Chapter 25
Killian
“Fuck. Sorry, brother,” Donovan said softly as he stared after the closed door Zoey went through.
What could I say to her? Would she ever fucking believe anything I told her at this point? I had no proof of anything other than my word, and with what she just overheard, she would never buy a word of it.
“FUCK!” I barked, and dragged my hand through my hair roughly. Part of me wanted to go into that room and try to explain to her what was truly going on, which was what I should have done from the beginning.
If I sat her down and told her everything and she didn’t believe a word of it, what then? Tie her back to the bed and keep her captive forever? No, this had to end at some point. There had to be an end game in all of this, but the deeper I got into it, the harder it was to see the end when all I could see was the girl.
The look on her face would torture me for years to come. I would gladly let her send my ass to prison if it would take the look of betrayal from her face. I would serve that sentence because fuck if I didn’t deserve it.
“I’ll give her a few minutes to calm down, then go talk to her.”
Donovan nodded. “I’ve never known you to be like this with any woman, Killian.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I rolled my eyes at him.
“You are not the man who raised you, Killian. Remember that.”
I took a deep breath and clenched my jaw. My fists tightened reflexively at the mention of the man I hated. He was dead and buried and still I hated him. I wasn’t him. I wasn’t even his blood, but he was the only father I had ever known, and I didn’t want to be anything like him. In fact, I went out of my way to protect women from men like him—women like Zoey.
Fifteen minutes had passed since she went into the room, so I got up to go talk to her. I needed to make her understand. Hopefully, she would have faith in me, even if I didn’t deserve it.
I opened the door and scanned the room. She wasn’t there. My heart started pounding in my chest, furiously.
“Donovan!” I shouted at the same time I moved into the bathroom to see if she was there, but I knew she wouldn’t be. Zoey was gone.
#
“Igot something,” Rowansaid when I picked up the phone on my desk. I’d gone back to the premier club where I usually worked after I discovered Zoey was missing. It had been twenty-four hours, and we had no leads on where she was.
Donovan was staking out her uncle, and I’d been watching her best friend, but she hadn’t gone to either of them. The only other possibility was that Botello’s men had gotten to her first, and the thought of that chilled my blood.
“What?” I sat up straighter at my desk, wanting any scrap of news about Zoey. I just needed her to be safe, and the longer she was gone without a word, the more I knew she was definitely not safe.
“The judge got a cryptic email that said ‘The merchandise is flawed. Not whole. We need to meet.’ That’s it.”
Botello had Zoey.
That was all the confirmation I needed. Michaelson had tried to sell me her virginity to pay off his debt, and when I didn’t want it, he’d offered her up like a lamb to the slaughterhouse and Botello. When I’d taken her virginity, I’d taken her top market value and he wouldn’t get what he wanted for her.
“He’s got her.” I wanted to rip the city apart. If he hurt her. If anyone touched her... My gut twisted in agony at the thought of what she might go through in their hands. “SON OF A BITCH!” I shouted, and put my fist through the nearest wall. The sheetrock crumbled like dust as my fist went through it.
“Ro. Monitor his emails. Let me know if you see anything else.”
“Killian. We can’t be certain this is her.”
“It’s her. Botello has her.”
“Fuck. What are you planning?” I could hear the concern in her voice, but I couldn’t worry about that now. I needed to focus on finding Zoey and keeping her safe. What I failed to do in the first place. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.
“I’m going to get her back by any means necessary, and I don’t care who I have to go through to do it.” I took a deep breath to gain control over the intense anger and fear raging through me. “Set up the escape plan, Rowan.”
“For Zoey?”
