LOGINChapter Forty EightElena’s POVThe man in white didn’t blink.He stood a few feet away, tall and terrifyingly still, the long folds of his kaftan rippling in the desert wind. His face was sharp, perfectly sculpted like marble carved with authority and silence. The sun caught on the silver embroidery at his collar, and for a second, I thought he might be beautiful. But then his eyes met mine.Blank.Cold.Empty.He looked at me as if I were air something that existed only to be ignored before turning his head slightly toward one of his men. He said something in Arabic, too fast for me to understand.The guard beside him nodded and gestured for me to follow.My heart jumped. “Wait what’s going on?” I stammered, my voice shaking. “I didn’t do anything. I swear, I’m new here. I don’t even know what’s happening!”No one answered.Another man grabbed my arm, firm but not brutal, and led me toward one of the black G wagons parked in a perfect line behind the convoy. The sun reflected off
Chapter Forty SevenSandra’s POVThe room went black.For a second, I thought it was just my imagination — the hum of the ceiling fan fading, the light blinking once, twice, then gone.But then Brian moved. Quick. Sharp. A shadow among shadows.“Stay behind me,” he said, his voice low but steady.Something in his tone made my pulse quicken. I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his presence the heat of him, the calm in his movements, the way he filled the dark with control.“Is it a power cut?” I whispered.“No.” His reply was immediate. “Emergency power would’ve kicked in. Someone killed the lights.”My breath caught. “Someone?”He didn’t answer. He just moved closer, his arm brushing against mine. The contact made me jolt, but it grounded me too. His scent that faint mix of smoke, dust, and something darker wrapped around me like armor.“Stay quiet,” he whispered. “And don’t move unless I tell you to.”I swallowed hard and nodded, though he couldn’t see me.The silence stretche
Chapter Forty SixSandra’s POVThe silence inside the small office was thick.The air smelled of coffee gone cold, and the low hum of the ceiling fan made the room feel strangely alive. Brian stood by the desk, flipping through a folder, while I tried to stop my heart from pounding.He looked so calm, too calm like a man who had seen enough chaos to learn how to hide it well.“Anything?” I asked softly, breaking the silence.He didn’t answer at first. Just flipped another page, his brow furrowing slightly. Then, he exhaled through his nose. “No entry records under Elena’s name,” he said. “But… there’s something odd.”He turned the logbook around so I could see. My eyes followed his finger as it pointed to a signature at the bottom of a page.“Elena Alvarez visitor clearance,” it read. But the date was three days ago.“That’s impossible,” I whispered. “She disappeared five days ago.”He nodded slowly. “Exactly.”The realization hit me like a cold slap. Someone had signed her name a
Chapter Forty FiveSandra’s POVMy hands were still trembling on the steering wheel.The headlights from the monster Ford were too bright, flooding through my cracked windshield, blinding me until I could barely see anything but light and panic. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to breathe.I could hear footsteps approaching measured, heavy, confident.“Step out of the car,” a voice said from outside.Deep. Calm. Controlled.The kind of voice that didn’t shout to sound dangerous it already was.I wiped my palms on my jeans and slowly opened the door. The night air hit me cold against my sweaty skin. I stepped out, my heart beating so loud it almost drowned the sound of the engines idling behind him.When my eyes adjusted, I saw him.A young man, maybe in his late twenties. Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair that curled slightly at the ends and a stubble that made him look like someone too serious for his age. His shirt was half-rolled at the sleeves, his boots covered in dust and
Chapter Forty FourSandra’s POVTwo days.Forty-eight long hours.And still no sign of Elena.At first, I tried to tell myself it wasn’t strange. She could’ve gone to the club. She could’ve stayed at her father’s place. She could’ve been busy, tired, or just needed space.But by the second night, that excuse stopped working.My calls went unanswered. Her phone went straight to voicemail. The last message I sent still sat on “delivered,” not “read.” And that alone told me something was very, very wrong.I sat on my bed, phone in hand, staring at our last chat. The little heart emoji she’d sent me two nights ago. The one that had felt like any other day.“Elena,” I whispered, scrolling up. “Where the hell are you?”Outside, Abuja’s night lights blinked faintly through my curtain. The street was quiet, too quiet, except for a distant car horn and the whine of the generator from next door. My room was filled with open books and an untouched cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago.I
Chapter Forty ThreeElena’s POVThe sun felt different here.It was sharp and golden, painting everything in blinding light. Even the air seemed heavier, filled with dust and heat that clung to the skin like silk and smoke mixed together.I followed him.Not because I wanted to not anymore but because his silence left no room for choice.Valerio walked ahead of me across the runway, tall and composed, every step sharp with control. The desert wind caught the edge of his shirt, fluttering it slightly, but even that looked deliberate like the world itself knew better than to mess with him.I tried to keep my distance, but somehow I kept matching his pace. My sandals clicked against the pavement, the sound too loud in the emptiness between us.He turned once.Just once.His eyes found me cold, sharp, and full of a kind of disgust that burned deeper than anger. I froze where I stood.“Get her decent,” he said flatly, his voice cutting through the wind. “Now.”No name. No emotio







