Chapter 213
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AARON
I stood there for a long moment after she slipped under, my hand still wrapped around hers even though her fingers had gone slack. Sedation had stolen the fight from her body – but not from her face. Even in sleep, she looked like a woman braced for impact, like she might wake any second and sprint barefoot into hell if it meant getting Iris back.
God, she’d fought. She’d bled. She’d torn her own body apart to keep those kids alive. And they had still taken our daughter.
The thought alone made something sharp and lethal coil inside my chest.
I let out a slow breath and finally straightened. The nurse nodded once at me – a small gesture of understanding – then slipped out of the room, leaving me alone with the soft hum of machines and Venus’s even breaths.
The quiet was unbearable.
I dragged a hand through my hair. Three days of leads and dead ends. Three days of watching systems I controlled, networks I built, and contacts who owed me everything come back with the same infuriating answer:
Nothing.
Whoever had Iris knew exactly how to disappear. It was like Gerald all over again, except this time, it wasn’t Gerald.
I turned toward the door – I needed to speak to Connor, to Colton, to the task force, to the team sweeping the border warehouses – when suddenly a quiet noise behind me pulled my attention back.
A small exhale. A shift. Then-
“Mmh p>
Her lips parted, the smallest sound slipping out. Not pain. Not panic. Something closer to a tether being pulled.
Her eyes stayed closed, lashes trembling, but her hand twitched as if reaching for something.
For me.
I moved back immediately, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m here,” I whispered.
Her breathing evened again, settling only when she seemed to sense my closeness.
God. Even sedated, her body still recognized me. Trusted me. Leaned toward me like I was the only stable thing in the room.
It nearly broke me.
A soft knock at the door. Connor stepped in, keeping his voice low. “Anything p>
I shook my head once. “She’s out p>
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He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Good. She needed p>
“She didn’t want it.” My voice came out sharper than intended. “She thought closing her eyes meant abandoning Iris p>
Connor didn’t argue – because he understood. Because he’d seen her on that floor too.”We’ve got one,” he said.
My pulse kicked. “One what p>
“One of the men from the Paris footage p>
For the first time in three days, something hot and electric cut through the numbness sitting in my chest.
“Not the one who took Iris,” Connor added, as if bracing me for disappointment. “But connected. Indirectly. Through the scandal p>
The scandal.
The first domino they knocked over.
The one meant to humiliate me, destabilize my company, isolate Venus.
A setup disguised as a tabloid nightmare – and now, suddenly, a link in the chain toward Iris’s abduction.
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“With Colton. In Bay 7 p>
Bay 7 was Colton’s off-record interrogation location. Soundproof. Reinforced. Hidden in plain sight in a warehouse complex registered under one of our old shell companies. A place with no cameras, no digital logs, nothing that could ever be traced back to us.
The kind of space where conversations happened exactly once.
Yes Colton. He did infact have ties with the Mafia. 1
No Venus isn’t aware of her brother’s free time activities.
I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty if it meant keeping my family safe.
“And the police?” I asked.
Connor shook his head. “Not involved. Won’t be p>
Good.
Police moved slow.
We couldn’t afford slow.
The law was a process; I needed a resolution.
And I needed it now.
I glanced toward Venus’s again. She was still sleeping, sedative thick in her veins. She needed rest. She needed
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to heal. She needed to wake up to actual progress. To something real.
“Let’s go,” I said, and the decision felt like a blade sliding into alignment inside me.
Sabine would be here when she wakes.
We rode the elevator down in silence, a heavy, anticipatory quiet. As the doors opened onto a secured parking garage, the sterile hospital environment was replaced by the low growl of waiting engines.
“Tell Colton to tell his men not to break anything vital. He still needs to talk p>
The drive to Bay 7 didn’t take long, but it was long enough for every memory of Paris to flood back through me. Atleast what I could remember. The hotel. The staged encounter. The carefully taken pictures designed to tear my reputation apart and humiliate Venus. Pictures that had felt too neat, too coordinated, too perfectly timed.
Now we had one of the men in that footage.
And I was going to find out exactly how he connected to my daughter’s disappearance and who put him up to it.
Bay 7 was dim when we entered. Colton stood by the metal table near the wall, arms crossed, jaw clenched. He jerked his chin toward the far end of the room.
“He’s there p>
I walked forward.
The man – mid-thirties, athletic build, straight brown hair, eyes already showing the bloodshot signs of panic – was tied to a metal chair bolted into the concrete floor. His hands were bound behind him, his ankles strapped separately. He wasn’t beaten. Not yet. You should never started with violence.
Fear did the work first.
I didn’t rush. I pulled a folding chair over, set it down directly opposite him, and sat. I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t need to. My presence alone was usually enough.
He lifted his head when he heard my footsteps. His breath caught when he saw my face.
“Mr. Sinclair,” he said hoarsely, voice shaking. “I swear I didn’t know I didn’t even know who you were until after Paris p>
“Let’s start simply,” I said. “Your name p>
“Lucas,” he whispered. “Lucas Derrane p>
I nodded. “Lucas. You were in my hotel room in Paris a few days back.” It wasn’t a question.
His jaw tightened, a flicker of shame or fear maybe both
maybe both moving across his face. “Yes p>
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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.