One hour ago~~~~~
Aaliyah sat inside the taxi before telling the driver the address that the man had mentioned.
It was foolish to go there alone, and Aaliyah couldn’t afford to risk Danny’s life by telling Dominic, either.
‘What should I do? Is there no way?’ Aaliyah thought, looking out of the car when an idea popped into her head.
‘Wait. There is indeed something that I can do. Why didn’t I think of it earlier?’ She quickly dialed Katherine’s number.
“Hello? Aaliyah? When are you returning? We are planning to gather at Mr. Nathan’s house. Is everything okay with your friend’s girl?” Katherine asked casually.
“Katherine, listen to me. This is important. I don’t have much time to explain everything. Can you come out of the room to talk?” Aaliyah waited for Katherine to walk out before she started speaking.
“You are at enough distance? Good. The friend, whose girlfriend I came to meet, is kidnapped by someone. And they want me to be there in exchange for him,”
“Kidnapped? What do you mean? Wait. Aaliyah! You are not going -”
Katherine took a deep breath to calm her raging emotions when Aaliyah started speaking again.
“Please, hear me out, Katherine. Danny’s life is important to me-”
“And so is yours, stupid. Do you think your life means nothing? We don’t love you?” Katherine snapped, heat rising to her head, and she walked further away.
“I know you all love me a lot, Kat. Danny is stuck there because of me. I have been learning kickboxing for more than ten years. Nothing will happen to me. I want your help. Now hear me out. It will take me around thirty minutes to be there. And around ten minutes to observe the situation,” Aaliyah took a deep breath.
Though Aaliyah wasn’t saying anything, Katherine could feel her sister was troubled this time.
“If I don’t call you back after forty minutes from now, tell Dominic everything. I am sending you the address. Send them here, okay? This way, I will save Danny, and Dominic will save me, okay?” Aaliyah asked.
“This is too risky, Aaliyah. I know you only mean good for others, but what if something happens to you? Do you think I would be able to take it? What about dad and Mom? Dad will tear this city,” Katherine bit her lips, remembering how angry he was and had destroyed so many places when Aaliyah almost lost her life in the fire.
“I know, Katherine. I have all of you, but Danny only has me. He’s trying to turn into a good leaf. His girlfriend is pregnant,” Aaliyah said, and Katherine clenched her fists.
As much as she hated to be selfish right now, she didn’t want Aaliyah to go there to save some family when her life could be at risk too.
“Aaliyah- ” Katherine whimpered.
“I trust you,” Aaliyah smiled before ending the call.
When Katherine heard the beep sound of the call ending, she looked around, her fingers trembling due to anxiousness. Aaliyah said to wait for forty minutes.
Does she have any idea how long that time is? How will she be able to keep a calm facade on her face when her sister’s life is in danger? Katherine walked inside the ladies’ washroom before looking at herself in the mirror.
“You can do this. Aaliyah trusts you. Danny’s life is important too. It’s a matter of three lives,” Katherine told herself and waited in the washroom.
If she doesn’t face anyone, she won’t have to pretend to be calm, right? Katherine nodded at her strategy.
She stood there for twenty minutes before looking at her vibrating phone.
“Hello,”
“Katherine? Where the hell are you? We are talking about your engagement and not anyone else’s. Even Bryce is here,” Laura asked, and Katherine placed a hand on her mouth to stop a sob from coming out.
She was scared for Aaliyah this time. Aaliyah has always been wishful and indulged in too many illegal things, but today she felt like something bad would happen. Her heartbeat was fast, and her intuition gave her negative vibes.
“Katherine? Are you there? Is something wrong, sweetheart?” Laura asked before laughing at something Nathan said.
“I am fine, mom. I was just out on the terrace to take some fresh air. You know my body is not compatible with too much junk food because of my diet routines, and I ate a lot due to happiness,” Katherine released a dry chuckle.
“Come down soon, okay? We are deciding the date for your engagement. We are thinking of this Sunday. I think Wednesday is good -”
“Mom, I will call you later, okay? I will be there soon. Right now, I feel like puking,” Katherine lied before ending the call and leaning back on the wall, wiping her tears.
Laura felt Katherine’s behavior was weird, but she thought it might be just because they were talking about her marriage, and she got nervous.
Meanwhile, Dominic walked out to receive a call from Jason.
“Hmm? What did you find out?” Dominic hummed.
“Sir, we have news on the man that the picture mentioned. Our men spotted him in LA, and we held him hostage. After beating him for some time and torturing him, he finally opened his mouth when we mentioned his family,” Jason said, and Dominic leaned on the railings, looking down mindlessly.
“What did he say?”
“Sir, he said he was spying on Miss Aaliyah on the orders of a man called Sage. He is not exactly a gang leader but is one of the main suspects as the leader of the supply chain of girls for human trafficking and drugs,” Jason said, and a nerve in Dominic’s forehead tickled at the information.
Human trafficking? Does that mean he was –
“However, he didn’t have any such intentions toward Miss Aaliyah. He was spying on her because of his obsession with her. Sage wants Miss Aaliyah, and he has been trying to get her for quite some time. Sage even kidnapped Ms. Aaliyah and took her to the island until she escaped,” Jason said.
“Any more information?”
“Yes, sir. According to what this guy is saying, that man is thinking of striking soon. He might use one of Miss Aaliyah’s friends to get to her,” Jason said, and Dominic hummed.
“Convey this information to Dimitri and tell him to stay on guard and arrange for security for Aaliyah to keep an eye on her 24/7 now,” Dominic ordered.
Once the call ended, he was about to go back inside the room when he paused abruptly.
A few minutes ago, Katherine had come out of the room in a hurry to talk to someone, no?
