DOMINIC'S POV As though he could listen to my thoughts, my phone began to vibrate again. I didn't even have to look at the phone to know that it was Dino who was calling me. I declined the call and switched off. These days, the only person I hoped to call me was the mystery caller. The fact that I still did not know who it was from, was driving me crazy. A knock sounded on my door, disrupting my thoughts. “Come in,” I said. Barry walked into my office, looking calm and in control as always. I missed the days when I was just as stoic as Barry before Emily came and flipped my world upside down. “What is it?” I demanded. I wanted to be alone and his presence was not welcomed. Unfazed, Barry said, “Dino has been spotted near the warehouse in Italy. He's getting really desperate.” “Let him wait. I like how restless he is.” I said. “He will soon break and when that happens, he will give me whatever I want.” “And what about Sofia? How long do you plan on keeping her here?” He asked. “
EMILY’S POV I walked into Sofia's room to find her with a book in her hand. She looked up from the pages when I walked in. It was odd watching her sit in my clothes when we were the direct opposite of each other. My clothes were a little too small on her because she was taller than me, but she still made it work. I did not think that a woman like Sofia could ever look bad in anything. “Hey,” I told her softly. She set the book aside. “Hello.” “How'd you get the book?” I asked her curiously. “I asked the maid that brings me food if she can get me one. I assumed that there would be no problem with it; I am a guest, after all.” I heard the sarcasm dripping heavily from her voice. I sighed. I understood that it was hard for her to trust me or anybody in the house, but I hated how she treated me like the enemy when all I was trying to do was help her. She did not know the plans that Dominic had in store for her. The more she resisted my help, the more she gave reason for Dominic to r
DINO'S POV “We've searched all of Italy for him. He is not in this country, and nobody seems to know where he is.” Max, my cousin told me. It had been over a week since Sofia had been kidnapped by that bastard, and I could not find him anywhere. I hated the fact that he always seemed to be one step ahead of me. Dominic Moreno was a virus, the kind that had no cure and you could never get rid of him. When my father was alive, he had an obsession with overthrowing Dominic and taking over his empire, but he was not able to. He made me promise that if anything ever happened to him, I would take care of Dominic by myself. The more I went into this, the more it looked like I could never take the asshole down, but I would not give up; this was a fight to the death. “Where could he be? Sofi is in danger and we need to find a way to rescue her. This is my mess, she has nothing to do with this.” “We can keep looking, but I cannot promise that we will find anything. Sofia is a strong gi
DOMINIC'S POVI could see the tension in her shoulders as she went about her activities. I could not stand the fact that she was lying to me, but I also wouldn't reveal that I knew that she was getting nowhere with Sofia, so I continued to probe. “I hope you're not letting your emotions cloud your judgement?” I told her. She stopped what she was doing and then she turned to look at me. “Can you just trust me, already?” “I trust you. But I don't trust you not to let your emotions cloud your judgement when it comes to this. Sofia is not as innocent as she looks.” “And what makes you say that?” She shot back. “I don't have all the facts, but my gut tells me she is trouble and I have never been wrong.” I shot back. “Maybe your gut is telling you she is in trouble because you do not like her. She has never done anything to deserve the treatment that you want to give her.” She said strongly. “You just need to give me some more time so she can trust me.” I let out a humourless laugh.
EMILY’S POV I rushed back to the room after eavesdropping on the conversation between Dominic and Anita. My heart was racing in my chest and I had to fight hard to catch my breath. Dominic had just admitted to his daughter that he was in love with me, and he knew I was in love with him; all he was waiting for was for me to confess it to him. If I ever confessed my feelings out loud to Dominic, then it would make it real. It was scary putting your heart in the hands of someone. It was even scarier when you could not see a future without them in it, how the thought of losing them makes your chest hurt physically. Telling him would make those feelings too real and that was what I was scared of. Dominic and I were getting married, but it was a dangerous world we lived in, and he could die. What was I supposed to do with myself? I pushed the thoughts about Dominic's feelings towards me out of my mind and shifted my thoughts to what Dominic said to me. I could not lie that he had gotten
SOFIA'S POV I inhaled the fresh hair the moment we stepped outside. It felt like a little taste of freedom even though I was not actually free. It felt good to be away from that room. To feel the sun on my skin, to breathe in the natural air—it was exhilarating. I wish I could enjoy it alone, but Emily was beside me and two bodyguards walked behind us. She was quiet, and she also looked over the scenery, almost as though she was looking at it for the first time. I could not lie, whoever was in charge of Dominic's estate was doing a very good job with it. The grasses were properly trimmed, the flowers were blooming, and even the exterior of his mansion was exquisite. It suddenly occurred to me that I did not even know where I was. “What part of Italy is this?” I asked Emily. She turned her attention away from the flowers and turned to look at me. “We are not in Italy. We are in Ireland.” My heart sank. I had never been to Ireland before, I didn't even know anybody that lived here.
