Page 62 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“Can you see anything?’ I asked, coughing.

“Monani’s men are down. The SWAT team is clearing the building and checking all the containers, but there’s no sign ofhim. Holy shit, Leo! A car just flew out of the north parking lot. I bet he’s in it.”

“Pull the number plate, and call Marcus,” I said, spotting the blue container where Tia and Maddie were being held.

I had never been as frightened in my life as I was when I pushed open the door and went in. Not even when I was called to the site of Natalie’s car crash. If anything had happened to Tia, my world would implode on itself. I would exist for Maddie’s sake, but I’d be a broken shell of a man. Tia was my life. I was lifeless without her.

There was a small room at the end of the corridor. I entered hesitantly, not knowing what I was going to find. But there was nothing. I knew they had been here because I found the bucket and bed that Maddie had mentioned. But there was no sign of Tia.

The good news was that there was no blood, which meant Tia was still alive. Even if she was in the car with Monani, she was alive. And as long as she was alive, there was hope.

CHAPTER 29

TIA

Arjun grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me hard.

“Where is she?” he screamed, spittle flying out of his mouth.

He looked demented.

I pushed his hands away and took a few steps away from him.

“She’s where she belongs. Back with her father,” I said defiantly.

He backhanded me again, and his ring cut my lip. I knew my face would be black and blue tomorrow, but I didn’t care. I knew Maddie was safe. Rico had given me a quick thumbs up in passing as he rejoined the fight.

Arjun screamed again and pushed me down on the floor before he bent over me and slapped me over and over again. I didn’t fight because I had no fight left in me. All I had was relief that it was over. Maddie was safe. That’s all that mattered.

Now, the Donovan family could go back to their normal lives. The ugly part my brother and I played in their lives would be adistant dream. It wasn’t as if Leo would want me back after all the trouble I had caused him. I owed him for all that he’d given me, and I had repaid that debt by keeping Maddie safe. We were even.

“Get up,” snarled Arjun, pulling me up by the collar and dragging me to the door.

My face felt swollen and one eye was beginning to shut. It hurt to move my jaw. There was nothing I could do but follow wherever he took me.

He dragged me to a car standing in the parking lot. I wasn’t surprised that we weren’t stopped because there was far too much smoke in the warehouse for anyone to see us.

Arjun threw me into the passenger seat and got in the driver’s seat. He screeched out of the parking lot before I could even put on my seat belt. After a few tries, I gave up because I could barely see what I was doing, and when I looked down, I felt nauseous. My whole face throbbed like it was about to explode.

Arjun looked in the rearview mirror and cursed loudly as I heard a siren blaring behind us. He swerved dangerously and there was a loud crash. He gave a manic laugh and shot me a quick glance. I didn’t bother to turn and see what he had done because what was the point? There would be a police chase, of course because this was NYC. You couldn’t go kidnapping heiresses and expect a clean getaway.

At some point, the cop chasing us would give up and they would set up barriers, blocking all exits from the city, but I would already be on Jeff Sabri’s boat. Whether he would want me in this condition was questionable, but Arjun would have to find that out the hard way.

“You brought this on yourself,” he said as he sped up.

I didn’t get a chance to respond because as if whatever had happened to me until now wasn’t enough, someone started shooting at us.

CHAPTER 30

LEO

Iran out of the warehouse, ignoring the sharp, questioning glances from the cops milling around. They had the sense to leave me alone, though. I called Marcus as I ran back to the car.

“Did Luke give you the number plate? Get ready to roll, Marcus. We have to chase that car.”

He gunned the engine as soon as he saw me, and I jumped in.

Commissioner North volunteered to take Maddie home, and I kissed her one last time before I let her go.

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