ARAWN
Amber: I’d love nothing more.
I’m staring at the words on my screen as I sit in her dark and cold apartment.
After hours of waiting, I ended up opening the bottle of wine to myself, which was a bad idea, seeing how pissed I already was sober.
“What?” I answer Dario’s call in an annoyed tone before taking another swing from the bottle.
“She was last seen at the airport, boss. Apparently, she was with a man. But we lost her traces there,” Dario informs me, and I groan.
Perfect, right as I thought I would get a few guards off her back to make her BREATHE, she goes on a little trip with her boyfriend.
How much more idiotic can I even get?
“And?” I ask, sensing through the phone how fidgety Dario is.
“We could get our hands on security cameras. It seems like they took a private plane.”
I laugh, taking another sip. “Didn’t take her long to get another bit of luxury.”
“We will send you the pictures right away, and we will interrogate the men at the hangars to find out where they went.”
“Uh-huh,” I respond, cutting the call as I still have to find out if I want to know in which country Nerthus is fucking another dude.
That doesn’t get her shot in a drive-by though.
Taking a deep breath, I take a big gulp from the bottle as my phone chimes with an incoming text.
“Let’s see what Adonis you got yourself, my queen,” I chuckle to myself as I open Dario’s texts, my heart halting in my chest.
I know that guy.
I know that fucking bastard.
My eyes are glued to the screen as I go through the pictures that Dario floods my phone with.
Nerthus doesn’t look like she is going on a romantic trip at all, as her gaze is constantly lowered, and a baseball cap covers her eyes.
I can read her better than I could ever read myself and there she is, being pulled through the halls terrorized.
What the fuck?!
And how could anyone blame her as I would recognize that fatty, akne-stroken face everywhere.
Her fucking cousin, Francis.
I stare at my phone, frozen to my spot as I look at a picture of her distorting her face in disgust as the bastard presses a kiss onto her lips and my chest squeezes.
Why didn’t she fucking talk to me?
With an angry growl, I catapult the wine bottle onto one of her perfectly decorated walls, making me feel even angrier with myself.
What the fuck is wrong with me?!
Why didn’t you rip her fucking phone out of her hands?!
But I remember how she had absolutely demolished me with her words, and I’m seeing it as a fucking miracle that I was still able to react.
Instead of just letting myself fall to my knees to beg her to stay with me.
Burying my head into my hands, I wait for Dario’s call to reach my phone. And it takes seemingly fucking hours for them to get some information.
“Yes!” I shout at Dario as he calls me, making him gulp.
“It’s Le Bourget, boss,” he says, making me lift a brow.
“What the hell is a bourget?” I growl, and he sighs.
“Not a bourget. Le Bourget. It’s a private airport next to Paris.” This information doesn’t sit well with me as I literally feel fire expand in my chest.
“Get me a fucking plane. We are going after them.” I stand up, already walking to the door as I shout into the phone. “And find out what will fucking take place in Paris! It has to be huge, Dario! And God have mercy on your soul if you miss it!”
Reaching the concierge’s desk, I step behind it and make the young guy who is sitting behind a small screen jump.
“Do you have security cameras on the premises?” I ask as he looks at me terrorized.
“Ye- Yes, sir.”
“Perfect,” I groan, pointing to the little screen. “My girlfriend was attacked a few days ago. Could you show me the tapes?”
“Oh, my God,” he whispers, touching the visor of his cap. “This is horrible, I’m sorry! We didn’t get any reports on this. Was the police involved?”
Sighing, I pull out a bundle of cash, making his eyes widen, “Just show me the tapes.”
He takes the bundle with a big gulp and sits down, scrolling through the different angles and recordings.
“This one,” I say, spotting Francis leaving the foyer. Walking right past one of my men. “This is him.”
Changing to the security camera in the elevator, he rewinds the recording just until Nerthus gets into it with Paolo. I push out a breath of relief as I see Vito stepping out of the building, probably taking his position on the fire escape.
“This is awesome. Thank you!”
He smiles up at me awkwardly as I’m already stepping out of his space. “Did you find what you were looking for, Sir?”
“Oh, yes. Two big fat rats,” I chuckle, leaving him behind with a confused expression.
***
NERTHUS
“Home sweet home,” Francis chuckles as he turns on the light of the rotten Penthouse, Goldman has us staying in.
The buzzing coming from the streets calms my racing heart slightly as it reminds me of the bustling streets of The City, even if it sounds completely different.
“I wanted separate bedrooms, Francis,” I dare to complain lowly, making him laugh.
“We have separate bedrooms, baby.” He wraps his arms around me, making me push onto his arms to get him off me. “We just have adjoining doors for me to come cuddle if the night gets too scary.”
He laughs, and I finally get out of his hold, tripping over my duffle bag.
“Get that thing to stop vibrating,” he groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“It’s Arawn who is trying to reach me. You knew he would be looking for me.”
“Ah, by all the stories I heard, I’m actually surprised that we made it this far. He seems to be weaker or more stupid than the old man thought,” he chuckles before he glares down at me. “Pick it up. Make him stop calling you.”
Crawling to my purse, I take out my phone with shaky hands. Accepting the call, I take a deep breath and speak before my voice could fail me. “You have to stop calling me!”
“Why,” his growl makes a shiver run down my spine. “Am I disturbing your little boyfriend?”
“Just stop it,” I sigh, hugging my frame.
“I know where they are taking you, Nerthus. But I can’t reach you in time. You have to find a way to get away from them.”
My nails bury into my arm as my heart breaks at how he still wants to get me out of this mess after I tried to play him like this.
“I can’t,” I whisper, looking at Francis who is still observing me angrily. “They are everywhere.”
“I know. I know, and I’m sorry. But you have to try.”
Shaking my head, I can sense the reason why he made me call as Francis starts charging towards me.
“Just forget about me and save Danny!” I say quickly before disconnecting the call.
Francis is already groaning angrily as he tackles me down, too late for him to make Arawn hear anything about him attacking me. I wiggle out of his grip, and manage to run to the balcony. I have barely managed to open the doors to it as he is already back on me.
“No!” I scream, clawing myself onto the step to the outside as he tries to drag me back into the room.
Kicking right into his face, I ignore the satisfaction of hearing the sickening click of his nose breaking.
He roars in pain, letting go of me and I stumble out.
“Fucking bitch,” he curses as I gather all my strength to throw my phone into the night.
I whimper as my legs give out under me, my heart mourning all the memories that I had left in there. But soon enough, I won’t need them anyway. I hear him cursing me and every saint possible in the world out, but I don’t care.
He can’t hurt me because I have to be in perfect shape for the auction.
There is no possibility that he can reach Arawn through me now.
And Danny will be safe.
They both will be.