Chapter 30
Kian
Iwaited across the street, the engine idling beneath me as I leaned against the warm hood of my Aston Martin, hands buried in my pockets and my gaze never wavering from my woman.
And Sophie… She had a figure that drew more glances than I would’ve liked, the kind that made a man feel equal parts proud and territorial.
I should get going, knowing what was waiting for me, but a part of me wanted her to turn around—to hesitate, to already miss me—but I knew better. From everything she’d told me, she was single-minded when it came to work.
Just before she reached the doors, she slowed. Maybe she felt my eyes on her, because she glanced over, sunlight catching like fire in her hair, and blew me a kiss.
That was all it took.
I turned into a complete schmuck, grinning like an idiot. It made my fucking day.
I lifted a hand and waved back, letting the moment stretch. The automatic doors slid open and she disappeared inside, swallowed by fluorescent lights.
Off to the side, the two men I’d assigned blended into the morning with loosened ties and sunglasses, pretending to wait for a bus. One of them peeled away and followed her inside. He’d hover. Close enough to react, far enough to be invisible. Sophie would be safe.
That took the edge off, just a little.
I entered my car and drove away, the smile still on my face. The hospital shrank in the rearview.
Gradually, the streets thinned, color draining into rust and gray as I drove toward the industrial outskirts. An abandoned warehouse waited there, baking quietly in the sun.
Inside it, an entourage of men awaited judgment day.
I pushed open the door, its rusted hinges shrieking in protest. Musty air rolled out to meet me, thick with dust, oil, and the faint tang of blood.
Amir was sprawled on a folding chair near the center of the floor, boots hooked around one of the chair’s legs, his phone held low in one hand. The glow from the screen lit his face, and the grin on it told me everything I needed to know. He was either riding happy or about to cost me money.
The door slammed shut behind me, the echo snapping through the warehouse like a gunshot. Amir looked up, eyes flicking toward me, that grin still firmly in place.
“Hello, boss,” he said cheerfully.
Definitely way too happy.
I shrugged out of my suit jacket and tossed it onto a nearby table. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”
His smile widened, pride shining through it now, unguarded. “Dina and I are getting married.”
I stopped short, surprised at his openness, then nodded once. “About time.”
“You’re not surprised?” he questioned.
“No.” I’d long suspected those two were an item, even though they tried to hide it from everyone. “So when is the happy day?”
He let out a quiet laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “We want to get married next weekend.”
My eyebrows shot up before I could stop them. “Next weekend?” He nodded. “And her family is okay with it?”
He winced. “They’re not exactly thrilled, but considering the circumstances…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably and blushed, probably for the first time in his life or at least since I’d known him. “Anyhow, will you come?”
I studied him for a moment, the man who’d stood beside me through negotiations and betrayals. “Is this my official invitation?”
“Yes.” He straightened in the chair, suddenly serious. “It is.”
“Then of course I’ll be there.” I paused. “But why the rush?”
Color crept up Amir’s neck and into his cheeks in deeper shades of crimson. He looked away, clearing his throat again. “We’re starting a family.”
I didn’t need him to spell it out. A pregnancy would change it all, even for sticklers like Dina’s family. I stepped forward and held out my hand. He took it, his grip firm but a little unsteady.
“Congratulations,” I said. “Anything you need—anything at all—you let me know.”
He nodded once before his expression hardened. His gaze flicked toward the back of the warehouse with the reinforced door that led to the torture room.
“All three men are there,” he said. “We didn’t want to start without you.”
Fury burned through me at the thought of them. The thought of a gun pressed to Sophie’s temple, eyes wide with terror; Sienna ripped from the streets, screaming. The bastards responsible were breathing borrowed air, and soon they’d understand exactly how fragile that privilege was.
“Have they said anything?” I asked.
The words barely made it past the inferno clawing at my throat, surging through my veins and vibrating through every fucking inch of me.
“Nope.”
“They will,” I said flatly.
Amir dipped his chin. “They always do.”
After Sophie stumbled upon the dungeon in my villa, I had it shut down. I wasn’t willing to risk her seeing this part of me, this life. Not again.
I needed to protect her from the darkness that clung to me like a second skin. I couldn’t walk away from her, but I’d protect her from this life as much as possible.
I crossed the space and pushed through the steel door into the adjoining room.
The lights were harsh and unforgiving, throwing shadows against concrete walls stained by sins that would never quite wash away.
Three of my men stood guard, silent and alert.
