Page 84 of The Last Hope

I leaped out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop, taking the front steps two at a time as the rain poured unnaturally hard for a spring afternoon.

The front door swung open to reveal Velma, pale as a ghost.

“Mr. Nikolai ! It’s terrible…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find the boys—”

“It’s not just the boys,” she interrupted.

I froze, her words slowly sinking into my muddled brain.

Turning slowly to face her, I noticed how she avoided my gaze.

“What are you talking about ?” I asked, my voice dangerously low as I stepped toward her.

“She was in the garden when I went to get a cream for her face, and when I came back out… she was gone.”

“A cream for her face ? What the hell are you talking about, Velma ?!”

“Nikolai ! There you are at last !”

A voice rang out from the living room. I closed my eyes, feeling the last shred of my control slipping away.

“Agata ? What are you doing here?” I asked, turning to see her approaching, followed closely by poor Nina, whom she dragged everywhere.

“I came to see my grandsons, but that treacherous Italian made them disappear !” she spat venomously.

Her hatred was nothing compared to mine.

“Be careful with what you say, Agata,” I warned through clenched teeth, taking a step toward her.

Her eyes widened as she instinctively stepped back.

“Nikolai, please. We need to find the children and Selina,” Nina pleaded softly, stepping between her grandmother and me, her dark eyes begging for reason.

I clenched my fists, then turned back to Velma, now standing beside Sena.

“What happened?” I demanded.

The fear I had felt when Marcus burst into the meeting room—an act strictly forbidden—and interrupted the session in my name only intensified.

“The children were playing in the garden while Miss Selina watched from the living room. I took over for a moment when she went outside with Miss Sienna. But when I saw Madame Agata’s car arrive, I went to find Miss Selina so she wouldn’t be alone. By the time we came back, they were gone. David said the gate leading to the woods was open, and the men have started searching the area. Miss Selina left through the north gate—I don’t know how she got it open…”

“The code is the same as the one in Russia. That’s how,” I muttered, rubbing my face, cursing myself for not thinking ahead.

I should have asked Sasha to change the security codes here too.

“When the others arrive, send them after me,” I instructed, stripping off my suit jacket and tossing it over a chair before heading out through the glass doors leading to the garden, towards the forest.

Ten minutes had passed since I entered the woods when I spotted two of our men standing near a tree. My brows furrowedwhen I noticed a silhouette crouched at its base and my heart stopped when I recognized the brown dress.

I ran toward them, pushing aside Samy and Yuri—two young bodyguards assigned to the northern perimeter, “Selina,” I breathed, crouching beside her.

She was hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried against them, sobbing, “Selina, look at me,Solnychko,” I murmured, gently touching her shoulder. Slowly, she lifted her face, her red-rimmed eyes meeting mine. Her damp hair clung to her cheeks, her expression wrecked with distress.

“Nikolai, the boys…” she hiccuped, her green eyes filled with such vulnerability that my heart clenched.

I pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly as she trembled, “we’ll find them, Selina, I promise,” I vowed, cupping her face and brushing her hair aside.

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