Page 57 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“I swear it, Arjun. I will do whatever you ask. I won’t make any trouble. All I ask is that you deliver Maddie safe and sound to her father immediately. She has nothing to do with this, so please don’t punish her for my sins,” I begged.

He leaned over and smiled at Maddie who hid behind my back again.

“Oh, I will return her to her father. Safe and sound. After he transfers a million dollars to my bank account as compensation for stealing my sister away,” he replied gleefully.

“Are you crazy? You’re trying to ransom Leo Donovan’s daughter! Don’t do it, Arjun. Do the decent thing for once in your life.”

I shook my head wondering when he’d lost his grip on reality. He wasn’t getting a single penny. What he would get is a bullet right in the middle of his thick head, because Leo probably had a team of commandos on retainer. They’d extract Maddie painlessly, and Arjun would rot in jail for the rest of his life. If they left him alive, that is. I hoped to God they didn’t.

“Watch me,” he said, with a smile. “Take them away for now. We’ll move Tia as soon as Jeff’s boat docks in the harbor. Take good care of the child, Rico. Make sure she doesn’t starve. ”

Rico shoved me towards the container and I stumbled forward. I made sure Maddie was right next to me, holding my hand tightly. I wouldn’t let them separate us even if they beat me up for it, I swore.

He led us to a cramped room, which was more like a glorified closet. It had a single bed and a rusty bucket that probably served as a toilet. I hoped Leo rescued us before either of us had to use it.

CHAPTER 26

LEO

The SWAT team was parked three blocks away, in an unmarked van down a dark alley.

Meanwhile, we were parked one street away from the warehouse, safely out of sight. Luke had hacked into the security feed of the warehouse owner and kept us updated about what was happening inside. No one had entered or left since we’d arrived.

He sent us a video showing what happened when Tia and Maddie were brought in. She protected my baby at every step, keeping Maddie behind her while talking to her brother. The motherfucker hit her! I couldn’t believe my eyes. He hit Tia as soon as he saw her. And he made my flesh creep when he spoke to Maddie. That bastard was done for. I was going to beat him to a pulp and peel off his skin by layers. I was going to make him burn.

There was no audio, so I couldn’t hear what he threatened them with, but I knew Arjun Monani was up to something.

Marcus was arguing with the commissioner who refused to go in without a warrant.

“We can’t get a warrant without concrete evidence of his malafide intention. He could always claim that your sister took the child in willingly, for a visit. She did get into the car without any outward coercion,” said Commissioner North.

“He slapped Tia. We have it on video,” argued Marcus.

“I know, but the judge could take the view that it was a disagreement between siblings. It’s not easy to get a warrant to enter someone’s premises in such a situation, guys. Our evidence needs to be airtight. Unless we get a ransom call, we have to wait forty-eight hours to report them missing, and only then can we apply for a warrant.”

I pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from the portable safe I kept under my armrest on my seat.

“Fine. I’ll go in alone,” I said firmly.

“Put that away before I arrest you for possession of an unregistered firearm,” snapped North. “I’m trying to help you, Leo. You can’t just barge in there, guns blazing. You’re risking your child’s life if you do so. Leave the rescue to the professionals.”

Just then, my phone rang. It was an unknown number.

“Answer it,” urged North. “On speaker phone.”

“Hello?” I said, hoping against hope I’d hear Tia’s voice.

It wasn’t.

“Hello, Donovan. Long time, no see,” said Monani cockily. “Say, have you misplaced something small, cute, and badly behaved?”

“Let them go right now, Monani. And I will let you live,” I growled.

Commissioner North shook his head frantically. He grabbed his cellphone and typed out a text, and then, turned the screen around to show me.

No threats! Behave,it read.

“I like your attitude, Leo. Natalie thought you were unfeeling, but I guess you just didn’t love her enough to care about her, right?”

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