Chapter 1

“The deal is closed.” He said evenly. I stare at him as he closed the file and his sharp blue eyes snapped to me. He looked same terrifying man I met last week. A muscle pulsed in my jaw. If we didn't have a long history together, his life would already have been mine.

“It was nice working with you, Mr Salvatore.” He said extending his hand as I take it. My cold smile told him how little I cared.

“I’m sure you weren’t very mortified. Now, why don’t we set aside the business for a second and focus on the matter at hand?” I said leaning forward. He considered my words for a moment and nodded. The atmosphere shifted with the change of a new topic.

“By all means, Mr Salvatore.” Maverick didn’t bat an eye. His ‘Mr Salvatore’ irked my ears like a nail dragging on metal.

“Go right ahead,” I said smoothly. Maverick gave me a wry look.

“The Anderson’s business is on hold for the past six months. Since the blast, there is no investment, no partnership, and no involvement in armoury or shipment. It’s like they have disappeared.” At the mention, my mind drifted off to certain someone. If I was darkness, she was my light. The last memory of her being dragged created havoc in my head. I missed her warmth of affection, the storm behind her chestnut eyes, like ray fish without water.

“And?” I raised my brow. I was aware something fishy was going on, Silas was not a fool.

“I know you have some history with Alejandro Anderson, but they have no reason to hide away.” Maverick was a clever man. “Unless they have something that could be used against you,” I smirked.

He smiled.

“Or they are planning something big,” I confirmed his suspicion.

“Hunting down Anderson will benefit you in many ways. A lot of money. But according to my sources, money is not what you are fishing for.” Wrong. I was not fishing, I was hunting. If Silvio Salvatore had a weakness, it was Sadie Quintin.

“Why do you think I am here?” I gave him an icy smile. Tension released my muscles with each word escaping his mouth.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” His carefree smile matched mine. He studied me for a few long moments, then said bluntly.

“You have different assets. You’re not after his money neither you want the location of his son.”

“Now, that wasn’t very hard.” I leaned back against the chair, looking straight at him.

“Silas probably died in the blast, why’re you so sure he’s still alive?”

“Instincts.” His sharp eyes gleamed in the light of the dark room. I kept a poker face, showing neither surprise nor dismay. It was easy to act because it was the truth. I was not after Silas’s money or anything. I knew there was a solid chance Silas died in the blast, but the precise assumption that he was alive brought about a hidden rage in me.

Maverick didn’t believe me. His expressions remained stoic, unchanged but I could feel his amusement. The fucker was enjoying this.

“Tracking down Silas is not that hard, but you know the price.” Maverick Evans might not be a mafia lord, but he was as dangerous. Cyber sabotaging any device and even security that involved strict surveillance, he could break into the system with one tap. I had only met two people with such speciality–one was like my little brother, Micah and the other was in front of me.

“Name it.”

“I can not tell you now, but make sure to be available in near future, I might need to give you a call.” I allowed my shoulders to relax slightly. The man in front of me was a good judge of people, and right now, he was trying to read me like an open book. He needed something from me, and that explained the awful timing of our urgent meeting.

Of course, if his perseverance was that thorough, he probably knew the reason behind this meeting. And that worried me, but I was hoping he’d buy the story that had been circulated in my world. That the woman I loved was dead. Certainly, what I did–letting her go with Silas and risking my chances of never seeing her again–was not something a man like me would do when I was still interested in her, the woman I abducted.

Our relationship was forced and that was not unusual, my parent’s relationship was like that also, but letting her go was when I still wanted her. This was why she was safer with her identity hidden.

But the fact that I was oblivious to her location, and not able to track her down was agonising. She was with Silas, I was sure of that. And that bastard had done a good job at hiding her. It had been months now, I’d been hunting every hacker to track Silas or his father but it was futile.

Silas knew how I felt about her, then why he was not using her as leverage against me yet? Unless he had something else on his mind. I swallowed the rage bubbling in my throat.

“So,” he said when the silence stretched. “I take it we have an alliance?”

He inclined his head. “We have–but it doesn’t matter. I’m still not convinced about your motives, Mr Salvatore. That’s not how I work. If you want my true alliance, feel free to contact me next time you’re in the States.”

I looked at him for a long moment and then replied. “See you in Paris then.” We shook hands, and as we do, I tried to ignore the agonizing void expanding in my chest at the thought of the months ahead. Now that I had embarked on this path, there was no choice, not really.

I had to do this. This was the only way forward.

If I wanted Sadie for the long term, I had to give her the life she deserve.