Chapter 83

AIDEN

Connor had somehow found a lip-reading expert—a woman with sharp eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor. She sat before the grainy CCTV footage, watching it for the fifth time. I’d already lost my patience twice, but I kept it bottled up. For now.

I crossed my arms, pacing the room while glancing at the screen. My head was a mess. Each second felt like a lifetime. Just as it seemed she'd only just begun, she paused the video and sat up straight. “Okay, so this is everything I could gather from the footage,” she said, handing me a piece of paper.

I took it, my fingers almost trembling. A mess of broken words and phrases scrawled across the sheet; it barely made sense. My eyes scanned it repeatedly, then froze.

Noah.

My ears rang; my heart pounded so loudly it almost drowned out the room. I hadn’t heard that name in years, and seeing it felt like a punch to the gut.

“Can I see?” Connor asked, snatching the paper from my grasp. I didn’t answer, but balled my fists as he read it aloud. Reyna read over his shoulder, her eyes narrowing.

“Noah. Gia,” Connor muttered. “‘Why does your daughter stay with you? Do not touch her?’”

Reyna’s lips curled in disgust. “Her ex. That bastard.”

I swallowed hard, trying to control my rage. “He somehow convinced Freya that Gia was with him and lured her,” I said, my voice sharper than intended.

Connor’s face darkened. He folded the paper and pocketed it. “You can go,” he said brusquely to the lip-reader. “You’ll get your payment tomorrow.”

The woman nodded and left, oblivious to the growing tension.

I slammed my fist on the nearest table. “I’m going to kill him. I should have killed him when I had the chance.”

Connor intervened. “We have to find him first,” he said, his tone steady but grim. “And it won’t be easy. He’ll have covered his tracks.”

I thought of someone who could help. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t used in months. It rang twice before a deep, gravelly voice answered.

“Roman.”

ROMAN

Today was already a disaster. The shipment I’d spent weeks organizing was destroyed—an amateur move by rivals who clearly underestimated me. They would pay dearly—double what they owed, and then some.

I sat back, letting the tension ease, when my phone rang. Aiden Knight’s name flashed on the screen. An unexpected call.

I sighed, muttering, “Christ.”

Aiden and I had a long history. A shrewd, cold, calculating businessman. Useful, certainly, but not a friend.

“Knight,” I said, amusement in my voice. “This is unexpected.”

“I need your help,” he said without preamble.

I smirked, leaning forward. “You want a job? Business not going so well?”

“My girlfriend was kidnapped.”

Chapter 53

The smirk vanished. My jaw tightened as his words sank in. There were rules, even in my world, and touching women—especially against their will—was a crime I wouldn’t tolerate.

“I need your help to find her,” Aiden said, his voice sharp, edged with desperation.

“Do you have any clues?” I asked, reaching for my notepad.

“Before she disappeared, there was a call to her number from a burner phone. The guy was her ex-boyfriend, Noah.”

I wrote down the name; my mind was already working. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

“Send me your girlfriend’s picture,” I said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I hung up, my mind shifting gears. Just as I was processing the information, Sebastian walked in. My second-in-command, he’d been with me for years.

“Boss,” he said curtly.

“I’m listening,” I replied, watching him.

“I went to Ruby’s today,” he began.

“You go to Ruby’s every Friday,” I said, unimpressed.

He paused. “I was with Bianca.”

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t understand why he was telling me about his extracurricular activities.

“You want to share your sexual adventures with me now?”

“No, boss.” His face turned serious. “She said that Lucas, a new guy, brought a woman to the brothel by force.”

“What?” My voice was sharp; my patience snapped.

“Yes,” Sebastian said quickly. “She was crying, begging to be let go, said she has a small child at home.”

“Motherfucker!” I growled, my jaw tightening. Rage boiled inside me, hot and unrelenting. No one was ever forced. This violated everything I believed in. The women in my clubs and brothels were there by choice. Anyone who crossed that line faced consequences.

“Get someone to bring the car. We’re going there now,” I ordered, already standing. This needed to be dealt with immediately. I needed to make a statement about what happened to those who broke my rules.

My phone buzzed. A message from Aiden—a picture of his girlfriend.

I opened it, studying the image. Blonde hair, forest-green eyes. There was a vulnerability about her, the kind that made men like Noah think they could exploit her. It made me sick.

I would get to that case after this. I pocketed the phone and left my office. My mind was racing, and for Lucas’s sake, I hoped my suspicions weren’t true.