Within the Consortium, there’s a line, even for men like us. Killing, kidnapping, anything that crosses into personal territory—it needs the leader’s word. Declan Callaghan. I’d asked once before, when it was about the building owner. He didn’t care. But this is different. This isAutumn. Viviana’s close to her, and that complicates it.
“Flynn,” Declan warns.
“She escaped,” I say.
“What?” His voice drops lower, colder.
“What’s going on?” Viviana echoes in the background, but Declan doesn’t answer her.
“I have a track on her. I want your green light to—” I stop, hunting for the right words. “Take her somewhere safe,” I say slow, making it sound reasonable.
“You want to kidnap her,” Declan says, amusement tucked too neatly into his voice.
“What? He’s kidnapping Autumn? No!” Viviana yells, and I hear every syllable through the line. “Flynn, I’m going to kill you.” I believe her.
“She’s in danger. She’ll disappear again. The stalker won’t stop. With me she’s safe,” I tell Declan, steady.
“Fine. You have my authorisation.” His voice cuts off everything.
“Flynn Brady, if you hurt her! If you do anything—” Viviana cuts in, screaming. Her voice breaks.
“I’ll tell you once it’s done.” I nod at Kaden, and he peels off the road. “I won’t hurt her. Viviana.”
I hang up and turn to Kaden. “We need to stop at Teine. I need to get something.”
He nods and changes course. The little red dot crawls across the screen. At that speed she’s on a bus or rideshare. But since she’s on the run, I’m guessing a bus, no names, no IDs.
We hit the club. It’s closed, but the bouncer’s already slotted into his post. I walk straight to my office, open the safe, and pull out a small black box.
I stride back to the SUV; Kaden shows me the feed from earlier. It shows Autumn getting dressed, and I have the urge to punch him for watching her in her underwear. That’s mine to see. But then I see it, her kneeling and retrieving a small leather bag. She opens it, and I zoom in.
Money.
That little liar was ready to vanish. She really thought she could fuck me, bleed on me, and just escape.
Cute.
“Drugs?” Kaden asks, pointing at the black box.
I open it. Three syringes full of a strong sleeping drug are ready to use. With her size, half of one is more than enough.
“I grab her, and you—” I point to the syringe.
Kaden smirks and drives off. The red dot shows she’s at a shitty motel. Perfect. I know the owner, and each room has a door that opens to the parking lot. It’ll be an easy retrieval.
She needs to learn that sometimes it’s safer to be surrounded by people. A hotel, even a cheap one. Choosing a lonely motel mostly used by truckers and the occasional lost tourist? Never a good idea.
Kaden parks the SUV by the motel entrance and steps out to talk with the receptionist. I watch him stride over, grab the poor kid by the collar, and the kid almost throws up. Kaden is a big motherfucker; when he gets like this, most men piss themselves.
He comes back to the car with a grin like he’s tasted blood.
“Room seven,” he says, and starts the engine. The storm rolls closer, thunder matching the rage hollowing my chest.
“Do you really want to do this?” Kaden asks before I even open the door.
“Yeah.” I let the breath out hard. “Don’t ask me why. The thought of her disappearing forever makes me want to murder people. Even more.” I look at him. He just nods.
We walk to the door together. Kaden signals to the kid in the lobby, and the lights go out. Footsteps cross the floorboards. I look at Kaden; he’s ready, every muscle wound tight as a coiled wire.
