“Fuck!” My fist slammed into the window before I could stop myself, cracks spiderwebbing out under my knuckles. Oops. “What was the fucking point of tipping the police off to clear the place if you couldn’t even get her out?”
“Calm down,” Roman snapped. “You knew this was a possibility. It’s why we put a tracker in her choker.”
I sagged back into the seat, chest constricting as Maxim pulled us away from the curb. “What the hell happened, Rome? Everything went to shit.”
Roman exhaled hard. “They knew where my men were stationed.”
“You think Aeris sold us out?” I stilled, anger surging through me.
“Someone did,” Roman said. “Greta’s missing, too.” He reached into his jacket, pulling out his phone.
“That crazy bitch,” I muttered, reaching for the phone and jabbing in Hendrix’s number. The call rang twice before he picked up. “Getting me arrested?” I snapped. “Seriously, Hen?”
“What, you’d rather have a bullet in your skull?”Hendrix shot back.“It wasn’t my fault you were standing there with a fucking gun when uniforms turned up. You knew they were coming, and you being outside wasn’t the plan. Besides, I knew Roman would get you out.”
“It wasn’t something I could fucking control, and they were early.” I dragged a hand over my face, trying to keep the fear from choking me. The uniforms were supposed to be the backup plan, a way to get us out if something went wrong. Big fucking help that was. “Tell me Violet’s tracker is active.”
“It is,”Hendrix said without pause.“I’ve been following it to an address about an hour outside the city. I’ll forward you the coordinates.”
My pulse kicked hard. “Who’s holding her?”
“That’s the problem. The company at the address is a shell. Fake website, fake registry, no staff listed. It’ll take me hours to sift through all this.”
The phone creaked under my tightening grip. “We don’t have hours.”
“I know,”he said, tone dropping.“But whatever they’re doing? It’s big. And they had the resources to grab Violet without leaving a footprint.”
Another fresh wave of panic crashed through me, sharpand blinding. “Keep digging,” I barked. “I don’t care how deep you have to go.”
Hendrix exhaled sharply.“Ryder… be careful.”
I hung up before he could say anything else, finding Roman watching me carefully.
My voice was low when I finally spoke. “We go in, we get Violet. We kill everyone else. Agreed?”
Roman’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “It’s almost like you were made for the Bratva.”
Gritting my teeth, I looked out the fractured window. Because if they’d hurt her…
If they’d evenlookedat her wrong…
I was going to burn the whole fucking building down.
Chapter 56
Violet
I was pretty sure I was hyperventilating.
“What did you do to Aeris?” I managed to ask Jürgen, who stood against the wall like a statue. “Is she okay?”
He didn’t seem to care that I may or may not be having a heart attack. Okay, I wasn’t having a heart attack, but it felt close.
“She was caught somewhere she didn’t have permission to be,” he replied, not paying me any attention. “Her handler’s dealing with it.”
“Handler?” I wriggled in my uncomfortable seat, the only one in the entire room, my pulse frantic and my palms clammy. “What about Ryder? Is he okay? What did you mean you’re taking me to my father? I don’t have a father.”
“Does your mind race like this all the time?” he asked, finally turning to me. “Or only when you’re panicking?”
