Chapter 7

The atmosphere inside the car changed instantly. Marcus was still talking through the speaker but my mind went blank. I could hear his voice, yet I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

‘They’re going after Leo.’

“What did you just say?” I screamed. I jerked forward against my seatbelt. The beautiful blue dress suddenly felt too tight, like it was choking me. “Marcus! What is happening to my baby?!”

“The alarms on the sixty-fifth floor were cut from the inside, ma’am,” Marcus said. His voice sounded tense and out of breath. He was driving the car fast now, cutting through the New York traffic.

“We lost the cameras. They used the party at the hotel to draw our guards away. They are inside the penthouse.”

A horrible, heavy feeling hit my stomach. My hands began to shake so badly I couldn’t even hold the seat.

Gideon Ross didn’t just want to run away to Switzerland. He wanted to steal Leo too. He wanted both of my boys so he could control the company and he didn’t care who he hurt to do it.

“Alexander,” I gasped, turning to look at him. I grabbed his arm. “Alexander, please. Leo is just a baby. He’s asleep from the medicine. He can’t run. He has nobody to protect him.”

The man who had just kissed me a few seconds ago was completely gone. The cold billionaire was back. Alexander didn’t blink or shout. He didn’t look scared but the veins in his arms were popping out against his white shirt and his eyes were dark with anger.

He reached for my wrist and squeezed it gently. His hand was huge and tight, holding me still so I wouldn’t lose my mind.

“Listen to me, Elena,” he said, his deep voice breaking through my panic. “Look at me.”

I forced myself to look into his gray eyes.

“Leo is going to be fine,” he told me, his face hard. “I built that penthouse like a fortress. The bedroom has a heavy metal panic door that locks automatically when the power goes out. Ross’s men might be in the hallway but they cannot break through that thick metal before I get there.”

“And what if they do?” My voice broke and a tear ran down my face. “What if they get inside? He’s my whole life, Alexander.”

“They won't,” Alexander said sharply. He let go of my wrist and leaned forward, tapping the car’s screen. “Marcus. Lock down the elevators. Cut the main power to the whole building. If those bastards are on the sixty-fifth floor, trap them up there.”

“I already did, sir,” Marcus said, his tires making a loud screeching noise as he hit the highway. “But they didn’t use the elevators. They landed a private helicopter right on the roof.”

“Then they are stuck on the top floors,” Alexander said, his eyes narrowing.

He reached into the space between our seats and pulled out two small earpieces. He put one in his ear and handed the other to me. “Put this on.”

My fingers were shaking so much I almost dropped it, but I managed to push it into my ear.

“We aren’t going to the airport anymore,” Alexander told me, his voice steady and scary. “We are going back to the penthouse. And when we find them, they will pay for touching what is mine.”

The drive back was a nightmare. I sat in the dark car, holding my dress, listening to the messy radio talk in my ear. Marcus’s team was trying to talk to the guards at the building but there was too much static.

“We see them on the roof,” a guard’s voice loud in my ear. “It’s a black helicopter. Four men dressed in black are heading down the stairs. Sir, they have heavy tools to blow open the doors.”

Hearing that made my heart stop. ‘Tools to blow open the doors.’ They were going to use explosives on the room where my little baby was sleeping.

“Drive faster, Marcus,” Alexander said quietly.

The car slammed to a stop in the dark underground garage. The moment it stopped, Alexander threw his door open and stepped out. I rushed out right behind him, my high heels making a loud clicking sound on the concrete.

“Elena, stay downstairs in the lobby with Marcus,” Alexander said, turning to face me. He reached behind his back to check the gun tucked into his pants. “My men will clear the rooms. You wait here.”

“No!” I shouted. My voice echoed in the empty garage. I grabbed his shirt. “I am not sitting down here while men with guns are near my son! You said I am a Blackwood now. You said you protect what belongs to you. Leo belongs to me and I am going up to protect him too!”

Alexander stared down at me, his eyes intense and full of emotion. For a second, I thought he was going to force me to stay in the car. But when he saw the anger in my eyes, his face changed. He looked almost proud of me.

“Stay right behind me,” he said in a low, angry voice, his hand touching my hair for a split second. “If you hear a gunshot, drop to the floor immediately. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I replied quietly.

“Marcus, let's go,” Alexander said, moving toward the private elevator running on backup power. “We’re going up.”

