There’s a hesitation on the other end. Not long, but enough.
“Yeah,” Valerio says. “There’s something else. You told me to track Belov’s movements, so I’ve memorized the make and model of his cars.”
“What’s that got to do with?—?”
“A black Jaguar was parked at St. Mary’s twenty minutes before we got here. The plate matches. It’s Artyom Belov’s.”
The world narrows to a single point.
Artyom Belov.The Bratva piece of shit who’s been moving money into hospitals on my turf. He’s here, right now, where Savannah is.
My mind goes cold in a way I haven’t felt in years.
“Where is she now?” I ask.
“She ran inside before I could stop her,” Valerio says. “I tried to follow, but she disappeared into the crowd. I’ve been circling the lobby, checking every hallway I can see without raising suspicion.”
I press harder on the gas. Traffic blurs past me. Every second I’m not with her feels like a second someone else could be. Someone who wouldn’t think twice about hurting her.
Belov probably isn’t there for Savannah. He doesn’t know about us yet. We’ve never gone out in public.
A thought crosses my mind. What if he does?
Then, he’d go after her.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Valerio adds quietly. “She’s too worried about her mom.”
“Of course she is,” I mutter. Savannah would run into fire if it meant saving someone she loves. It’s one of the things I admire about her, and one of the things that scares me most.
I’d never be mad at her. For fuck’s sake, I can’t even be too mad at Valerio.
But I can be angry at myself for letting it go this far.
My kitten should have come to me. She should have known she could come to me. I didn’t make that clear enough, and now she’s in danger.
I should have done better. I should have told her every damn day that I wasn’t going anywhere. That she didn’t have to hide pain from me. That I’d take every burden she has if she let me.
But I didn’t. Now she’s somewhere inside a hospital tainted by Bratva money. And I still have no idea what that money’s evenfor.
Except that I’m starting to get an idea.
I turn onto the hospital road. The building comes into view: tall, glass-fronted, a normal hospital on the surface.
I see the black Jaguar parked at the far end of the lot.
Merda.
A chill runs through me, but it’s gone just as fast, burned away by something hot and vicious rising in my chest.
If Belov touches her—if he even lays eyes on her in the wrong way—I’ll end him.
I pull into the lot, and Valerio is already waving me down, phone in hand, face tight with worry.
“She’s inside,” he says as I get out. “I don’t know where. The staff won’t tell me.”
I nod once. “I’ll find her.”
Valerio blocks my path for half a heartbeat. “Boss?—”
