Vince’s POV
I run a hand through my hair down to my pounding chest. Then I stare down at the heaving chest. Despite the hurt blooming in my chest, I still don’t feel mad at Annette. My whole rage is directed towards Ryan.
He is married. Why does he have to call my wife out? Perhaps, Annette went to meet him so she could tell him off.
She hates him, right?
I don’t know if my theory of women hating their exes till the very end is realistic, but if I were a woman and a man dumped me for another, I would hate him for the rest of my life.
That is how it should be.
A man like that should be seen as a traitor.
The pounding of my heart isn’t slowing down at all, even though I have been in my office for almost ten minutes. I couldn’t withstand knowing those two were in the same store. And I couldn’t go in.
I didn’t want Ann to know I was following her, so I came to the office. Maybe I can distract myself with a bit of work. I also called Mathew to help me bring some files from my home office.
Going home is a terrible idea because I know I won’t be able to do anything. My thoughts will be about Ann, what she is doing with Ryan, and how long she is going to stay out with him or Mark before coming home.
So I guess it was better to be here instead. When I am done with work, I can go home.
My phone dings.
Luca’s name flashes across my screen. It’s a message. I pick up the phone, and it reads. “We are in your office.”
Office? I raise a brow in question before dialing his phone.
If he is in my office, where is Ann, then? Did she leave with Ryan? Did Ann ask him to leave, and he is here to report to me?
The phone starts to ring, but he doesn’t pick up, so I redial his number. Before he can pick up, someone bursts into my office.
I look up with a glare, only to see Ann with her two hands covering her face.
Apprehension slithers into my chest as I drop the phone and rush over to engulf her in a tight hug.
She is in tears.
I can’t bring myself to ask what was wrong and why she is here. She must have asked Luca to bring her here since I told him I was heading here before leaving the spot where I saw Ryan going into the same store as her.
Wait!
She met with Ryan, and now she is here with tears in her eyes. Did he hurt her? Did he touch her?
Worry begins to skirt the edges of my mind, but I try to calm myself while pulling her away to watch her face. She is avoiding my gaze, so I help her to the sofa, sit in front of her, and wait for her to say what happened.
She doesn’t say anything and she is no longer crying.
When I decide to speak up and ask what the problem was, she moves closer and hug me again, sniffling several times.
There is an instant burst of excitement in my chest, with all my worry draining away slowly.
“Are you okay?”
It takes a moment for her to respond. “Yes.”
“What happened?” I finally ask, hoping she won’t hear the loud hammering of my heart. I can hear it too.
She moves away, making me feel the sudden absence of her hands around me. I wish she can stay that way forever.
A tear escapes her eyes, pushing back the concern into my system. “Ann, what happened?”
She shakes her head.
“Was it Ryan? Did he hurt you?” She looks up at me in surprise. “I’m going to f***ing kill him!”
I shoot to my feet, but her words halt me. “It’s not Ryan. It’s Isaac.”
Blood roars in my ears as I ball my hand into a fist. I sit back slowly and take her trembling hands. “What happened?”
She wipes her tears dry and glances at me. “You knew I was with Ryan?”
I remain silent.
“Is Luca spying on me now?”
“No. I followed you to the store and I saw him. I left in anger immediately because I couldn’t stand it.”
She watches me for a moment before speaking up. “I need your help, Vince.”
I nod, urging her to go on.
“My mother,” she sobs again, almost breaking down, but my hands wrap around her shoulder, giving her comfort. “Isaac threatened to kill her if I don’t come back home.”
“What the hell!” I thunder with unadulterated rage building inside of me.
“I don’t know what to do but I can’t lose her. She is the only one I’ve got. I met with Ryan because he kept calling to tell me he had something important to inform me about. Turned out Isaac reached out to Ryan because they think we are still together. He threatened to kill Ryan’s mom if he doesn’t get me to speak to him over the phone, which I already did.” Another tear rolls down her eyes. I can see how hard she is trying not to break down again.
“I know I’m not supposed to be in contact with any of them. I know being in contact with them makes me a traitor because I am married to you and they are your rivals, Vince, but I can’t help it. I need my mother back with me. I want that monster gone.”
I nod. That is precisely what I am going to do. Now, my focus has been shifted majorly from getting the Silicones to Isaac Rossi. The main and single focus now is getting Isaac.
That is a simple thing to do.
I rise and walk to my desk to grab my phone. First, I need to call Fernando. He already knows about this, and it’s time for others to know, too.
Then we have to rescue that woman tonight and get Isaac in custody.
Fernando picks at the first ring. “Was just about to call you. Guess what?”
“I need to see you now. It’s urgent,” I mutter, ignoring his statement.
“Ok.” The seriousness is back in his tone before he disconnects his call. He should be here any moment from now. We need to strategize and make plans on how to get them.
Glad that they have no idea what I represent in Ann’s life, we will catch him unawares.
My wife is going nowhere. If I don’t do this to rescue her mother, I will definitely do this to ensure he doesn’t live to see another day, not to talk of letting Ann go back to him.
“Ryan is frightened,” Annette mentions, and I turn back to her. “His mother is in danger too. If Isaac doesn’t get what he wants, he will go after Ryan again and make him pay. We are not even together, that poor boy shouldn’t suffer for…” she pauses, perhaps realizing who she is talking about in front of me.
Or maybe she can see how upset I am when she shows him some concerns. Ryan is the least of my worries. I aim to get rid of Isaac and get Ann’s mother out.
“Carter,” she says, as if remembering something. “You said you went back to the hotel after that night when you rescued me, right?” I nod.
Does she know?
“Did you see Carter?” She asks, her lips trembling slightly, making me feel the need to embrace her once more to eliminate all the fears he has instilled in her.
I shake my head in response to her question.
“Are you sure? You didn’t see him even after that day?”
Of course I did, I want to say, but I can’t bring myself to say it.
“What is this about?”
How do I tell her I killed her stepbrother just to protect her? How would she feel? Will she be glad that I freed her from the shackles of her past?
“She mentioned that Carter is dead,” she suddenly announce.
She knows already.
“He was killed when he was sent to bring me back home. You didn’t do it, right?”
This is it.
I should tell her the truth. I should blurt out a loud “I killed him,” but my mouth won’t budge.
The dread on her face makes me want to deny it all. And that is precisely what I will do.
I didn’t kill him. But I saved her.
“No…”
The door burst open for the second time, interrupting me from going ahead and denying it, as Fernando rushes in with Luca.