The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

30

Edward

"She’s gone."

"What the fuck?" Baron swears aloud.

I’d thought I’d heard a beep, followed by the sound of a car driving away, had glanced outside and seen the SUV gone. I’d rushed into her room…knowing already that it would be empty. Then stepped out to find Baron at the doorway to his room.

"The SUV’s gone."

"Fuck. The car keys." He races down the steps to the study. I follow him, knowing already what he is going to find. He reaches his desk and swears. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He turns to me, "The car, we can track it."

He stalks out of the study, up the stairs to his room. I follow him. He snatches his phone, pulls up the app. I reach him, glance over his shoulder at the green dot on the screen.

"Well?"

"It’s not moving."

"What does that mean?"

"How the fuck do I know?" He turns on me, "This was a bad idea. We should have spoken to her, reasoned with her, not acted like overbearing brutes…"

"Which we are." I grimace. "Let’s get to her first, then point fingers at each other."

He nods. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He squeezes his fingers around the phone, the skin across his knuckles stretching white. "If something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself."

"Hold on, man." I grip his shoulder. "We’ll find her."

"I should have walked away when you asked me to." He squeezes his eyes shut, I stayed on. I couldn’t bring myself to leave, and now she’s gone."

"We’ll find her, Baron," I insist. "She’s not far. You said so yourself; we just need to hurry before anything happens to her."

He snaps his eyelids open. "Shit," he shudders, "if they get to her first."

"They won’t."

He drags in a breath, "We’ll find her first."

"We will."

"And when we do, I—"

"Not now," I snap. "Pull yourself together. Focus, solider. Let’s get going.”

"Right."

"Right." I clap his shoulder, "See you downstairs." I head for the doorway, when he calls out.

"Edward, how do we get to her? She took the car."

I glance at him over my shoulder, "You didn’t think I’d allow you to have the only ride in town, did you?"

His eyes gleam, "Bastard."

"Wanker." I smirk. "See you in a minute."

By the time I pull on my clothes and reach the door, he’s already there. I walk around the back of the house, to the garage in the far corner. A few minutes later, we pull out of the driveway in my Aston Martin.

"You had this in the garage, all this time?"

I raise my shoulders. "I had Sinner equip the place with the essentials."

"Remind me to thank him…" He shakes my head, "No, actually, don’t. That would only feed into the bastard’s ego, and he has more than enough of that to go around."

"As do you."

"And you," he reminds me.

"It’s what got us into this situation in the first place."

Baron stares straight ahead.

"Fuck," I slam my palm down on the steering wheel. "Bloody fuck." I turn onto the highway, press down on the accelerator. "How much further?"

"Another few miles." Baron repeatedly glances down at the phone, then up at the road, finally cautioning me, "Slow down. We should be coming up to it.”

I lose speed, search the area as I drive.

"There," Baron exclaims.

I slam on the brakes, park on the side of the road. By the time I am out of the car, he’s already at the SUV. He races over to the passenger side and freezes. "She’s not here."

I take in the car’s front end, which is crumpled against the tree. "The airbags deployed," I state unnecessarily."

"Where the fuck is she?" he swears.

I walk around to the driver’s side, spot the trampled grass around the space. "Look at this"

Baron stalks around the car, follows my gaze, and his features pale. "Fuck," he growls. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"They got to her."

"We need to find her before they hurt her."

Baron’s phone rings just then. We glance at each other, then he answers the phone. "Archer?" He listens for a few seconds, then disconnects and stares at me, "The man you injured at the church? He’s awake."

Two hours later, we pull up at the safehouse outside of London, where both the homeless guy and the guy who'd broken into Ava's studio, have been taken.

I park the car behind two other SUVs and follow Baron into the house. We walk past the empty living room to the bedroom where the homeless guy is. Archer straightens from his position by the window.

"Has he spoken?" Baron takes in the figure on the bed.

"Not yet." Weston glances up from his chair next to the bed. When Archer had moved the injured men here for their own safety, Weston had opted to come with them, staying available to monitor their progress.

I walk around to stand over the man. He’s a big man, and his bulk takes up most of the narrow bed. His eyes are shut, his hair in disarray. His features are ashen, the marks around his neck standing out in contrast against his skin. I curl my fingers into fists. I should have killed the bastard; too bad he didn’t die. I take a step forward and Baron grabs my shoulder.

I turn to him and he shakes his head. "Let me question him."

I scowl. "Asshole was responsible for what happened to us."

"And he may have information that can help us find her," he reminds me. "Information that I can pry from him."

I open my mouth to protest and he raises his hand, "This is my specialty, Ed." He rolls his shoulders, then continues, "The guy who broke into Ava's studio—the one you shot? He would have more information on why Ava was kidnapped."

"But he's still unconscious," I point out. "Whereas the homeless guy is awake."

Baron purses his lips.

"Also, he did mention that he's involved with the Mafia." I add, "Surely, he must know something about Ava's abduction?"

The sound of a car pulling up outside reaches us. This is followed by the sound of a door slamming, then footsteps approaching from the front of the house. We exchange glances, then look at Archer.