From what he heard, the voice seemed of Aaliyah. She looked urgent. Was everything okay?
“Mrs. Laura, where is Katherine?” Dominic asked.
“She is on the terrace. Why? Is something -” Laura couldn’t complete her sentence when Dominic left and she scrunched her brows.
What was happening? Why was everyone acting so weird today? She shrugged before smiling at Sandra as they shared embarrassing moments of Nathan’s childhood.
As Dominic was about to take the lift, which was right in front of the corridor to the ladies washroom, he heard silent sniffles and looked around.
What were the chances that these belonged to Katherine? Dominic had a weird intuition, and he stopped a teenage girl walking by.
“Hello, miss. I am waiting for my sister. She is in the washroom. Can you tell her to hurry up? I can’t go inside, and she left her phone with me,” Dominic said, and seeing the handsome man asking for help, the girl blushed and nodded before walking to the washroom.
“Hey, your brother is looking for you,” The girl said to Katherine, and the latter, who thought it was Matthews who had come for the marriage meeting, rushed out.
She needs to tell someone about this. Matthew can suggest to her what to do.
“Matthew, Aaliyah is -” Katherine paused when she realized the silhouette leaning on the wall wasn’t Matthew but Dominic.
“What about her, Katherine? Don’t you dare lie to me! I have already found out someone is targeting Aaliyah and wants her. Your little lie can put her life in danger,” Dominic looked at Katherine sternly, the concern for Aaliyah’s safety clear in his otherwise cold eyes.
Katherine could see it was futile to hide it anymore, and since twenty-five minutes already passed, she might as well tell him.
“You are right, Dominic. Someone is targeting Aaliyah. And my sister is stupid enough to go to that man to save her friend they have kidnapped,” Katherine said, and Dominic’s heart skipped a beat as his cold eyes started to turn angry, and Katherine involuntarily took a step back.
It was exactly like what Jason told him.
“How long have you known about this? And why did you hide it? Are you really this stupid? What else do you know? Did Aaliyah tell you this herself? What else did she say? Was the call you received indeed of Aaliyah?” Dominic’s words were cold and harsh, and Katherine gulped.
She felt like if she left anything from the information, she would face his wrath, and it didn’t look like a good idea. Katherine always felt wary of Bryce’s angry phase, and to say Dominic was his boss and someone that even uncle Nathan feared.
Katherine took a deep breath and started telling him everything, seeing him getting more angry.
“The f*ck!” Dominic punched the wall, breaking the tiles and Katherine flinched back in shock.
Bryce had come out to go and accompany Katherine to the terrace, and when he saw this scene, he immediately rushed to protect his girlfriend.
“Bro, what the hell? Are you out of your mind?!” Bryce hugged Katherine, who immediately broke into a sob as she hid behind Bryce.
“I am sorry, but I can’t believe your girlfriend is this stupid. Of course, Aaliyah would say something like that. Anyone in her position would, but you were her elder sister!” Dominic looked at Katherine before he ran a hand through his hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? Do you think we will reach there in a second? What if she doesn’t call after fifteen more minutes, and her life is in danger? Who would take responsibility if something happened to her? Do you not love her?” Dominic shook his head in disappointment, and when Bryce heard everything, he looked at Katherine in shock before following Dominic out.
Harry and Nathan, who walked out when they heard Bryce’s angry voice, looked at the leaving boys and then at Katherine, who fell to her knees, breaking into a mournful sob.
“Katherine? What’s wrong, my love?” Harry felt his heart aching at the site of his daughter and immediately rushed to her side.
“How dare they make my daughter cry?” Harry looked at Nathan, who was equally angry.
“I won’t allow this marriage to happen if this is exactly how they treat -”
“It’s not them, papa,” Katherine whimpered, and Laura and Sandra walked out to see the commotion.
“It’s Aaliyah,” Katherine sniffled. She told them everything Aaliyah told her, and Harry’s grip on Katherine’s body loosened as he stumbled back in shock.
“Harry, get a grip over yourself,” Nathan held his friend.
“Do we know who these people are?” Nathan asked, and Katherine shook her head.
“Is this why you didn’t come inside? You were afraid you won’t be able to pretend?” Laura hugged her elder daughter close.
“I am sorry, mom. I didn’t know what to do. Please forgive me. I didn’t know how dangerous these people could be,” Kathrine said as she noticed her father dialing Aaliyah’s number again and again, but the call was not going through.
Dominic saw his phone vibrating from a familiar number and picked up the call.
“Sir, it’s me, Danny. Aaliyah, she -” Danny told Dominic everything that happened in the basement, and the more Dominic heard, the angrier he became.
“Drive faster, will you?” Dominic’s voice turned octave.
After thirty-five minutes, Dominic stepped out of the car and looked at all the backup team he called at the last moment. There were forty of them, but they were enough to handle this situation.
“Let’s go,” Bryce nodded at the men, and Dominic looked at the construction site before taking a deep breath and entering.
They immediately rushed to the basement that Danny told them about, shooting all the men they were encountering with a gun with a silencer to make little to no noise.
“No!” Dominic heard a man’s voice of agony, and he looked at Bryce before nodding at him and following the source of the voice.
As Dominic and his team neared the main hall as quietly as they could, they heard the sound of some metal clanking, followed by something heavy falling on the ground.
“What did you do!” They heard the same man shouting, and Dominic entered the basement.
Dominic’s gun was ready to shoot whoever would come. However, when he saw the scene in front of him, his body became numb.
His woman was lying in the pool of her own blood.
He saw Aaliyah mouthing something toward him, and though he couldn’t understand it because of the distance, the helplessness in her eyes and the smile on her face were enough to awaken the beast inside him.