Chapter 3

The rain hit my face like sharp needles, but I didn’t care. I ran across the muddy grass as fast as I could, my heels sinking into the dirt until I finally kicked them off and kept running barefoot toward the open front door of the little house.

“Leo! Mrs. Gable!” I screamed desperately.

My voice was filled with fear. I rushed through the doorway, my breath uneven.

Inside, the small, cozy living room was a mess. A floor lamp lay on its side, the bulb broken into pieces across the wooden floor. The small wooden rocking chair where I used to feed Leo was pushed hard against the wall.

“Leo!” I screamed, rushing toward the back bedroom.

The small white crib was empty. The blue blanket my mother had knitted for him was lying on the floor in a messy crushed-up way, soaked in muddy water from a boot print.

He was gone. My two-year-old boy was completely gone.

“Elena! Stop!”

Strong hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders from behind and turned me around. I found myself face-to-face with Alexander. His expensive coat was soaked, his dark hair was wet and clung to his forehead but his eyes were alert and looking around the room like a soldier in a war zone.

“Let me go!” I struggled to say, hitting his chest with my fists. I didn’t care that he was the most powerful billionaire in the city. I didn’t care about our contract.

“They took him! Someone took my baby!”

“Calm down!” Alexander yelled quickly, he held my arms tighter until I stopped moving. His face was inches from mine, his expression hard as stone.

“Screaming won’t bring him back. Marcus! Search the area. Look for bullet shells, signs that someone broke in, or any security camera recordings.” 

Marcus immediately vanished through the back door, the light from his flashlight moved through the dark house as he searched the rooms.

I collapsed against Alexander’s chest, my strength left me completely, great fear pressing down my lungs. I expected him to push me away and remind me of his “no feelings” rule but instead, his large arms wrapped around my waist, holding me up. For a brief moment, I felt the steady, fast beating of his heart against my cheek. He was breathing just as hard as I was.

“Who knew he was here, Elena?” Alexander demanded, his voice was calm and low against my ear in a scary way. 

“Think. Whom did you tell?”

“Nobody,” I cried heavily, holding the fabric of his wet suit jacket tightly. “Nobody but Mrs. Gable, the nanny. I didn’t even tell my mother. I wanted him safe from my stepfather.”

“Sir!” Marcus’s voice echoed from the hallway. He walked out, holding a phone that was covered in a plastic bag. “I found Mrs. Gable. She was locked in the pantry, unconscious but breathing. Looks like she was hit on the head. But I found this on the kitchen counter. It’s an encrypted burner phone. It just rang once.”

Alexander let go of me instantly, stepping over the shattered glass to take the phone from Marcus. He pressed a button and turned on the speaker.

A heavy, distorted voice filled the quiet room.

“Mr. Blackwood. I see you’ve finally found your brother’s little bastard.”

A cold sweat broke out across my skin. I stepped closer to Alexander, my eyes fixed to the glowing screen of the burner phone.

“Who is this?” Alexander asked in a rough angry voice, his voice carrying a deadly warning. “If you touch that boy, I will spend every dime I have to hunt you down and bury you alive.”

The voice laughed softly but the cold lifeless sound made my stomach twist with fear. “Save your breath, Alexander. We don’t want your money. We want what Julian left behind in his will, the original plans for Blackwood Global’s shipping software and the encryption keys.”

Alexander’s jaw tightened so hard the muscles in his neck stood out with tension.

“That software controls half the commercial ports in the world. It’s a matter of national security.”

“Then I suggest you decide what matters more, your national security, or your nephew’s life,” the voice spoke cruelly.

“You have twenty-four hours to bring the encryption keys to the old industrial port area in Brooklyn. Come alone. If we see a single cop, or if your little contract wife tries anything stupid, the boy goes into the Atlantic.”

The line went completely dead.

“No, no, no!” I screamed, grabbing the phone from Alexander’s hand, but it was useless. The screen flashed 'No Signal' and went black.

“Alexander, we have to give it to them! Whatever software it is, just give it to them! Please, he’s just a baby!”

Alexander didn't answer. He turned his back at me, staring at the empty crib. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white.

