Slipping the scrunchie onto his wrist, he left the room and called Declan to come get Michelle. She couldn’t stay here. The place had been compromised. It surprised him when she didn’t argue, but he figured that she was pretty freaked out about what was going on.
When he was alone in the apartment, he picked up the kitchen chairs and placed them where they were supposed to go. Then, he ditched his suit jacket and started to clean the blood off the floor. He couldn’t stand to look at it a moment longer, and he knew that Ruby wouldn’t want to see that if he got her back.
Whenhe got her back.
God damn it, he was going to get her back.
Brogan walked into the apartment just as Owen finished with the floor. His knuckles were busted, and Owen figured that he had to convince the owner of the electronics store to give him the security footage. That was why Owen chose him to handle it. He got things done.
Brogan helped himself to a bottle of water from the refrigerator while Owen watched the footage on ruby’s laptop at the kitchen table. It was silent in the apartment as he fast forwarded through the first half of the day. Nothing stuck out until he saw a black sedan park at the side of the apartment building. He paused it as the driver got out, peering closely at the figure.
Brogen came around behind him to see. “Is that-”
“Yeah,” Owen cut him off, grinding his teeth together. “Leo Mancini.”
Leo was the son of the Don. there was no doubt in Owen’s mind what would happen next. Sure enough, when he advanced the footage fifteen minutes, the man walked out of the side entrance to the building with a human-shaped blanket in his arms.
Because it wasn’t the main entrance and he moved quickly, no one was around to notice as the bastard put Ruby inside of his trunk. Owen stared at the screen until the car drove away, cold fury running through his veins.
“Call everyone,” he told Brogan. Have them meet me at the club in an hour. I’ll make sure it’s cleared out.”
“What are you going to do?” Brogan asked, nothing but mild curiosity in his voice, but Owen knew better. Brogan didn’t like to see women hurt. He met the man’s eyes.
“We’re going to war with the Italians. They’ll regret ever taking my woman from me.”
* * *
Twenty-four hours had passed since Ruby was taken, and Owen hadn’t slept. He couldn’t. The guilt and rage kept him going, and he clung to those emotions. If he didn’t, the worry and grief tried to take over, and he wasn’t any good to Ruby like that. They took her alive, and that meant that there was still a chance of finding her that way, but only if he kept pushing.
“Boss?”
Owen looked up from his phone to see that one of his men was standing in the doorway. He was a low-level enforcer named Ivan. He was young, but had a lot of potential, so Owen pulled him to help find Ruby.
“What?” he snapped.
He knew he was being an asshole to everyone, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was on edge, and anything could set him off.
He’d been reading a text from one of the cops on his payroll that let him know they had a BOLO out for the car that Ruby was taken in. Owen was able to find more footage of it driving away from the apartment and get the license plate.
Of course, Leo probably ditched the car. But Owen had to chase every lead.
“We brought in one of the lieutenants.,”
Owen stood. “Where?”
“The basement.”
Owen usually worked out of his office at the restaurant because it was discreet, but this operation required space and privacy that he couldn’t get there. So, he’d shut down the nightclub. It was the weekend, and Declan had pointed out it was a costly decision before Owen told him to keep his damn mouth shut.
The club was big and soundproof to keep away noise complaints when they have live music. Owen could do a lot here without worrying anyone would discover it. Plus, there was a bar where he could drink without being reminded of Ruby. Not that she wasn’t constantly on his mind. She haunted his thoughts.
Rolling up his sleeves, Owen entered the basement to see that one of the Italian’s lieutenants was tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth. He had a black eye already, he looked furious.
Well, that makes two of us.
Ivan and Declan were in the room, but they stayed back, letting Owen deal with this. Going straight to the man, he ripped the duct tape off his mouth. He winced, and Owen almost chuckled. A low tolerance for pain would come in handy for him.
“You know why you’re here,” Owen said. It wasn’t a question. “Tell me what I want to know.”