The elevator ride felt like it took hours. It was completely dark except for a small red emergency light. Nobody spoke. The only sound was the heavy breathing and the hum of the elevator wires.

‘Ding.’

The doors opened straight into the penthouse.

The place was totally dark. The only light came from the city windows. The air smelled like smoke. The beautiful entrance was destroyed. Pictures were knocked off the walls and there were broken glasses all over the floor.

Alexander stepped out first, holding his gun up, keeping his body in front of mine. Marcus followed with a big rifle.

We moved quietly through the dark living room. My heart was beating so loud I thought the bad guys would hear it. We got close to the hallway where the bedrooms were.

Suddenly, a loud metallic noise echoed and a man’s voice spoke through a radio.

“The metal door won’t open. Set the second explosive on the hinges. Do it fast, we only have three minutes before the cops get here.”

“Move,” Alexander whispered in my ear.

We turned the corner into the hallway. At the end of the hall, right outside Leo’s room, two men dressed in black were kneeling by the door. I saw a yellow wire taped to the wall.

“Hey! Someone’s here—” one of the men yelled, pointing his gun at us.

‘Bang! Bang!’

Alexander didn’t hesitate. He fired twice. The first man dropped to the floor instantly. The second man started shooting wildly, his loud gun shattering a big vase behind us.

Marcus fired his rifle and the second man fell down.

Everything went quiet again. The hallway felt heavy and hot.

“Elena, wait!” Alexander shouted but I didn’t listen.

I tore away from him and ran down the hall, stepping right over the men on the floor. I reached the heavy metal door and beat my hands against it.

“Leo! Leo, can you hear me?” I screamed, pressing my ear to the cold metal. “It's Mommy! Open this door Alexander, unlock it!”

Alexander ran and typed a long code into the wall panel. A loud hissing sound came from the door and the heavy metal began to slide open.

I pushed my way inside before it was even fully open.

The bedroom looked normal. The little nightlight was still glowing in the corner. The wooden crib was standing right in the middle of the room. I rushed over and looked inside. The crib was empty.

The blue blanket was thrown on the floor. Leo’s little teddy bear was ripped completely in half on the rug.

“No,” I whispered. My legs felt weak and shaky and I fell to my knees, holding the ripped toy. “No, no, no! Leo! Where is he?!”

Alexander walked into the room, his eyes looking everywhere. He walked to the glass doors that led to the balcony. The lock was broken and the door was swinging open in the cold wind.

He stepped outside and looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, a loud, powerful noise filled the air. The sound of helicopter blades shook the glass windows of the penthouse.

Alexander’s earpiece made a loud crackling noise and a new voice came through. It was Gideon Ross and he was laughing.

“Did you think I only sent men through the stairs, Alexander?” Gideon mocked, sounding very happy with himself. “The men in the hall were just a trick to keep your guards busy. Look up, Ice King. Say goodbye to the boys.”

I ran out onto the windy balcony, holding onto Alexander’s arm as I looked up.

A big black helicopter was lifting off the roof, moving fast into the dark sky. Inside the helicopter, a small light turned on for a second.

I saw a man dressed in black. And right next to him, strapped into a small car seat, was my little Leo. He was awake, his tiny face pressed against the glass. He was hitting his hand against the window, crying for me.

“Leo!” I screamed into the night. The wind swallowed my voice. “Alexander, do something! Shoot it! Please, don’t let them take him away!”

Alexander stood perfectly still in the cold wind, watching the helicopter go. He raised his gun but it was already too far away, disappearing into the dark rain clouds over the ocean. His hand squeezed the gun so hard his skin turned white.

“They are heading over the ocean,” Marcus called out from the doorway, looking at a tablet in his hand. “Sir, we lost them. He has both of the twins now.”

The balcony fell silent, filled with an unexpected sadness. I looked at Alexander, my mind breaking. Both of my babies were gone.

Alexander slowly lowered his gun. He turned to look at me. The anger in his eyes was gone, replaced by something cold and permanent.

He reached out and grabbed my arms, pulling my shaking body against his chest.

He leaned down, his lips close to my ear as the rain started to pour down on us.

“Pack your things, Elena,” he whispered, his voice dangerously calm. “We are going to find them. And I will burn everything in Europe until we bring our sons home.”