“Sir,” Marcus said quietly, stepping forward. “The shipping software is the backbone of Blackwood Global. If those keys fall into the hands of our rivals, or a foreign government, the company will collapse by Monday morning. The board will strip you of your title. You’ll lose everything.”

I stared at Alexander, my heart stopping in my chest. ‘He’s a businessman,’ I remembered, a terrible wave of fear washed over me. ‘He doesn't care about people. He cares about control and his empire.’

“Alexander,” I pleaded, my voice breaking as I walked around to face him. I fell to my knees in front of him, grabbing the hem of his trousers, completely abandoning my pride. “Please. I’ll do anything. I’ll stay in your penthouse forever, obey every rule and be the perfect puppet wife. Just save my son.”

Alexander looked down at me. The stormy gray in his eyes had darkened into something cold, frightening, and impossible to read. He knelt down, his large hands catching me under my arms and lifting me back to my feet. He didn't let go. He pulled me flush against his hard body, his grip so fierce I could barely breathe.

“Get up, Elena,” he whispered, his voice vibrating with a dark, deep uncontrollable anger. “A Blackwood doesn't beg.”

“But right now, he's not a Blackwood to you! He's just a threat to your company!” I yelled, tears streaming down my face.

“He is my brother's blood,” Alexander muttered angrily, his face twisting into an expression of deep anger that made me freeze. “And nobody steals from me. Not my company, and not my family.”

He turned to Marcus, his voice cutting through the air like a knife. “Call the private jet. We’re heading back to the city. Track that burner phone signal. I don’t care if it bounced off ten satellites, find the general radius.”

“Yes, sir.” Marcus nodded, already typing furiously on his tablet.

Alexander grabbed my hand, his fingers locking tightly with mine. His hold on me was firm and controlling, refusing to let go, yet somehow it was the only thing keeping me steady in the middle of my nightmare.

He pulled me out of the little house and into the heavy rain. Before I could catch my breath, he pushed me into the back seat of the Maybach and got in beside me.

The car tore down the gravel driveway, heading back toward Manhattan at a dangerous speed.

Inside the dark cabin, the silence was suffocating. I pressed my forehead against the cool glass of the window, sobbing silently, my heart breaking into a million pieces for my little boy. ‘Is he cold? Is he crying for me?’

Suddenly, a warm, heavy weight settled over my shoulders.

I looked up. Alexander had taken off his dry cashmere overcoat and wrapped it around my shivering, wet body. Before I could say anything, he reached out, his long fingers catching the back of my neck and pulling me across the leather seat until I was pressed against his side.

“Stop crying,” he said softly, though his voice sounded rough, almost like he was hurting too. “We will get him back.”

“How can you be so sure?” I whispered against his shoulder, smelling the rich cedarwood scent of his skin. “You heard them. They want your entire empire.”

Alexander leaned his head back against the seat, his eyes staring into the shadows of the car. His hand slowly moved from my neck, his thumb brushing along my jaw in a slow, lingering touch that sent an unwanted shiver through me despite the fear surrounding us.

“They think they’re playing a game with a businessman,” Alexander whispered with a dark, dangerous threat in his tone. “They don’t realize they just woke up a monster. I will give them the meeting they want. But they aren’t leaving those port areas alive.”

He looked down at me, his eyes falling to my lips. For one long moment, the tension between us became almost unbearable. Then he leaned closer, his warm breath brushing softly against my mouth.

“And you, Elena,” he murmured, his thumb pressing into my lower lip, “are going to help me bait the trap.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, Marcus’s voice broke through the partition speaker.

“Sir, we have a problem. I traced the final destination of the burner phone’s registration. It wasn’t bought by a rival corporation or a foreign agent.”

Alexander’s hand froze on my jaw. “Who bought it, Marcus?”

Marcus swallowed hard over the speaker, his voice trembling. “The credit card used to secure the burner phone network belongs to Victor Vance. Your new wife’s stepfather.”

My heart stopped. My stepfather. The man who had ruined my life had my baby.

But before I could even scream, Marcus added one last sentence that shattered my entire world.

“And sir... there’s a second name on the security log for the port area warehouse. The person who authorized the entry codes for the kidnappers... It was your mother, Elena. Your mother isn’t in a coma. She’s the one who helped them take the boy.”