All I can think about is Bellamy and how I desperately need to find her.
“Sebastian, relax,” Javier says softly, trying to calm me down. But how can I relax when my world is being turned upside down and my wife is potentially in danger?
“You’re kidding with that, right?”
“I’m not. We have to stay calm and levelheaded. With Samil, not doing so nearly cost you your life.”
“Like I give two shits about my life right now.”
He gives me a side-eye that attempts to remind me I am not only the king of a country but also the father of three with more on the way. And while I’d give my life equally for my country and my children, it’s impossible to rein myself in.
“I know,” I reply, my voice hoarse from worry. “It’s just… What if she doesn’t lead us to Bellamy? What then?”
“Then we’ll keep searching until we find her,” Rowan chimes in firmly. His fierce determination reassures me, but only slightly. He loves Bellamy like a sister, and when Rowan is determined, nothing gets in his way.
The tracking app linked to Charlotte’s phone blares out an alarm, making me start. “What the fuck is that?”
“She turned off the tracking on her phone.” Javier turns and gives me an evil grin. “That’s what we want. It means she doesn’t want us to know what she’s up to. Good thing I have a tracking device planted in her car.”
Rowan makes a gruff noise. “Good thingis right.”
Suddenly the device linked to her car pings through his phone, and we watch as Charlotte’s location begins to move. My heart races, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“She’s in her car,” Javier announces, and I immediately slam forward against the dashboard, needing to move at light speed. “Give her a minute. We won’t lose her. She doesn’t know we’re watching her.”
“Let’s go,” I growl. “Hit the gas. We can follow Charlotte from a safe distance.”
“The last thing we want is for her to somehow spot us and know we’re on to her,” Rowan admonishes.
“Yes,” Javier agrees. “Stay calm, Sebastian. We’ve got this.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter, forcing myself to take deep breaths. My mind races with thoughts of what might have happened to Bellamy while in Charlotte’s grasp. Or even worse, what could have already happened to her. I can’t bear the thought of her being hurt or worse. Not again. Not ever.
“Sebastian, focus,” Javier orders, his voice cutting through my anxiety. “We need to be patient. She’ll lead us to Bellamy, and we’ll get her back.”
“Right.” I nod, trying to remind myself that my wife is strong and resourceful. She always has been. She never neededme the way I needed her. She’s smart and brave and bold and so fucking beautiful and perfect.
And I fucked up.
So, so badly with her.
I need the chance to make this better. To mend the hurt I inflicted. To show her she is mine forever. My wife, my heart, my soul.
Finally, we start to go, and as we follow Charlotte’s car, it feels like time is moving unbearably slowly. I just want to race ahead, grab Bellamy, and bring her back where she belongs. With me and our children. But I know we can’t afford to make any mistakes.
My heart thuds in my chest as I force myself to clear my thoughts and maintain slow, steady breaths. For the sake of my family, I need to keep my emotions in check and see this through to the end, no matter how much it kills me inside.
Charlotte drives west, skirting along the border of where the Alps rise from the earth as she heads into open land. This part of Messalina is among the most uninhabited in the country. Nothing like the southern farmlands or the busy towns and cities. If we keep heading straight, eventually we’ll hit France, but before that, about fifty kilometers from here, is the city of Alves near the border, but something tells me that’s not where she’s going.
And I’m proven right as we watch her car stop in what appears to be a forest on the map.
“She’s stopped five kilometers ahead of us, so we’ve got her.”
I give Javier the nod and we drive into the forest, over rocky terrain and unpaved roads. Up ahead there’s a clearing, and Rowan grabs my arm, squeezing it tight, the three of us silent as we slow so our car isn’t heard approaching.
Abandoned ruins loom before us, a haunting reminder of a time long gone.
“That structure has to date back to medieval times,” Rowan states, and he’s likely not wrong. The building, if you can even call it that, is made entirely from stone, half of it broken down from disuse and weather. But it’s the fortress nature of it that gives me pause.
