky with disbelief. “Boss… this car. I knew I’d seen it before.”
I frown, searching her face. “You have?”
She lets out a disbelieving laugh. “You remember the guy Kit made me help in the parking lot?”
I nod slowly, still trying to place it. “Yeah, he was struggling with a… with a… wheelchair.”
The words hang in the air for half a second, then the realisation hits. My face drains of colour. The breath I was about to take stalls in my lungs. Everything inside me goes very, very still as the fragments suddenly slam into place.
Selina’s finger trembles slightly as she points at the frozen image. “This…” she says, voice tight, “this is Finn’s car.”
She swallows hard, then drags her finger to the screen… the man pushing the wheelchair. “After Kit disappeared… people were coming and going…”
The room goes deathly quiet as she cuts off, closing her eyes, unable to finish her sentence.
I stare at the screen, the low-resolution image burning itself into my retinas.
The man, the wheelchair, the blanket, the awkward laugh I barely registered at the time.
My stomach drops like a stone. The pieces slam together with brutal clarity.
“Don’t…” My voice comes out hoarse, barely recognisable. “Don’t tell me that’s Christopher.”
Selina winces, exhaling sharply. “I mean… I can’t be sure, but… it fits, right?”
I feel like the floor has dropped out from under me.
He touched me, if that’s Kit, he tried to grab my trousers, and I barely glanced at him.
I was too wrapped up in my own dread to even look twice at the man in the wheelchair.
If that really was Kit… I let him be taken…
I let that man walk right past me with him.
A roar tears out of me before I can stop it. “FUCK!”
I kick the nearest chair so hard it flies across the room and smashes into the wall. My fist slams down on the desk, scattering papers and sending a mug crashing to the floor.
“You’re telling me…” My voice cracks, low and shaking with barely contained rage. “…that bastard was tailing us the whole time?”
I suck in a ragged breath, chest heaving. “That he took Kit… right from underneath me?!” Another harsh inhale, the air burning in my lungs. “Drugged him? He fucking touched me… and I…”
The words die in my throat; I can’t finish the sentence. My hands are trembling. The failure crashes over me like a wave, crushing and merciless. I let it happen.
I inhale sharply, trying to keep from combusting on the spot. The failure is eating me alive. The thought of Kit, small and terrified, now in Finn Vanderburn’s hands, after what we did to their crew… makes my blood run cold.
“How the fuck would Finn even know who Kit is?!” I shout.
Luke shakes his head. “Maybe he wasn’t the target.”
“It makes no sense!” I snap. “We just went shopping, everything was going fine. I don’t…”
My voice cracks. I press my fingers hard against my temples, fighting the burn behind my eyes. I refuse to cry like a fucking bitch, but the weight of it… the sheer, crushing failure to keep Kit safe… is suffocating me.
Luke speaks carefully. “We’ll get you answers as soon as possible, boss.”
I whisper, voice raw, “Let me know the second you find anything. I’m going to put that fucker’s head on a pike.”
Luke nods.
Selina sniffles beside me. When I glance over, I realise she’s crying, silent tears tracking down her cheeks.
I don’t do comfort, but I clear my throat anyway and awkwardly pat her on the back. “Let’s have a drink, Sel.”
She nods, wiping her eyes, and lets me lead her out of the room. Luke and Sam stay behind, already turning back to their screens as we leave.
The hallway feels colder than it did this morning. And the fear in my chest only grows sharper with every step.