The sound goes through me like a blade.
“Quiet,” one of the men snaps, but Noah keeps crying.
My chest feels like it’s breaking open. I want to run to him. I want to hold him and tell him it’s going to be okay.
Instead I stand there with my hands tied behind my back, powerless.
Vladimir sighs faintly and gestures to one of his men.
“Call him.”
The man pulls out a phone and dials. My heart starts pounding so hard I feel dizzy.
The line rings once. Twice.
Then a voice comes through the speaker.
“Neri.”
Even through the tiny phone speaker, I know that voice instantly.
Nico.
But I hear the tension in it.
Vladimir smiles.
“Niccolò,” he says smoothly. “I believe we have something that belongs to you.”
A pause.
Nico’s voice comes back, colder now.
“If you touched them?—”
“Ah,” Vladimir interrupts lightly. “So, we are in agreement. They matter.”
My stomach twists.
“Put her on,” Nico says.
The words are sharp. Not a request.
One of the men grabs my hair and jerks my head forward. The phone is shoved close to my mouth.
“Nico,” I say, my voice shaking.
For a second there’s silence. Then his voice changes. “Izzy.”
Just hearing my name in his voice almost breaks me.
“Are you hurt?”
“My head—” I swallow. “No. I’m okay. Noah’s here too.”
“Listen to me,” he says. “I’m going to get you both out.”
“It’s a trap,” I whisper quickly. “Don’t?—”
