Chapter 73
DIANA
I don’t know where they’re taking Kai, but I’m not just going to pace back and forth. I am going to find him.
My eyes trail up towards the slat of moonlight that shines down from the clerestory window in the basement.
Bàba’s guards left me down here a while ago and locked the door. Māma’s begging didn’t do enough to stop him.
“She’ll know exactly how it feels to have nothing,” Bàba snarls. He shoves me to the floor. “Maybe then you’ll think twice about walking away from this family.”
A chill bristles past me and sinks like pinpricks into my skin.
If I prop up the ladder against the wall, I can climb through the window.
I just need something to smash it. I rifle through the storage around me, searching for something—anything—that can help me break out.
But there are only large marble sculptures that are too heavy to lift on my own, and tea sets that we no longer use.
I rake my fingers through my hair, pacing back and forth. There has to be something here I can use to get out.
And then what? Hans has probably been fired. Who else is going to come and get you out without anyone noticing?
Suddenly, I hear a sharp thud.
My head snaps up towards one of the clerestory windows. A shadow falls over it before a hammer smashes through the window pane. It bursts. Glass rains down around me.
“Diana!”
I gasp as Sophia leans through the gap. Moonlight slathers over her worried face.
“Sophia?” I hurry over to the window, the glass crushing under my heels. “What are you doing?”
Luke squishes up beside her, making Sophia scowl. “Obviously, we’re here to save your ass!”
My brows arch in disbelief. “You two are working together?”
“Against my will,” Sophia grouses.
“Oh, drop the act,” Luke scoffs, “I know you want me.”
“Just climb out.” Sophia glares at Luke who smiles back at her. “Before I ax him down.”
I climb up the ladder and ease myself through the window frame while Luke and Sophia pull me out.
We sneak away from the mansion and hop into Luke’s car.
I secure my seatbelt over my body. “Exactly how did the two of you wind up working together?”
Sophia turns around to look at me from the passenger seat.
“Look, all you need to know is that Uncle Frederik and I sifted through bàba’s study while they were at the game.
We found evidence of the men he called on to shut down the stadium, and push everyone out.
By the time we arrived, the stadium was empty.
That’s where uncle and I ran into Stella and the others.
We told them everything and now Stella has everyone gathered at her place. ”
“Thank god for that,” Luke adds. “Rowan and I would be stinking up the place without a shower.”
My brows furrow. “Why is everyone at her place?”
“We’re not just here to save you,” Sophia declares, “We’re also going to bring down bàba and everything he’s built.”
Luke eases the car onto the curb as we arrive at Stella’s apartment.
“Wait, what about Kai?” I panic. “M-My father took him away and I don’t know where he is—”
“Diana, relax.” Luke pulls me out of the car with a smooth, reassuring smile. “We got that handled.”
“How?”
With his hands in his pockets, Luke slouches against his car and nods at something behind me.
I dart around. A familiar black car with a dent pulls up. The door opens.
“Oh my god.”
Kai steps out of the car.
Behind him, Hans and Helen emerge looking proud and triumphant.
“Surprise!” Helen squeals.
“You didn’t think we’d let Edward and Matthias win so easily, would you?” Hans laughs.
A choked sob breaks from my throat. “Kai!”
His eyes widen in relief. “Diana!”
We run towards each other until we collide on the sidewalk.
“Come here.” Kai crushes me to his chest. Tears fall from my eyes, as I kiss him. He cups my face, his fingers sinking into my hair.
“You okay?” he whispers. “Are you hurt?”
“I-I’m fine. I just—” A broken, tearful laugh escapes me. “Thank god you’re okay.”
Kai kisses my forehead with a fervor I can feel in my bones. “I’ll always run back to you. You know that.”
Behind us, Luke sighs and throws his arms up at the Heavens. “When is it gonna be my turn, huh?”
“When you come up with better pick up lines.” Sophia claps her hands impatiently. “Now, let’s go! We have a bastard to take down.”
Kai keeps one arm around my waist as we follow the others into Stella’s apartment.
Standing in the living room is Uncle Frederik pinning documents onto a CatchCo easel board, as Wallace, Rowan, and Stella sit there in rapture with mugs of coffee in their hands.
Uncle Frederik lights up at the sight of Kai and me. “Oh, good you’re all here now. We can get started.”
Kai and I sit down, accepting mugs of matcha and coffee from Stella who hugs the both of us in relief.
Sophia stands up and clears her throat, “Alright, this is what you need to know.”
She and Uncle Frederik expose all the intel they’ve gathered about bàba for the last several months. Every emerging detail sickens and disturbs me. So much of what I believed was coincidental was actually calculated and deliberate.
“I’ve waited so long to finally get dirt on my brother,” Uncle Frederik confesses. “It was difficult until I got Sophia’s help.”
Sophia’s bold rebellion over the last few months makes sense now. She challenged bàba because she knew his downfall was coming.
“All we need to do now is expose my father’s crimes for everyone to see,” Sophia says.
“You can’t get a reporter to cover this, though,” Hans objects. “It’ll take too much time to pull a story together.”
“And documentation won’t be enough to bring him down,” I add. “We need him confessing to those crimes on record.”
“How are we going to do that?” Helen asks.
Suddenly, my phone goes off with an incoming call. I furrow my brows at the caller ID. “It’s Andrea.”
Wary and nervous, I answer the call and brace for the worst. “Hello? Is everything okay?”
“I broke up with Simon.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “About time.”
“I was staying with him because I needed to prove something and now, I have.” There’s a determined flare to her voice that I wish I could dig into, but the impatient looks staring back at me have me ending the call early.
“I’m sorry, Andrea, is there a way for us to talk about this later? I’m just trying to figure out how to deal with my father.”
Her tone shifts. “He’s business partners with Matthias Valdis now, right?”
I roll my eyes, blowing out an exhausted breath. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was.”
“Then why take out one entitled dick when we can take down two?”