Chapter 33

MARCO

I paced back and forth in the cyber room, the soft hum of the machines around me doing nothing to calm my nerves. The glow of the monitors cast an eerie light, making the room feel more like a prison than a high-tech command center. I rotated a small pocket knife in my hand, the familiar weight grounding me, if only a little.

“Damn it,” I muttered to myself. “How could I let this happen? How did I lose her?” My voice echoed in the room, the frustration clear. “I should have tightened security more around the house. I should have seen this coming.”

I couldn’t shake the image of Sarah from my mind. The thought of her in Viktor’s hands made my blood boil. I stopped pacing and slammed the knife into the table, the blade sticking out at an angle.

“Viktor,” I growled. The name tasted like poison on my tongue. I closed my eyes, remembering our last encounter. I had spared his life then, thinking it was a mercy. A weakness. And now that same weakness had come back to hurt me, to hurt Sa