In front of them hung three others with their hands bound, wrists chained to iron hooks bolted into the ceiling.
Their toes barely brushed the floor, muscles trembling from the strain.
Sweat streaked their faces, fear already bleeding through the bravado.
The door clicked shut and the prisoners jerked, eyes snapping to me in unison.
“Hello, gentlemen.”
I stalked toward them, my hands curled into fists at my sides as I fought the urge to slam their heads into the wall.
But that would be mercy.
And mercy was the one thing they weren’t getting.
“That one’s Rick,” Amir muttered. “This is Jack, and that ugly fuck is Cody.”
“Who are you?” Cody asked. “Set us free immediately.”
“Don’t worry about who I am,” I drawled, my voice vibrating with barely contained anger. “You three threatened a woman and kidnapped another. It’s time to pay for that.”
They stared at me, mouths gaping. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Sophie and Sienna Baldwin.”
Their beady eyes widened, panic bleeding through the bravado they were clinging to. One of them shook his head so violently the chains above him rattled.
“We were just following orders,” Rick stammered.
I chuckled, the sound stripped of humor as I reached for my holster and pulled out my knife, its weight familiar in my hands. It had been a while since I got my hands dirty, but anyone or anything who even thought about hurting Sophie warranted a firsthand lesson.
“Whose orders?” I asked, although I already knew. I wanted to hear him say it.
“Jacqueline’s.”
I crowded into his space, his sour breath hitting my face.
“Big fucking mistake, fellas. You shouldn’t hurt women.” I shoved my knife into his side, missing a vital organ as intended, then sliced his flesh open. He roared in agony, his eyes rolling back. “Or children, because Sienna… she’s a fucking child.”
I shot a silent glance at Amir and he mirrored my movement, making Jack scream in pain. The third one we’d save for last. He would be the one to see these two tortured and then spill all he knew.
“Where is Jacqueline?” I asked when the screams ceased.
“I d-don’t know,” Jack stammered.
“If I have to ask again, this will be even more unpleasant for you than it has to be,” I drawled.
Cody was the one who answered. “She took off and left us in Alaska.”
He was telling the truth, because that was what Kingston reported as well. The woman had slipped into the night and nobody had seen her since.
“Get me salt,” I barked at one of the guards, then turned to Rick. “That should refresh their memory.”
The mere idea that these pieces of shit threatened innocent women and were anywhere near Sophie drove a burning ball of fire into my chest.
I straightened, rolling my shoulders back as a bucket of salt thudded onto the floor between Amir and me. The sharp, mineral scent cut through the air.
A guard followed, pressing a heavy scoop into each of our hands, the coarse grains rasping softly as they shifted. I felt my pulse slow as my gaze locked on to Rick.
I studied him the way a surgeon studied an incision, detached and precise, weighing every possibility, every way to make this hurt the most.
This was personal.
“Which one of you put the gun to Sophie’s temple?” I asked, my voice level, almost bored.
For a heartbeat, no one answered. Then two pairs of eyes slid sideways, betraying their owner. Rick stiffened.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
Rick’s bravado evaporated under my stare; his chin trembled, teeth clicking faintly as his eyes darted like a trapped animal searching for an exit that didn’t exist.
“Take his shirt off,” I said to my man, not looking away from Rick. “And hold him.”
Rick struggled as his shirt was torn, but panic made him clumsy and weak. I heard Amir delivering the same treatment beside me, another man stripped and restrained, though my attention never left Rick.
I tilted the scoop slowly over his wound.
The reaction was instant.
His scream tore out of him, sharp and shrill, ricocheting off the walls until it seemed the room itself was screaming back.
Grinning, I wrenched the knife free from his side, ignoring the sharp intake of breath it tore from him. I pressed the blade to the hollow beneath his collarbone, then drew it across, tearing his flesh open.
“Remember their names,” I said quietly. “Sophie and Sienna Baldwin.” I pulled away, letting the silence stretch as his breathing turned ragged. “They’re the last names you’ll carry with you when you leave this earth.”
“I didn’t know they were off-limits,” he panted.
I poured another drizzle of salt on his wound while the other two snarled and struggled.
“Now you do,” I remarked lazily. “Amir, I think it’s time to use the cleaver and pliers on all three, wouldn’t you agree?”
Amir smiled coldly. “Oh, I would.”
All three men’s bodies bucked against their bindings, veins poking out of their necks, faces contorting as the pain took hold.
And this was just the beginning.