"Threatened you with what?" I stared at this man I'd trusted, unable to understand why he'd betray us to help Vanessa.
Vanessa moved to Julian's side, draping her hand over his shoulder. "Ignore her, darling. Once we deal with Silas, she's yours to do with as you please."
Julian didn't deny it. I stared at him, nausea churning in my stomach.
"Mommy..." Olei's weak voice drifted over.
I whipped my head around and saw Olei tied to another chair about ten feet away. He was awake too, frightened, but biting his lip, trying not to cry.
"Olei!" I thrashed against the ropes. "Baby, don't be scared! Mommy's here!"
"Mommy, I'm not scared," he said stubbornly.
Vanessa walked over to Olei and looked down at him.
"Silas has kept this little brat so well protected all these years." She reached out to touch Olei's face, cruel amusement in her voice. "And now, look where he ended up. In my hands."
"Don't touch him!" I screamed. "Vanessa, leave him alone!"
Olei shrank back, his small body rigid.
"Don't waste time." A man walked in, throwing Vanessa a cold look.
Vanessa withdrew her hand and smiled. "Relax, Tomaso. I know what I'm doing. I already notified Silas. He'll be here soon."
So this was Tomaso Lucese. Silas's sworn enemy. He looked about fifty, thick-faced, eyes sharp with malice.
"Good. That little punk Silas actually slaughtered my headquarters over this woman." His voice dripped with insane bloodlust. "Today,I'm making damn sure he doesn't walk out alive." He turned to look at me, his mouth twisting into a vicious smile. "Let's see if Silas will come crawling here to die for you and this little bastard."
My heart sank to the bottom. This was a trap. Set specifically for Silas.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Silas & Anthea
Silas
"We're still tracking Tomaso and Vanessa's whereabouts, Pakhan." Marcus's voice echoed through the war room.
I stared at the tactical map on the wall, a knot of rage coiled in my chest. That old fox Tomaso had vanished like smoke after I'd torn through his headquarters.
"Double the men," I ordered. "Search every hole he could crawl into. I want—"
My phone rang. The caller ID made my heart seize—the bodyguard assigned to protect Anthea and Olei. He shouldn't be calling. Not at this hour. Unless... My fingers trembled slightly as I hit accept.
"Pakhan, Ms. Carter and Mr. Olei were kidnapped by mercenaries!" The voice on the other end carried raw fear and panic. "We lost several men. We couldn't protect them. Pakhan, I'm sorry..."
Ice-cold dread crawled up my spine and spread through my limbs.
"What the fuck did you just say? What the hell were you doing?!" I roared, nearly crushing the phone in my grip. "Who sent those mercenaries? Where did they take them?"
"Don't know. They didn't identify themselves. Too many of them.By the time we realized what was happening, Ms. Carter and Mr. Olei were already gone. We found the missus's phone at the park." He answered.
Fear bloomed in my chest. I hung up without another word. The bodyguard knew too little. And with Anthea and Olei in those bastards' hands, every wasted second put them in more danger.
I turned to the tech team, about to order them to use every resource to track them down. Then my phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number flashed across the screen.
"Silas, your woman and your son are with me and Tomaso now. Come to the abandoned steel mill in the eastern suburbs. Alone. No weapons. Otherwise... we'll only leave you two corpses. Don't keep me waiting, darling. —Vanessa"
