CHAPTER 22 : The Empty Room

[Julian POV]

The tracker on her phone had stopped moving two hours ago.

Motel 6. Room 104.

I stared at the blinking red dot on the dashboard of the SUV. My knuckles were white against the steering wheel.

She had left me.

Vivian had walked out of the penthouse, taken a bag, and driven straight to a flea-ridden motel on the edge of the city. She chose bedbugs and criminals over me.

I pressed down on the accelerator, the engine roaring as I wove through traffic.

I told myself I was going there to bring her back for her own safety. I told myself it was because she was an asset, and assets shouldn't be left unguarded.

But the hollow ache in my chest told a different story. The look on her face when she asked if I was a murderer... it had cut through my armor like a knife.

I screeched into the motel parking lot, my tires leaving black marks on the asphalt.

I jumped out, ignoring the rain soaking my dress shirt. I didn't wait for my security team. I didn't need them.

I marched to Room 104.

I didn't knock. I kicked the door just below the handle. Wood splintered, and the door flew open, banging against the wall.

"Vivian!" I roared, stepping into the gloom. "Get your things. We are lea—"

I stopped.

The room was empty.

But it wasn't silent. The TV was still on, playing a muted infomercial. The air conditioning was humming.

And the smell...

I inhaled sharply. Beneath the stench of stale cigarettes, I smelled her—vanilla and jasmine. But underneath that, I smelled something else.

Fear. And copper.

I walked further into the room.

The bedside lamp was shattered on the floor. The sheets were dragged half-off the mattress, twisted as if someone had clawed at them.

Panic, cold and unfamiliar, seized my heart.

"Vivian?" I checked the bathroom. Empty.

I went back to the bed. Her laptop was open on the desk. The screen was still glowing.

I looked at the browser.

Vencetti & Thorne Holdings. Dissolution 2005. Target: Eleanor Hayes.

She had found it. She knew everything.

But she wasn't here.

I looked at the floor near the door. There, catching the light from the TV, was something that made my blood freeze.

A syringe cap. Orange. Medical grade.

I crouched down and touched the carpet. There were scuff marks from heavy boots. Mud.

Someone had been here. Someone big.

I stood up, a roar building in my throat. I scanned the room frantically.

On the nightstand, her phone buzzed. She had left it behind. Or they had made her leave it.

I picked it up. There was a new text message notification on the screen.

Sender: Unknown Message: She says hello. Come to where it all started, Julian. Bring the deed.

I crushed the phone in my hand. The screen shattered, cutting into my palm, but I didn't feel the pain.

Luca.

He had her.

I closed my eyes, and for a second, I saw the fire again. I saw the warehouse collapsing. I saw Eleanor Hayes dying in my arms.

Protect her.

I had failed. I had let her walk out of my house, and straight into the hands of the monster I had spent ten years hiding her from.

I opened my eyes. The fear was gone. It was replaced by a cold, limitless darkness.

I walked out of the motel room into the rain. My head of security, Marcus, pulled up in the second SUV. He rolled down the window.

"Sir? Did you find her?"

I walked to his window.

"Initiate Protocol Zero," I said. My voice sounded dead.

Marcus’s eyes widened. "Sir? Zero? That’s total war. The police commissioner will—"

"I don't care about the police!" I shouted, slamming my fist against the roof of the car. "Luca Vencetti has my wife!"

I leaned in, gripping the door frame until the metal groaned.

"Call everyone. Every soldier. Every associate. Every debt owed to the Thorne family. I want the city locked down. I want every road blocked. I want every Vencetti safe house kicked in."

"What are the orders?" Marcus asked, pulling out his radio.

"Find her," I growled. "And if anyone gets in your way... kill them."

I walked back to my car.

I knew where Luca was taking her. Come to where it all started.

The warehouse.

I got into the driver's seat. I reached into the glove box and pulled out my spare gun. I checked the chamber.

"Hold on, Vivian," I whispered to the empty car. "I'm coming."

I wasn't going to save her this time. I was going to burn the world down to get her back.