Page 231 of Untamed

He starts to turn, but I stop him. “Double the men on Jordyn. Rotate in the ones she hasn’t seen yet.”

“You worried she’ll notice?”

“I’m counting on her not to.” He nods again, but this time his gaze lingers.

“And what about the old man?” he asks. “You think Luciano’s just going to sit back and let you keep her?” I let the silence stretch.

“No,” I say finally. “But I’m not just keeping her.”

I meet Dante’s stare. “I’m building a world where no one can touch her.”

My office is dim and quiet, unsettlingly quiet.

There’s a gnawing in my gut that I can’t seem to shake. It’s the kind of dread that promises trouble and keeps you in a chokehold.

I’m still staring at the frozen surveillance image of that bastard from the bar when the door slams open. Dante storms in, no knock, no words.

Just a black-and-white photo clenched in his hand and a look on his face I don’t like. “What is it?” I ask, already standing.

He tosses the image onto the table. It skids toward me. The moment I see it, my blood runs cold.

It’s Jordyn.

But she’s not alone.

She’s being led out of a service corridor by a man in a black suit. Her body is too relaxed, head tilted, eyes unfocused. She’s not resisting, she’s not walking on her own, and she’s holding a white rose.

My phone vibrates once in my jacket.

I pull it out.

Unknown number.

One message.

“She’s beautiful when she’s weak.”

My vision whites out for half a second, then it all narrows.

My pulse. My breath. My world.

Dante’s already moving. “We lost eyes on her three minutes ago. She was disoriented. Looked drugged. One of the guys on her detail hasn’t checked in.”

I grab my keys and my jacket.

“Get the location of that phone. I want every vehicle that left that hotel stopped at the next ten junctions. Pull traffic cams. Drones. I don’t care if you have to burn the city down, FIND HER!”

Dante nods, already dialling. “Where are you going?”

I swing open the door, teeth clenched so tight from rage they ache.

“To get her back.”

Dante follows as I take the stairs two at a time, rage a living thing beneath my skin. My feet hit the pavement, and I head straight for the Ducati. The second I mount it, my phone buzzes again, another message from the same number.

No words this time.

Just a photo.

---