LOGINEMILIA POV
Day five of the countdown.Two days left.Carmen woke me at six AM."Time to work," she said. "I need you to handle a problem."I pulled on my clothes. Followed her to the office.She handed me a file."One of our property management tenants is threatening to sue," Carmen explained. "Says we violated the lease terms. Wants fifty thousand in damages.""Did we violate the terms?" I asked."No," Carmen said. "But he's friends with a lawyerEMILIA POVI heard the explosions.Felt the building shake.Heard gunfire."They're here," I said.Victoria's face appeared in the doorway.Smiling."Yes they are," she said. "Right on schedule."She'd been expecting them.Had planned for this.Tank had led them into a trap.The door exploded inward.Smoke filled the room.Through it, I saw Axel.Alive.Here.Fighting toward me."Axel!" I screamed.He saw me.Started running.Then Victoria's guards poured in.From everywhere.Hidden passages. Side doors.At least thirty.Surrounding Axel's team."Drop your weapons!" Victoria ordered.Axel's team was outnumbered three to one.No cover.No advantage.Bull looked at Axel.Axel nodded.They lowered their weapons.Guards rushed in.Confiscated everything.Forced Axel's team to their knees.Victoria walked into the r
AXEL POVDay four of searching.Nothing.Every lead was dead.Every location was empty.Every hope was fading."We're missing something," Bull said. "Victoria's moving supplies somewhere. Food. Medical equipment. She has to be.""So we track the supplies," I replied."Already tried," Bull said. "She's using multiple suppliers. Multiple delivery companies. All legitimate. No way to trace which deliveries are hers."Tank looked up from his laptop."I have an idea," he said."Wha
EMILIA POVDay three in captivity.I'd lost track of time.No windows. No clock. No way to measure.Just darkness and pain and Marco's screams.Victoria had moved from physical torture to something worse.Psychological.She'd set up a screen in front of my chair.Played recordings of Marco's torture on loop.His screams. His begging. His breaking.Over and over.For hours."Watch," Victoria ordered. "Watch what you caused.""I didn't cause this," I said. My voice was hoarse from crying."You chose this life," Victoria replied. "You chose Ghost. You chose the club. You chose the violence. So yes, you caused this."She pressed play again.Marco's face filled the screen.The moment Victoria burned him with the blowtorch.His scream was raw. Inhuman.The sound of something breaking inside him."Please," I begged. "Stop. I'll do anything. Just stop.""Anything?" Victoria asked."
AXEL POVThe clubhouse was chaos.Everyone shouting.Everyone panicking.Em was gone.Marco was gone.Sandra was gone.And we had no idea where."The vans," I said to Bull. "Where did they go?""We lost them," Bull admitted. "Both switched vehicles three times. Different locations. Different drivers. By the time our people caught up, the trails were cold.""So we have nothing," Tank said."We have to have something," I replied. "Victoria didn't just make them disappear. She took them somewhere. Somewhere she feels safe.""Could be any of her properties," Bull said. "We checked the compound. Empty. The warehouse. Empty. The office building. Empty. She's got them somewhere we don't know about.""Then we find it," I said. "We tear this city apart until we find them.""That could take days," Tank pointed out. "They might not have days."He was right.Victoria wouldn't wait.Wouldn't give us time to orga
EMILIA POVI woke up with a splitting headache.Couldn't remember where I was.Couldn't remember what happened.Tried to move.Couldn't.My hands were bound behind me.Zip tied to a chair.Again.My vision cleared slowly.I was in a large room.Concrete walls.High ceiling.Industrial.Like a warehouse.Cameras mounted in every corner.Red lights blinking.Recording.To my left, Marco sat in another chair.Also bound.Still in his hospital gown.IV still in his arm.Blood seeping through bandages."Marco," I said. My voice was hoarse."Em," Marco replied. "You're awake.""What happened?" I asked."They took us," Marco said. "Through the hospital window. Rappelled down. Put something over your face. Chloroform maybe. You've been out for hours.""Hours?" I repeated."At least three," Sandra's voice.I looked right.Sandra was bound to a
AXEL POVMorning came with bad news.Marco had crashed during the night.Internal bleeding.They'd rushed him back to surgery.Three hours on the table.Sandra called at eight AM."He's stable," she said. "But barely. The bullet did more damage than we thought. Nicked his spine. He might have permanent paralysis.""How bad?" I asked."Right arm," Sandra replied. "Maybe permanent loss of function. Maybe temporary. Too early to tell.""Can I see him?" I asked."Not yet," Sandra said. "He's in recovery. Sedated. Give it a few hours."I hung up.Told Em.She took it hard."Marco might lose his arm," Em said quietly. "Because of me. Because Rookie shot him to get to me.""This isn't your fault," I said."Isn't it?" Em challenged. "Victoria targeted me. Used me as bait. Marco got shot protecting me. Everything that's happened is because of me.""Everything that's happened is because of Victoria," I c
AXEL POVThe morning sun was climbing higher, burning off the last of the night's chill. The road stretched ahead of us, empty and infinite.Em's arms wrapped tight around my waist, her body pres
AXEL POVI watched Em crumble after Kane's video, and something in my chest cracked.She'd been so strong through everything, her father's death, learning about my past, facing down Kane's threat
AXEL POVI put it on speaker. "How do you know about our problems?""The Bratva knows many things," Volkov said pleasantly. "Including the location of the woman your enemy has taken."My heart stopped."You know where Carmen is," I said."We do," Volkov c
EMILIA POV"I've never been more sure of anything," I said. My fingers shook as I undid the first button on Axel's shirt. "I love you, Axel Cruz. And I'm tired of waiting."He froze for a second. His eyes locked on mine. Then he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me in. His mouth slammed against







