“Did you get the bastards,” Leon demanded.
“No,” Silas said in a quiet voice, though the raging heat in his deep brown eyes said he was anything but calm. “They had another car following, I’m guessing to split up after they got hands on her. Best description I can give is an older guy and a younger one, the rest were your average henchmen.”
“And you have no idea where she’s at now,” Leon said through a low growl, rocking back onto the balls of his feet as he considered the implications.
“None.”
She could be anywhere in the city by now. In the hands of someone who meant her harm or safely locked away. It didn’t matter which, because Leon didn’t know. He couldn’t reassure the nagging heat building within his chest that there was a purpose or a reassurance.
“You’re going to find her and tell me where she is,” Leon said, turning to face Silas.
Whatever the other Alpha saw in his gaze pushed him a faltering step back, head bowing before the onslaught. “Of course. We’ll check out that guard you told us about.”
“See it done.” Growl building to a quiet roar, Leon stalked back to his car. Slamming the door shut behind him, he revved the engine hard before spraying gravel as he peeled out of the embankment onto the nearby highway.
He’d find her. Had to. Leon didn’t know why it was of such importance to him, what he felt he owed to the waif likecreature that ensnared his thoughts far too often these past few days. He just knew he had to do it.
Cruising through the busy streets at a rate of speed that was dangerous on his best days, Leon made it back to his home. Engaging all the locks, he stormed to his study where he threw himself into the chair behind the desk to tap out the password on the keyboard, bringing the computer to life. Staring at the glowing screen, he realized he had no idea what to do first.
Silas was better at finding people than he’d ever be and starting the search would be more hindrance than help at this point. There was little for Leon to do at all until they found the young Omega.
As his eyes glossed over the numbers ticking off his screen that were far more important than some woman, he imagined what he’d do the moment they found her.
He’d wring her delicate little neck for being out in the city like that for a start. What business did an Omega in her position have driving around in areas she shouldn’t even know about? And what’s more, why did her single remaining guard allow it?
He would be first to meet Leon’s ire, now that he thought about it.
Yes, the Beta would understand what it meant to endanger a blooded Omega. To anger an important Alpha. If she’d stayed at home as she should have been for at least another night, all would be well. But she’d left the sprawling mansion. Abandoning it, if not in the dead of night, with as little fanfare as possible. Silas had sighted no moving vans, nothing denoting she was doing anything but going somewhere with every intention of returning.
Surely her entire life didn’t fit into a sad, old sedan.
That troubled him even more.
Growling low in his throat at the way this ridiculous woman frustrated him, Leon focused on the rapid-fire numbersscrolling across his screen. Noted the many emails and memos he’d yet to respond to that day.
His businesses wouldn’t run themselves.
Rising to pour a measure of whiskey into a glass, he settled back into the chair with a quiet sigh.
Work was just the thing he needed.
SEVEN
ELENA
The room was sparse, nothing about it comfortable or elegant. It would do for however long she had though. Would have to, as there were no other options for her now.
“I’ll pay you back somehow, Jamie. I swear to you I will,” she said as she smoothed out the long skirt she’d retrieved for this evening. It needed a good steaming to undo all the wrinkles from being folded in her suitcase, but she hadn’t the faintest idea how to go about it.
“I won’t hear of it, Miss Costanzo,” Jamie murmured, standing awkwardly
off to the side. “Now, my room is just down the hall, around the corner. I can be here within moments if something happens.”
“There’s no way he can know I’m here.” Elena sighed, setting the skirt down. “Even if he looked for either of our names, you said you used a different card, right? How could he ever hunt me down?”
“Never think a predator doesn’t have means, miss.”
“Now that’s just depressing. And terrifying.”
