“Warning us about what?” I ask, brow furrowing.
“I don’t know…” Chloe murmurs then gasps, eyes widening in fear. “Emmanuel. He’s in danger.”
“We need to go,” I say, standing abruptly. She does the same. “Now.”
We’re in the car and moving before I can process it all. I grab my phone to call Raffaello.
He answers on the second ring. “Boss?”
“Emmanuel. Where is he?”
“He’s in his room in bed. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Double the guards. Secure the perimeter. No one in or out. I’m five minutes away. It may be nothing, but I’m not willing to take any chances.”
“Boss, what’s going on —”
“Just do it!” I yell before hanging up. Tapping the phone against my lips in an attempt to pacify my frustration as I push down on the accelerator. Pushing the sports car into the triple digits.
“Basili,” Chloe whispers beside me.
“We’re almost there.”
But I know. Even before we pull up to the house, before I see the chaos around the yard— men running every which direction, all the security lights on, Maria crying on the front steps —my gut sinks and I know.
We’re too late.
I’m out of the car as soon as I throw it in park, throwing the keys on the driver’s seat behind me. I take the front steps three at a time, Chloe close on my heel.
“Where is he?” I roar.
Maria is sobbing, an angry gash on her forehead. “He’s gone. They came through the back. I heard boots, running, I tried to stop them, Basili, but–”
“Omero!” I below.
He appears from the side of the house, chest rising and falling, breathing hard. “Boss. They had a car waiting —”
“Show me where.”
I follow him to the back garden. I can see the broken window of Emmanuel’s room overhead, the rope ladder leading to it, and the trampled flowers where they had run through the gardens.
“How many?”
“Three, maybe four. In and out in under two minutes.”
“And no one saw anything?”
“Just the back of the cars as they drove off. Black sedan. I couldn’t get a full plate, but I got the first three digits — 4XR. It looked to be a Mercedes, maybe an S-Class.”
4XR. It’s not enough. Not nearly enough.
I’m back inside, taking the stairs to Emmanuel’s room with haste. His castle bed is empty, blankets thrown aside like he’d been ripped from sleep. His dragon plushie is cast aside on the floor.
The broken window is open, cold air streaming through it. They came through the window while my guards were posted outside his door, and the guards on duty walked the perimeter. All of them completely caught unaware.
“Everyone out!” I scream. “Everyone except Omero, out of this house now!”
The staff scrambles to obey. Chloe tries to approach me, crying, and I hold a hand up to stop her.
