Chapter 185
Chapter 186
AARON
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The phone in my fist might as well have been bone. Fragile. Breakable. Mocking me with the silence of its dead tracker. I stared at the black screen until my vision blurred, until all I saw was her face flicker across the dark glass like a ghost.
“Sir?” One of my men hovered at the edge of the alley, voice careful, like I was a grenade with the pin already pulled.
I lifted my head, jaw flexing. “Activate the contingency p>
He blinked. “The p>
“The ring,” I snapped, cutting him off before the tremor of hesitation drove me over the edge. “I want the signal now p>
For a breath, the alley stilled. Then he barked into his comm, words spilling rapid-fire to the tech team. Somewhere in the city, servers hummed to life, lines of code unfurling like veins, reaching for the one lifeline I had left.
The ring.
I’d had it designed to be beautiful-something worthy of her hand, her yes-but inside, I’d slipped a safeguard. Not because I didn’t trust her. Because I didn’t trust the world. I knew better than anyone how quickly beauty could be stolen, how love could be ripped away in seconds.
And I refused to let that happen again.
Colton’s eyes stayed on me, sharp and unflinching. “You think he knows about it p>
“If he did, she wouldn’t be wearing it.” My tone was final. Ruthless. Because if Gerald had suspected… if he’d tried to strip her of the one thing tying her back to me, I would’ve felt it like a blade to the chest.
Minutes stretched long, every tick of the clock clawing at my skin. My men moved in a blur around us: screens glowing, radio chatter snapping, boots crunching on the gravel. But I stood still, every muscle coiled, every nerve tuned only to one thing.
Waiting.
Then…
“We’ve got her!” one of the analysts shouted from the SUV’s open door. His voice cracked with the weight of it. “Signal’s active, feeding coordinates now p>
I was already moving.
Colton fell into step at my side as the map lit up across the dash screen inside the SUV. A single blinking dot, cutting through the streets like a heartbeat.
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Chapter 186
Venus.
Alive. Moving.
My lungs opened for the first time in what felt like hours.
But relief was a luxury I couldn’t afford. Not yet.
“How far?” I demanded.
The tech’s fingers flew. “She’s… forty minutes ahead, minimum. Traffic lights, detours, distance p>
“Cut it down p>
“We’re trying, sir, but unless we break every p>
“We’ll break the fucking city if we have to,” I snarled, sliding into the driver’s seat.
房
The engine roared awake. Tires shrieked against asphalt. I didn’t wait for the rest of the convoy to realign: I surged ahead, Colton bracing himself in the passenger seat as the world blurred.
Venus’ dot glowed steady on the screen. Moving north. Slow. Steady. Like a metronome marking the rhythm of my fury.
My hands strangled the wheel. Forty minutes. Forty minutes she was in his shadow, breathing his air, standing in his crosshairs. Every second was a nail in my skin, driving deeper, reminding me that Gerald was out there, smirking, pulling strings like a god.
Not this time.
Colton cut a look at me, voice edged.” She’s pregnant, Aaron. If he’s dragging her through this p>
My throat tightened. Images tore through my mind-her small frame, the children inside her, the way she touched her stomach when she thought no one was watching. My grip on the wheel cracked.
“He won’t touch her,” I said, my voice guttural. “I’ll kill him before he even tries p>
Colton didn’t argue. But I felt his stare, the weight of it pressing like judgment.
We wove through traffic like knives. Horns blared, tires screamed, lights streaked red and gold against the windshield. The convoy tore after us, black SUVS splitting lanes, scattering cars in our wake. Sirens flared behind, the police we’d summoned forced to keep pace or lose us entirely.
The city bent to our fury.
Still-forty minutes.
I punched the accelerator harder, the engine growling. Every second I shaved off was blood in my veins, a promise whispered to the woman I loved: I’m coming.
Her dot flickered again. Then steadied.
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Chapter 186
Colton leaned forward, scanning the screen. “She’s stopped p>
My chest seized. “Where p>
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The analyst’s voice crackled through the comms. “Old textile district. An abandoned mill, north end. Signal’s been stationary for two minutes p>
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.
