[Caden]“How the fuck did you lose her?” I ask the head guard of Vivienne’s security detail.The older man, probably in his forties, looks like he might punch himself in the face.Considering he lost my wife and my son to my drunk-out-of-his-mind brother, I might punch him myself.“My team did all they could to follow them,” he says, “but they eventually lost them due to the heavy rain.”“Well, if we don’t find them in the next ten minutes, you and your team can get lost from this business as well.”The man drops his head, ashamed.It doesn’t help that I’m scared out of my fucking mind. I saw the footage myself. Samuel was indeed here, and he took Viv and Axel into his car—at gunpoint.What I don’t understand is—why would he do that? Why would he go after Viv and my son and not me? Why come back after all these years? For revenge? For payback?But why now? And why Vivienne? Doesn’t he know we’re divorced? And who the hell told him Axel is my son? Because if that’s not the case—if he d
“You’re bluffing.”“Am I now?”She stares hard at me before closing her eyes and muttering, “Shit!” Then she whips back around to face Samuel and backhands him again.“You… idiot. You couldn’t even do this one thing without making a mess out of it. If her men are actually outside, we are so damn screwed. You realize that? You fucking asshole.”If Samuel hadn’t sobered up earlier, he certainly seems awake now. He rubs his jaw, glaring hard at the woman in front of him.“Enough!” he snarls through gritted teeth. “I might have been drunk, but I wasn’t dead out of my mind. I know what happened, and those guards she’s talking about—they were nowhere near my car. I made sure of it.”I don’t give them the satisfaction of thinking I’m dangerously doubting the possibility of my men being outside. Instead, I only shrug, as if to say they can think what they want, but they’re fooling no one.Samuel keeps glaring, his fingers twitching like he’s either about to punch something—or lose what little
Axel burrows into my side, tightening his arms around my legs.His small frame trembles against mine, and I can feel the quick, shallow gasps of his breath against my hip.God, if only I could do something to get us out of here—sooner rather than later. Because God knows the longer we stay here, the harder it will be to get out of this alive.Especially now that I have two psychos to deal with.I hate that I’m so helpless. I hate that Axel has to witness this absolute madness.While Astrid continues with her rant, I steal a glance at the entrance, silently begging for any kind of help to arrive. My guards must have followed us—I’m sure of it. I have to be sure. So what the hell is taking them so long? Every second that ticks by feels like a countdown I can’t see the end of.“Hey!” Two fingers snap sharply in front of my face, jerking me back to the present. “Eyes over here,” Astrid sneers, her voice laced with mockery. “What are you even looking at, princess? Expecting a cavalry to bu
From everything I expected to happen tonight, Astrid showing up wasn’t even on the list.What the hell is she doing here?Not that I get the chance to ask.The two of them are already bickering.“What the hell was that for?” Samuel snaps, practically growling, somehow looking even taller and angrier than before.To my surprise, Astrid doesn’t look the least bit intimidated. In fact, with the way she’s holding herself—shoulders squared, fingers clenched at her sides, posture radiating fury—she looks ready to charge at any moment.“What the hell was that for?” she fires back. “That was for doing this!” She jabs a finger toward me and Axel. “How dare you go behind my back and pull something like this? How can you be so damn stupid?”“Stupid?” Samuel’s eyes shoot up, and something in him snaps.Before any of us can react, he grabs her by the throat and squeezes hard.“I’m not stupid,” he growls. “You’re the entitled bitch who can’t decide what she wants. You’re the dumbass wannabe who’s s
[Vivienne]The moment we step inside what seems like an unfinished room of sorts, the rancid smell of this bedraggled place crashes into me from all directions.It’s as if something died in here—and not in a peaceful way.I hear Axel gasp, his hands covering his mouth and nose almost instantly.Suddenly, the car that had felt suffocating earlier now seems better than this disaster of a place.“God, what is this place?” I moan, trying very hard to breathe through the poison.“Shut up!” But Samuel’s obviously in no mood to compromise with whatever he’s trying to achieve here.“Get over there.” He points at a pillar a few feet away from us, the only one that seems to be holding the entire place up. “Here. Take your spawn with you.” He pushes Axel toward me, and I gladly catch him in my arms.Anger pulses through every nerve ending inside me for how he’s been treating my son, but I keep my mouth shut, hoping to gain the upper hand soon enough—so I can finally show him his place.The basta
[Vivienne]“You’re making a huge mistake, Samuel. You have no idea what kind of trouble you’ve invited for yourself!”“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You think I care?” he spits out, the stench of alcohol practically burning my nostrils. He turns back to the road, driving like a madman. It doesn’t help that he’s holding Axel on his lap—one hand on the steering wheel, the other gripping a gun.I’m sitting next to him, and even though I’ve thought of a million ways to snatch that gun out of his hand, I can’t risk Axel’s life. This man has obviously lost his mind, and God knows what he’d do if I tried to fight him right now.“Why are you doing this?” I ask for what feels like the hundredth time since he forced us into his car. “You have nothing to gain.”All he’s doing is inviting a hell of a lot of trouble his way. I’m pretty sure my guards are following us. There’s no way he’s getting away from this unharmed. He’s either going to prison for a very long time… or, God forbid, he’s going to die.H