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It’s a living, breathing thing, a beast that claws at my insides and howls for vengeance.

It wants blood, wants to rend and tear and destroy until the world is painted red with the suffering of those who dared to touch what’s mine.

But even as it surges through me, hot and hungry and all-consuming, there’s something else beneath it.

Something colder, sharper, more insidious.

Fear. Bone-deep, soul-searing fear.

This isn’t just anyone they’ve taken. This is Katerina. My Katerina. The woman who holds my heart in her hands, the mother of my unborn child.

If I lose her…if they hurt her…

No. I won’t let myself finish the thought.

I have to find her. I have to get her back.

No matter the cost.

It’s been hours since they took her, since I watched that black SUV tear out of my driveway and disappear.

Hours of pacing, of barking orders, of turning over every fucking stone in this city to find her.

But it’s nowhere near enough.

Every minute that ticks by is another minute she’s out there, alone and hurt and at the mercy of men who would break her just to break me.

Every second is an eternity, a fucking symphony of all my worst fears come to life.

I can’t do this. I can’t just sit here uselessly, while the woman I love is in the hands of my worst enemy. I won’t survive it. Not if I lose her. Not like this. I need help. I need resources, connections, the kind of firepower and influence that can shake the very foundations of this city until Katerina falls out.

My hands clench into fists. As much as I hate to admit it, I need the Sokolovs.

My hand is steady as I dial the number, even as my heart pounds a sickening rhythm against my ribs. It rings once, twice, and then the line clicks open.

“Nico Barone.” Nikolai’s voice is as cold as I remember. “You have ten seconds to tell me why the fuck you’re calling before I hang up.”

I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the words I never wanted to say. “It’s Katerina,” I bite out. “She’s been taken.”

Silence. A beat, two, stretching out like an eternity.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Maksim’s voice is low and deadly, but I’m not surprised to hear him. Nikolai must have patched him in when he saw my name pop up.

I close my eyes, the image of Katerina’s face swimming behind my lids. Her smile, her laugh, the way her eyes flash with challenge and fire...

“Marco Russo took her right off my fucking estate. They breached the perimeter, stormed the gardens⁠—”

“What the hell was she doing on your estate in the first place?” Nikolai demands, his voice rising with barely contained fury. “We’ve been looking for her and Seraphina—” There’s a pause as the pieces finally click into place and I wait for the explosion. It doesn’t take long.

“You took Seraphina!” Nikolai roars as I pull the phone away from my ear. “You’re the one who only wanted to negotiate with Katerina! It was you! Now you’re telling me they were with you this whole time?”

Well yes, that’s exactly what it is. I took them and hid them away. I played my games, thinking I was invincible. That no one would find me and I would get my thirty days with my angel.

And now Katerina is paying the price.

“I did what I had to do,” I snap, my patience fraying under the weight of their accusations. “I’m not going to apologize for what I did. I had my reasons for taking Seraphina Santoro and Katerina.”

“By kidnapping a child?” Maksim cuts in, his voice brittle. “By using an innocent girl as a bargaining chip?”