“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I calmly say, even while panic continues to claw at my insides. Panic andawe. “You said they were dead.” Because he did. Long ago, he said the entire family died with Charlotte.
I should have known everything he said was a lie.
Like I said…consistent.
Gus doesn’t answer as he punches me again. Once across the jaw, my nose, my stomach. When he hits my kidney, I can’t hold back the grunt of pain. Luckily, he misses it as he huffs a heaving breath and doubles over, coughing harshly.
I breathe through my teeth, watching him continue to cough up a fucking lung. When blood starts to spill from his mouth, he quickly wipes it on his dark jeans, turns on his heel, and storms out.
My tongue darts out, licking up the trail of blood spilling from my nose just as the lights flicker out and the door clangs shut. I don’t speak, barely breathe as I wait for him to disappear. When everything’s gone silent, I hold my breath, waiting, waiting…
Finally, after minutes have passed and I’m sure he’s not coming back, my body finally goes limp.
“Are you okay?” she whispers into the darkness.
I swallow blood. My body is throbbing, my stomach aching in hunger and pain, my face pulsating, but it’s my heart that hurts the most.
If Ella is truly the heir to the Moreau empire, she’s in more danger than I could have ever imagined. Because through all of his mania over the years, the one thing my father has wanted more than life itself is power. When the Les Beaux Voyouscollapsed, he made it his mission to find that power on his own, to create it.
Now, with Ella coming of age, of taking the metaphorical throne, he has his in.
I thought I knew fear before, but here, trapped to this wall, bloody and broken, I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been before. Not for me, but for her, the love of my life.
With that thought swirling through my mind, I answer Katarina honestly.
“No. I’m not.”
Chapter 27
Ishoot up, gaspingfor breath. Sweat clings to my skin, and my heart pounds so hard it hurts. My mind is blank, my nightmare slipping away like smoke, but the fear still lingers. I tangle my fingers in the soft duvet and force myself to breathe through the anxiety clawing at me. It’s been like this all night,and knowing me, this is just the beginning of another long line of sleepless nights.
My glaze slides around the room, taking in my surroundings. It’s pitch black except for a sliver of light sneaking in from the cracked bathroom door. Despite there not being any windows, the bedroom is nicer than I expected for a compound—plush carpet, dark wood furniture, an incredible bed that I could melt in.
If only I could get my brain to turn off.
My eyes flick to the clock on the bedside table. Five in the morning. I can’t believe I’ve slept at all. I rub a trembling hand across my sweaty face and drop back down with a huff.
My heart is still racing, the remnants of a nightmare I can’t remember clinging to me like a suffocating blanket. But it’s not just the dream that has me on edge—it’s the gnawing fear about my men.
They’re missing, and every second without them feels like a knife twisting deeper into my chest. It’s been two days since my party, and we’re no closer to finding them.
Yesterday feels like a blur.
After dropping the bomb about using me as bait, Evelyn explained a bit more aboutLe Milieu,the compound and Circle members, and the situation with Gus. It was overwhelming, to say the least. It wasn’t long before I was physically crashing, the remnants of my panic attack and high emotions too much for me to handle. I’d needed to retreat, to process all the chaos that was dumped on me.
But just as we were about to leave, Hunter stumbled, crashing into the table, and I knew I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I’d practically dragged him back to the med-bay, where they’d checked his incision, and given him another dose of pain meds. The doctor was pissed he’d left in the first place, but thankfully, he hadn’t done any more damage.
I was so worn out that I started nodding off in the chair next to his bed. That’s when Hunter insisted on getting me a room. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, even though I barely had the energy to argue. Despite my waning protests, he’d come with me, and the moment we hit the bed, we were out.
My sleep has been anything but peaceful. Nightmares have filled my mind—images of all the things I’d learned about myself, about Gus, but mostly about my missing Diablos. The fear, the uncertainty, keeps swirling, turning every dream into a twisted mess of anxiety.
And now, here I am, wide awake, drenched in sweat, and no closer to finding them.
My shaking fingers trace the necklace still wrapped around my throat. My earrings and the rest of my jewelry are on the nightstand. I couldn’t handle them being much further than that. I swallow hard. It’s stupid, but they’re the last things the guys gave me. They’re a reminder of their kindness, their love.
I pick up an earring, holding it in the glimmer of light, shifting it this way and that. My brows furrow. Stone said there were trackers in every piece of my jewelry, but I can’t see them. To the naked eye, they're completely invisible. It’s genius, really. Pain lances through me as my mind flickers back to their cufflinks. Wherever they are, all I can do is hope that no one discovers the trackers.
If they do…