DOMINIC'S POV I watched as Emily and Sofia walked and talked from the window in my office. The placement of the windows allowed me to see every angle and corner of the estate. They seemed to be deep in conversation and I wondered what they were talking about. This was why I preferred for them to talk in her room, where I could hear whatever was happening; I hated being left in the dark, especially since I knew that Emily could not be honest with me. My phone began to ring, bringing me out of my reverie. I pulled it out of my pocket to see that it was an unknown number that was calling me. My heart sank, knowing it was the mystery caller again. I had not heard from him again after that first call, and a part of me wished he had given up. The FBI and Dino were after me, but I could handle them because I knew where they were and who they were. This was a bigger threat to me because I had no idea who this was. I answered the call immediately. “Hello.” “Your time is ticking. Savour t
DOMINIC'S POV I tapped my foot rapidly on the floor as anxiety took over. Lorenzo, Ezra and Barry walked into my office a day after the call just as I had instructed them to do. “What have you found?” “The number is untraceable. I can't find the location or any digital footprint that could lead us to whoever this person is.” Lorenzo said, looking a bit defeated. “I'll keep searching, but whoever did this is a professional and has made it extremely hard for anybody to find them.” “How about you guys?” I asked Ezra and Barry. “We spoke to our connects, but they did not know anything. We will keep searching, but Lorenzo is right. Whoever this is is not messing around, they do not want to be found.” Barry said. “Well, nobody does not exist. They definitely have a trail and we have to keep searching till we find it.” “What of Victor, has he found anything?” It was Ezra who asked that time around. “I'll call him right now to find out. You all are dismissed. Keep trying to see what y
EMILY’S POVVictoria held me in her arms as I broke down in tears. Just hearing his voice had shattered me. I knew he was sorry, I knew he was scared, but I didn't know how to forgive him. I'd always trusted Dominic not to hurt me and he did just that. He broke my heart into a million pieces, and I did not know how to trust him again or move past the pain. Especially now with the girls being held captive by people that could kill them. I felt like the new life I'd built for myself was slowly crashing down and I didn't know how to stop it. “I'm proud of you for standing your ground. You needed to let him know how much his actions had hurt you and you were right to ask for space.” Victoria assured me that she knew I felt guilty. I felt like maybe I'd been too hard on him. “I know, but why doesn't it feel that way. It feels…painful.” I told her, pulling away from her. “Because you love him, and you trusted him and he hurt you.” “I know,” I said quietly. She was right. I love him but
DOMINIC'S POVI looked at my phone like it was about to explode after Victor left. "Call her". His words kept ringing over and over again in my head. The way he looked at me, I knew he meant it. It had been almost a week since I last heard her voice. I made the painful decision of putting a wedge between us even though I knew it was totally wrong to do so—even though I knew that it would hurt her. I wanted to protect her from myself. I meant what I said to Victor. I didn't know how to be there for her in her grief while dealing with mine and also trying to get the girls back. Now I knew I had to call her, but I was scared that I'd hurt her so much that she wouldn't be mine. I was scared that I'd messed everything up with the distance to the point that she would never forgive me. I was scared of what she'd say, how she'd react. But the truth was that I missed her—I missed her terribly. Her voice, her laughter, her comforting touch. The way she made me feel like I wasn't the monster
EMILY’S POV Waiting was gruesome. It had been two days and I had not heard a word from any of them. Not even from Victor. I was constantly nervous, not getting enough sleep because I could not sleep, and when I did, I got nightmares. Victoria had not left the house since and it was nice to have someone around. We talked and we got to know each other better. It helped us to keep our minds off everything. I was grateful for her; she was the only thing keeping me a bit sane. I tried not to think about Dominic so much, cause thinking about him made me sad. No matter how much I tried to understand, I could not help the feeling of hurt that came as a result of his abandonment. We'd always gone through everything together, so why did it have to be different now? I missed him, but I was angry with him. After I called him two days back and he didn't respond, I promised myself not to try to contact him again. If he wanted to be away from me, then so be it. I would not beg him anymore. If
