MasukEMILY'S POV Jeremy's apartment is small and cold and I hate that I'm here. Jeremy sets up an inflatable bed in the corner of the living room while I stand there watching. He moves quickly, efficiently. The mattress hisses as it fills with air, and the sound is loud in the quiet apartment. "Here" he says, patting the mattress. "It's not much but it's better than the couch." I don't say anything. I just sit down on the edge of it. The plastic crinkles under my weight and I can feel the cold floor seeping through the thin material. Ethan is already on the couch, staring at his phone. The tracking app is still open and he hasn't looked away from it since we got here. I lie down and stare at the ceiling. The lights are off, and the only glow comes from Ethan's phone screen. Shadows stretch across the walls and the silence is heavy and suffocating. I don't sleep. I can't. Every time I close my eyes I see Leah's face.. I shiver and wrap my arms around myself. The cold seeps through
LEAH'S POV I sit in the corner of the cold room with my knees pulled up to my chest and my back against the wall. The phone is still hidden in my waistband, and I can feel it pressing against my skin, warm and heavy and full of hope I don't dare to hold on to. Sophie is asleep on the mattress with her head on Mom's lap. I don't know how long I've been sitting here for God knows how long it should be minutes maybe or hours it could be days. Time doesn't exist in this room, it just stretches on and on until you begin to forget what day it is. I reach down and pull out the phone. The screen is dark as I press the power button and it lights up. The battery icon flashes red. 5%. Just five percent of battery left. My heart sinks. I can't charge it. I look around to see if I can find an outlet but there is none even if I find one, I don't have the power brick. If I leave it on, it will die. If it dies, I lose everything and any chance of someone ever finding me. So I hold the
DAMIEN'S POV I finally calmed down after what felt like hours, crying in Nina’s arms like a child. I don't know how long I've been sitting here on the floor of Nina's study with my back against the wall and my face wet and my chest hollow. The fire in the hearth has burned down to embers. The room is dim and quiet. Nina sits in her chair across from me watching me waiting, letting me fall apart without trying to fix it. She didn't say a word, just kept patting my back and handing me wipes. I wipe my face with the back of my hand. My eyes are raw and my throat is sore. My whole body feels like it's been wrung out and left to dry. "I'm sorry" I say. My voice is hoarse. "I didn't mean to—" "Stop." Her voice is gentle but firm. "You don't apologize for feeling Damien. You're not a machine. You're a man who has loved deeply and lost deeply. That's not something to be ashamed of." I don't know what to say to that. So I just sit there in the silence. She stands up slowly and walk
LEAH'S POV I sit in the cold room staring at the open space looking at my sister and my mother. Sophie is curled up on the dirty mattress with her head on Mom's lap and Mom hasn't moved in hours. She just stares at the wall like she's already given up. I'm done being helpless. I'm done waiting for someone to save me. I can't keep hoping that he'll come. If Damien isn't coming then I'll save myself. I cannot keep my sister in this place any longer, she deserves better. I push myself up and walk to the door. My legs are weak from sitting too long but I force them to move and press my eye against the small gap near the hinges and peer out. The hallway is dimly lit and two guards are sitting at a small table playing cards. Between them on the edge of the table is my phone. I recognize the cracked screen and the familiar case. My heart pounds and my palms are sweating. I need to get that phone but how? I step back from the door and take a shaky breath. Think, Leah think
ISABELLA'S POV The penthouse is packed with guests I invited for dinner because I needed it after such a wonderful accomplishment. Warm golden light spills from the chandeliers casting a soft glow over the crowd of Miami's elite and the clink of champagne glasses mingles with laughter and the low hum of conversation. Everywhere I look people are smiling and drinking and fanning over me like I'm the queen of this city well at this point I am. I hold court on the velvet chaise near the window with a half-empty glass of champagne in my hand. The city sprawls below glittering and indifferent but up here all eyes are on me. "Can you believe it?" Valerie says. She's a socialite with too much Botox and too little sense but she's useful for spreading rumors. "Isabella Reyes and Damien Cross. The wedding of the decade. Everyone is talking about it." "Please" another woman chimes in. "They're calling you Miami's power couple. You're practically royalty now. You have everything—a rich
ETHAN'S POV I can't sit still. My leg bounces under the table and my eyes keep drifting to my phone. Nothing. Still nothing. Emily pushes her chair back with a harsh scrape against the floor. She stands up, her face pale, her hands shaking. "I'm leaving," she says. "I can't just sit here waiting. I need to do something." I stand up too. "Where are you going to go? Where will you start looking? We don't even know where to begin." She stops and stares at me. I can see the frustration in her eyes, the helplessness but she knows it's true so she sinks back down into her chair and presses her palms against her eyes. Her whole body was shaking. "We don't know anything," she whispers. "We don't know where she is or who took her or if she's even" "Don't." I cut her off. "Don't say it." I don't want to imagine that such could happen to her She drops her hands. "Then what do we do? What else can we do?" I couldn't meet her eyes cause I knew telling her r this would make me l
DAMIEN POVI keep adjusting my posture on the couch that is too small for me.I hang my legs over the armrest every move I make sends an ache through my bandaged ribs.I should be in my own bed in my penthouse, surrounded by silence and space that doesn't smell like cheap detergent and leftover tak
DAMIEN POVI wake up to throbbing pain everywhere, my head feels like it's been split open, my chest burns with every breath and even my bones ache…I don't know where I am but I know it hurts.I force my eyes open. The room is dim, almost completely dark, except for a faint strip of light from some
LEAH'S POVWe both turn to the doctor standing in the doorway. Emily pulls away from me heading towards the doctor, she wipes her face with her sleeve,her hands are shaking."I'm Emily. That's my dad. Is he...is he okay?"The doctor walks towards her and takes her hand“Your father has a concussio
ETHAN POVEthan stands behind Emily at the doorway, eyes moving between me and the hallway where Damien disappeared.The matcha pooling on the old wood, seeping into the cracks, suddenly becomes interesting as I try to keep my head down, making sure I don't meet his eyes.Leah?"Emily's voice cuts