"Did you alert the rest of the Seven?" Baron asks him.

"I did," Weston confirms.

"What the fuck?" I scowl at Weston.

"Why did you do that?" Baron growls, before turning to Archer, "Did you know about this?"

"Uh." He rubs the back of his neck, "It’s—'

"Not his fault," Weston interjects. "I threatened to go to the cops unless he agreed to let me call the others."

"The fuck?" I turn on Wes, "Why would you do that?"

"Because you guys need back up." Weston leans forward in his chair. "Something which you two are too proud to ask for. So, I took the decision out of your hands."

"Seriously?" Baron balls his fists at his sides. "It's bad enough we agreed to let you monitor this bastard in the safehouse."

"Not that you had a choice. I am his doctor and he’s my patient." He leans forward to check the vitals of the guy, who stirs.

"He doesn’t deserve an ounce of care," I growl. "Bastard’s behind our kidnapping… And chances are, the same people are behind Ava’s kidnapping."

"Ava?" Weston straightens. "The hell you talking about?"

"She ran out on us," Baron rubs the back of his neck, "and they took her."

"And both of you couldn’t do anything about it?" Weston scowls.

Baron’s face flushes. He leans forward and I slap a hand in his chest, "Easy, ol’ chap, we need to keep our cool here."

"This bastard," Baron glares at the man on the bed, "he’d better have some answers."

The sound of wheels on gravel reaches us, car doors slam, then Damian walks in, followed by Arpad, Saint, and finally, Sinner.

They take up positions around the room.

"Well?" Sinner levels his gaze at Baron," You going to question him or what?"

Baron draws in a breath. Degree by degree, he seems to force himself to relax. He unfurls his fists, rolls his shoulders. He pulls another chair up to the bed. He stares at the features of the man on the bed, then stiffens.

"Shit," he swears aloud, "now I know where I've seen him before."

"You've seen him before?" I growl, and he nods.

"I thought I recognized him when I first saw him, but couldn't place him."

"But you can now?" Arpad straightens.

"Yeah." Baron blows out a breath and looks at Saint. "Remember the time you and I fought at the underground parking lot and I defeated you?"

"You didn’t defeat me."

"Sure, I did," Baron smirks, "though that's not the point." His features harden. "I saw him in the crowd that day."

"You did?" Arpad frowns.

"You sure?" Sinner asks.

"Yeah." Baron squares his shoulders. "Best to get on with the questioning." He glances toward me, "Do you know his name?"

"Anton," Weston interjects, "Anton Ruzlovksy."

I whip my head around, "He’s Russian?"

Arpad stiffens; he stares hard at the figure on the bed. "I am going to call Nikolai in on this."

Arpad’s wife is Nikolai’s sister; their father is Pakhan of the Bratva. Arpad, himself, is part of the Bratva…as a special consultant, of sorts…or so he claims. Asshole is probably more in with the Bratva than he is letting on.

He straightens, exchanges a glance with Baron, who nods. Arpad pulls out his phone and walks out, while Baron leans over the man, "Anton, can you hear me?"

Anton’s eyes flutter.

"Anton Ruzlovsky?" Baron's voice is firm, "Nod if you can hear me, Anton."

Anton swallows. His eyes flutter again, then he nods almost imperceptibly.

"Good," Baron says in an encouraging tone. "I’m Baron. Baron Masters. Can you tell me who you work for, Anton?"

He opens and shuts his mouth, but nothing emerges.

"His vocal chords suffered some trauma," Weston mutters, "but he should be able to speak."

"Can you hear me, Anton?" Baron asks.

Anton nods.

"What do you have to do with Ava’s kidnapping?"

The guys stiffen.

"Ava was taken?" Sinner snaps.

Neither Baron nor I reply.

"Fuck," Saint growls, "this asshole had better start talking, and fast."

I scowl down at the prone figure, who takes in the faces around the room. His chest planes move.

"Anton, hey!" Baron snaps his fingers and Anton jerks his attention back to him. "Ava," Baron growls, "what do you know about Ava's abduction?"

His lips move. Baron presses his ear close to Anton’s mouth.

He clenches his jaw. "You are lying," Baron growls. "You do realize, we are not going to go easy on you. The only way you can alleviate what’s coming to you, is if you tell us the truth."

Anton swallows, then shakes his head again. His lips move and Baron straightens. "Asshole insists he had nothing to do with the kidnapping."

Anger coils in my gut. "We don’t have time for this," I growl. "We’re here holding our dicks in our hands, while Ava is, at this moment, being held by kidnappers."

"I know," Baron growls, "I fucking know."

"Ed," Damian cautions me, "take it easy, man."

I glare at Baron, who glowers back at me.

"You too, Baron," Damian says in a low voice. "The two of you fighting is not going to help anyone, especially not Ava."

Sinner straightens. "Ask the asshole who’s behind the incident? Who did he give the information to?"

"Who did you work for, Anton?" Baron growls. "Who asked you for information on the seven boys which led to their kidnapping?"

His lips move and Baron leans forward. "What was that? Can you repeat yourself?" Anton’s lips move again. Baron stiffens; he stares at me. "Byron?" He scowls. "Did you say Byron?"

