I spit blood onto his expensive carpet. “I will.”
“I mean it, Rourke. You bring my sister home in one piece or you never see those boys again.”
“Julian—”
“I will take them somewhere you’ll never find them. Somewhere not even your best people can reach. And this time there won’t be any trail. No records. No witnesses. They’ll disappear and you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if they’re even alive.”
The threat lands like another punch.
He means it. Every word. If I fail, if Aurelia dies, Julian will take my sons and I’ll never see them again.
I push myself up slowly. Wipe blood from my mouth. “I’ll bring her back.”
“You better.”
Declan steps between us before this can escalate further. “We have a lead.”
Both Julian and I turn to him.
“What kind of lead?” Julian asks.
“Our surveillance picked up the van heading toward the warehouse district. We lost visual after that but there are only three Petrov-controlled properties in that area.” He pulls out his phone and shows us a map. “Here, here, and here. All industrial buildings. Minimal security on record.”
“Minimal doesn’t mean none,” I say.
“No. But it means they weren’t planning on holding her long-term. This is an interrogation site, not a prison.”
Julian’s jaw tightens. “They’re torturing her for information.”
“Probably.”
“What information?”
I know the answer before Declan says it. “They want to know who killed Dmitri. There were multiple Rourke men on that street that night. They need confirmation before they execute the right person.”
Julian looks at me. “It was you.”
“Yes.”
“Will she tell them?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she’s protecting me. Protecting the boys’ father.” I turn to Declan. “How fast can you get teams to all three locations?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Do it. I want eyes on every building. Find out which one she’s in and report back.”
Declan leaves to make the calls.
Julian and I stand in his study, surrounded by maps and phones and the weight of what’s happening. “If she’s being tortured—” he starts.
“She is.”
“Then we’re running out of time. They’ll break her eventually. Everyone breaks.”