DOMINIC'S POV The warehouse looked like a haunted house. It was an old abandoned building. It was filled with silence and darkness except for the flickering security lights. My fingers clenched as I looked at the building that held the possibility that my daughter was in there. We were parked a safe distance from the location. This was not an attack, it was a stakeout, but everything in my body screamed for a shootout, but not with the girls in there. Lorenzo slid into the backseat. “I did another scan on the property and found that there was movement in the building. There are a few people on there, probably a way to reduce activity and take attention away from the building.” I was about to respond when my phone began to buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out to see who was calling. Emily. I allowed the phone to finish ringing before putting it back in my pocket. I looked up to find Victor shaking his head at me in disappointment. My heart sank. I knew it wasn't fair for me to kee
DOMINIC'S POV Victor pulled me aside after I was done talking to everybody with a serious expression on his face. “You need to talk to Emily.” He said simply. I let out a shaky breath as I ran my fingers through my hair. “I can't talk to her right now, Victor. She's counting on me for something that I can't give her right now and that I'd comfort. I'm a mess. My daughter is in the hands of my enemy and all I can think about is that I need to save her so I don't lose her.” “She's not asking you for comfort, Dominic. She just wants you to know that you are both in this together. If anything, she wants to comfort you. You can't let this whole thing tear you apart, that's how Damien will win.” I didn't respond. I knew he was right, but right now I could not give her what she was asking. I needed to handle this on my own. It was better she stayed away from the entire case. I could not handle emotions right now, it was for the best. I was about to respond when Lorenzo rushed bac
SOFIA'S POV I woke up covered in sweat, my wrist hurt from where they were bound. My mouth hurt from the gag and every single inch of my body hurt. The room was dark and damp and the smell of blood hung in the air. My head throbbed from when they'd delivered a blow to my head when I had tried to resist them. I had no idea how long I'd been out, but judging by how much my body hurt and the dried-up blood on Anita's head, I knew it had been a while. Anita was beside me; she was not moving, but I could hear her shallow breathing—thank God. Daniella was on my other side, she was bruised and very weak, but she still had a look of determination that I envied. I was just glad that we were all alive… for now. Slow and deliberate footsteps approached the space where we were kept. I winced as the door cracked open, casting light into the dark room. A man walked into the room. I gasped. He looked just like Dominic, just a bit older. He was put together, wore an expensive suit and everythi
EMILY’S POV I felt like I could not breathe as I paced up and down the length of my room. Dominic had left hours ago without so much as a word to me. I had not heard anything from them about the situation over there. I tried to call Dominic but he wasn't answering. I hated not knowing, I hated that this was happening. We'd don't everything to make sure that Damien did not find out about where they were. Everything to protect their location, but nothing has worked. Damien had still been able to get his hands on them. I imagined Anita and Daniella, terrified and Sofia too. It was ironic that the last time this had happened, it was Sofia's father who had taken them. Finally, unable to take the lack of information anymore, I called Victor. He answered immediately and I was relieved, but it also meant that Dominic was deliberately avoiding talking to me, which made me feel alone. “Emily?” “Hey, Victor. How are things over there?” There was a pause at the end of the line before
DOMINIC'S POV We got to Sydney at dawn. The air was thick with heat and tension as we drove through the street to my estate. When we got there, the place looked normal from the outside. I felt like I'd not been there in forever. The gate was still intact, so I knew that they didn't force themselves into the property. The cameras in front of the gate were still blinking rapidly. They had not been tampered with. All five of us—myself, Dino, Victor, Barry, and Ezra—walked into the house to inspect it. Lorenzo greeted us at the entrance, and he could not look me in the eye. That was good. I left him in charge, trusted him to take care of the girls, and he'd disappointed me. Even though I knew it wasn't really his fault. Damien and his men had bested him, but I needed someone to blame. “Walk us through what happened,” Victor told Lorenzo as we walked through the house. I'd asked that nothing be touched or cleaned until I came. I wanted to see everything for myself. “They came in s
EMILY’S POV “How did that even happen? The house is supposed to be very secure, and how did he even find out where they were?” The questions rushed out of me before I could stop them. The tears were flowing freely from my eyes, and I felt shattered. I'd spoken to Anita only some hours ago, and she sounded okay. She told me everything was fine. How could that have changed in only a short period? “I know as much as you do, Emily. I'm waiting for feedback from Lorenzo. I might have to make the trip down there.” Dominic said, sitting in the corner. Beside him were Victor, Barry, and Ezra, who were trying to console the both of us. “I'm going with you,” I told him. “You are not going with me.” He said quietly, shaking his head. “But—” I started to say, but he cut me off. “My decision has been made, and that is final. I am leaving before noon today, and you will stay here. I can't risk anything happening to you either.” He told me strongly. His tone left no room for argument, bu