A ripple of tension runs round the room. I scowl at the prone man. "Do you have a full name, you asshole?"

Baron holds up a hand and I purse my lips. "Ask him Baron," I insist and Baron glares at me, before turning to the guy.

"Do you have a full name for us? Does Byron have a surname?"

The man’s lips move again. Baron leans in, presses his ear close to the man’s mouth. His scowl deepens. "Michael Byron? Is that right, Anton?"

Anton nods.

"Did he send you to talk to us?"

Anton shakes his head.

"So why have you been interacting with each of the Seven? Why have you been appearing at crucial junctures at each of their lives? Why have you been tracking them?"

Anton’s lips twist, he whispers again, and Baron pulls back to stare at him, "You expect me to believe that?"

Anton’s lips curve. His shoulders shake. Is the asshole laughing? What the fuck? I move forward, but Baron reacts before me. He shoots out his hand and his palm connects with Anton’s cheek. Anton coughs, or at least I think that’s what he does because no sound emerges. His face reddens and spittle flies out of his mouth. He shakes his head, then beckons Baron closer.

Baron leans in and Anton tips up his chin. The tendons of his throat strain. "It’s true," he whispers, and I catch the words this time. "All of it." He swallows. "I wanted to make up for what my actions did to all of you. I wanted to make sure you found some measure of happiness."

"We didn’t need your help," Saint growls. "We were doing fine on our own."

Anton snickers. Saint’s face reddens. He thrusts his chest out, takes a step forward, and Sinner grabs his shoulder.

"Steady, ol’ chap," Sinner mutters, "he’s trying to get you worked up."

"Well, he’s succeeding." Saint shakes off Sinner’s arm. "Asshole has two seconds to come through with some information of use, else I swear, I am going to finish what Father—I mean, Edward here, started."

I scowl at him. "I am no longer a priest, you prick. Best remember that."

"Priest? Somehow, now that you are no longer one, this new nickname suits you." Saint looks me up and down, "Hey, Priest." He snickers, "How are you, Priest?"

I ball my fists at my sides, glare at him. "The fuck is your problem, you piss-head?"

"Welcome to the real world, ol’ chap," Saint grins, "where you are allowed to speak your mind without fear of a larger power striking you down for your sins… Unless you are like our man on the bed here, in which case, it’s only a matter of time before they catch up with you. And no one can save you from what’s about to come next." He glares at Anton, "You catch my drift, motherfucker?"

"You heard the guy." Baron straightens his spine. "You have one last chance to tell us something that’s going to help find Ava, else I am going to let Saint, here, take a shot at you, and I can tell you, there’s nothing holding him back. Not the law, not the fear of any repercussions. Sadly, the man has enough money to buy out not just the cops, but also governments, if needed, not to mention the Mafia. He can kill you right now and vanish your body and no one would ever know."

Anton's lips twist… Did the asshole just smirk? I glare at his face. "So, you expect us to believe that you followed us around to make sure our lives didn't go to shit?"

He nods.

"And you came to me to confess, because you knew I was one of the Seven?" I scoff.

He stills, then nods again.

This doesn't make sense. I stare at him, hard. "I still don’t understand why you came to see me. Clearly, you wanted me to lose control. You knew there was a good probability I'd react exactly the way I did with you... Unless..." I roll my shoulders. "Unless you guessed that I was at the end of my tether. You knew I was falling for Ava and conflicted about how to balance my feelings for her with my calling."

He tilts his head.

"You were hoping that your revelations would push me over the edge, that it would make me do something that I would regret enough to leave the priesthood? That it would nudge me toward her?"

His lips twitch and anger curls in my chest. My blood hums and my pulse rate ratchets up. I step toward him. "Or were you hoping to get exactly the kind of reaction you got from me, where I almost killed you? Did you hope to die in church at the hands of a man of God as a way of repenting for your sins?"

Asshole stays quiet. He doesn’t even blink.

"Answer me, you motherfucker," I bark. "What kind of game were you playing when you came to see me?"

His jaw hardens but he doesn't say a word. Bloody-fucking-hell. I clench my fists at my sides.

He’d better start speaking, or else, Saint will have to get in line behind me. Strange how, once you go down the path of sin… Each progressive one becomes simpler, easier, faster until you forget the true nature of your actions, until everything is tainted by the same brush, until… To err becomes a part of you…and then you walk the line between light and dark, knowing you’ll always be a shade of grey. It’s only the intensity of that in-between color which changes… And well, that doesn’t count for much. It’s still grey.

"You have one minute," Baron growls, "sixty seconds before I step away and let these guys beat it out of you…" he shrugs, "so what’s it going to be?"

Anton glances around the room, then back at Baron. He tips up his chin and Baron places his ear next to Anton’s mouth again. Anton’s lips move. Baron’s features grow stonier. He shoves back his chair and heads for the door. I follow him.

"We’re coming with you." Sinner pushes away from the wall.

"No." We both say in unison. I nod, then Baron turns to glance at the guys.

"This one’s ours."