I’m begging, my voice cracking. At this point, I’d settle for almost any outcome that leads me to them. I don’t care what or how, I’m desperate.
But somehow, she finds the single word that still holds the power to break me completely.
“No,” she murmurs, shaking her head. “We got nothing.”
My mouth falls open and my knees grow weak. Strong arms band around me, keeping me standing as my chest cracks in two. “The third team?”
“No one got anything,” Robert says, pulling my attention from a shell-shocked Madeline. I meet his eyes just as he swipes something black from his cheek. “The explosion that happened at your home?” I nod sharply and his throat bobs. “Rush and the Den were rigged the same way.”
Reaching out, he squeezes my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Isabella. Everything is gone.”
“What the fuck?” Hunter breathes. “How? How did this happen?”
I hear them talking, arguing, though I don’t think they’re mad at eachother—justmad. But I can’t make the words out.
All I hear is the thump, thump, thump of my heart shattering.
Chapter 38
The darkness in thecell is suffocating, pressing in on me from all sides. It’s the kind of black that eats up everything around it, leaving nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the cold metal of the chains biting into my wrists.
I can’t move much, just enough to shift against the wall, my arms aching from being in the same position for too long. And I’m naked, which would be embarrassing if I had any pride left. But that’s long gone, beaten out of me along with whatever was left of my dignity.
Katarina stands close, her breath warm on my arm as she fumbles with the cuffs around my wrists. I can feel her fingers tremble as she works, her tiny bobby pin scraping against the metal.
We haven’t said much, and I’ve avoided asking her how she ended up here. The bruises and cuts I briefly saw on her body, the trauma she’s clearly endured, are enough to tell me all I need to know. Every time I think about what she’s been through, what she must have suffered at the hands of my father and his men, my stomach twists with guilt and rage.
I should have been able to save her before things got this bad. I should have been able to keep her from his grasp.
I failed.
Again.
“Do you have any idea how to get out of here?” I ask, keeping my voice low, barely a whisper. It feels pointless to speak, but the silence is too much. If she knows a way out, we likely won’t ever find it.
“There’s a tunnel,” she whispers back, her voice so soft I have to strain to hear her. “I think it leads outside, but I don’t know where.”
“Doesn’t matter where it leads as long as it’s away from here,” I say, trying to keep my tone light, but the words come out flat.
We both know the chances of making it out are slim. Still, if I can give her any amount of hope at survival, I will.
Katarina’s fingers pause for a moment before resuming their work on the cuffs. I feel a faint tug on the chain, and I wonder if she’s making any progress. The thought of getting out of here, ofhaving even the smallest chance of escape, is almost too much to hope for. But I can’t afford to think like that. I have to believe we can do this, for both our sakes.
“Your son,” I murmur, shifting slightly so I can see her better, even though the darkness makes it impossible to really see anything. “You said he’s in Texas?”
She nods, her fingers never stopping. “With my parents. I sent him there just before…” Her voice trails off, but I can hear the pain in her words, the way they catch in her throat. Just before she was taken. “He’s safe there. At least, I hope he is.”
“He is,” I say, trying to offer some reassurance, even though I have no way of knowing for sure. “He’s with your parents. They’ll keep him safe.”
Anywhere is better than here.
“Yeah,” she breathes, but I can tell she’s not convinced. “He’s a good boy, you know. Smart. Brave. He’ll be okay.”
I remember that from the night Maddox, Nyx, and Stone found Katarina and her boy. They’d been sent on a job by Augustus to collect on a tithe from an elderly woman, Dolores. Her bakery had been suffering ever since her husband passed. Gus knew there was no way she’d have the money and sent simple and strict instructions to take her out if she broke the rules.
The guys would have never laid a hand on her, no matter the cost. They went with the intention of saving her. Taking her to one of our many safe houses like we’d done so many times before. It was our small way of giving back. Of righting the wrongs we’d created in this life.
Except, when the guys arrived, Dolores was already dead. It was a bloodbath. In a bathroom, they found Katarina, trapped and terrified. Under an island, they found her son. He’d been silent, so damn brave. The guys took them to the safe house with orders to send them out of state.