Stationary.
“Sabine,” Colton muttered.
I glanced at him, the muscle in my cheek ticking.
He met my stare, steady, unflinching. “If Gerald wanted leverage, he’d put them both in the same place. Kill two birds. Break Venus by using her best friend p>
I forced the words past my teeth. “Or split them apart. Twice the trap. Twice the pain p>
“Which one do you believe p>
I didn’t answer. Because belief was a luxury too close to hope, and hope was poison in moments like this.
Gerald wasn’t reckless. He’d been a ghost for over a year, slipping through cracks no one else even knew existed. We’d burned resources, men, hours, all to come up empty-handed. He’d lived in our blind spot, mocking us with every failure.
But this? Kidnapping Sabine. Forcing Venus to come. Forcing me to follow.
This wasn’t precision.
This was desperation.
A miscalculation.
And he was going to bleed for it.
The mill rose on the horizon, a hulking carcass of brick and broken glass. Its windows gaped like missing teeth, shadows leaking out of every wound. The closer we drove, the tighter the coil in my chest wound, until it felt like my ribs might crack open and spill everything inside me onto the pavement.
I slammed the brakes, tires screaming as the SUV skidded to a halt a block away. The convoy braked behind us, engines rumbling low, men spilling out like shadows armed to the teeth.
I killed the engine and made my way out of the car.
Venus’ dot blinked steady on the map.
Still inside.
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Chapter 186
Still waiting.
Colton’s hand flexed on the door handle. “What’s the plan p>
Z5 p>
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My eyes burned holes into the mill, my reflection in the windshield nothing but a monster wrapped in skin.
“The plan,” I said, voice low, lethal, ❝is Gerald doesn’t walk out p>
I moved with my men like the city itself bent out of our way. Black SUVS fanned wide. Sirens in the distance were the soundtrack of a city about to burn. My boots hit concrete like war drums as we breached the block.
Every breath was a countdown.
Every heartbeat a strike against Gerald’s throat.
We swept the perimeter-Colton peeling right, my men left. Entry points tagged. Shadows cleared. Still, the dot blinked steady on the tablet in my hand.
Inside.
I didn’t wait.
The ram hit the warehouse door with a scream of steel, hinges ripping from brick. The crash thundered through the night, dust exploding like smoke from a cannon.
And there she was.
Venus.
On the floor. Curled, clutching her stomach, eyes wide and glassy. Blood at her lip. Pain clawing her face. My heart split and bled right there, but my body didn’t falter. Couldn’t.
Because a few feet away stood Gerald. Rope in his hand. Smirk carved into his mouth like he thought he was God.
Ánd Sabine-tied, bound, broken-watching it all with wild, panicked eyes.
I stepped into that room and the world shifted.
The air itself thickened.
Gerald’s head tilted, his smirk curdling. “Well, well. The prodigal husband arrives p>
I didn’t answer. Didn’t need to. My silence was a blade, sharper than anything he could throw. I looked once -Venus, bleeding but alive; Sabine, pale and struggling-and then locked onto him. Gerald.
I let him see it in my eyes. The storm. The end.
Venus’s voice cracked across the room, tearing through me. “Aaron-the babies p>
I flicked to her for half a heartbeat. Just long enough for her to know: I heard you. I see you.
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Chapter 186
Then I snapped back to him.
“Step away from her p>
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Gerald laughed, that low, poisoned sound. He tossed the rope aside with mock casualness. “Or what? You’ll kill me? You don’t have it in you-not for real. Not when the truth is, yo’ve been lying to her just as much as I have p>
His words didn’t land. Not now. Not here. Because there was no space left in me for guilt. No space left for anything but blood.
“You won’t touch her again p>
He crouched slightly, eyes gleaming, lips twisting cruel. “I already did p>
That was it.
The storm broke.
I moved.
AD
Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby’s writing style is bold and irresistible—perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.