Chapter 195
ALEXANDER
Faith was gone.
The words echoed in my mind like a deafening sound, repeating over and over until I could hardly think.
Her bodyguards had managed to send a final report before everything went silent. They were ambushed. Faith had been taken. And by the time reinforcements got to the location, the guards were dead–slaughtered like they were nothing more than obstacles in the way.
Something inside him snapped when Dominic heard that.
I’d seen Dominic angry before. I’d seen him enraged. I’d even seen him vindictive. But never like this.
He stood in the middle of the room, shaking, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His breathing was ragged, uneven, as though he couldn’t catch enough air. And his eyes–bloodshot, wild, desperate—were nothing like the Dominic I knew.
“No,” he rasped, his voice barely audible. “No, no, no-”
Then he whirled and slammed his fist into the nearest wall.
The crack of his knuckles hitting it was like a whip, and it jolted a gasp from me. He didn’t even seem to feel it, didn’t seem to notice the blood dripping from his hand as he pulled it back and punched again. And again.
“Dominic,” I said, taking a step closer, but he didn’t seem to hear me. Or if he did, he wasn’t listening.
“Fucking Nathan!” he thundered, turning on his heel, his entire body trembling with rage. “I swear to God, Alex, if he lays so much as a finger on her–if he hurts her-” His voice broke, and for a moment there, I saw something I’d never seen in him. Desperation.
He dragged both hands through his hair, pacing like a caged animal. “I have to find her. I have to
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“We will find her,” I said firmly, pulling out my phone. “I’ll call my agent. We’ll figure out who the hell did this.”
I knew it had to be Nathan. There was no other possibility.
But why?
Nathan had always wanted Raina. Obsessed over her. Chased after her like she was his goddamn lifeline.
So why Faith?
What the hell was he playing at?
We pulled up to the house in strained silence, the reality of what had just happened bearing down on us like a crushing weight. Dom barely let the car come to a stop before he threw open the door and all but ran into the house. His whole body was tense, his fists clenched at his sides. I followed closely behind, watching as he turned to the men who had been at the scene, his expression dark and demanding.
“Tell me everything,” Dominic barked, his voice sharp and raw.
One of the men stepped forward–tall, built like a wall, his face still carrying the tension from earlier. “Witnesses say she insisted on stopping for coffee, “he explained. “One barista said he served her himself. She was alone, seemed normal, just drinking her coffee like anyone else.”
Dominic’s nostrils flared. “And?”
The man hesitated, then went on. “A man approached her table. The barista claimed they talked for a few moments, then he gave her an envelope.” Dominic tensed up beside me, exchanging a look with me. “Nathan?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
The man shook his head. “No. We showed the barista his photo. He said it wasn’t him.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “Then who?”
The man hesitated then stepped aside. Another investigator came forward in his place. He was holding an envelope.
We found this at the scene,” he said, holding it out.
Dominic didn’t wait, his fingers shaking slightly as he ripped it open. His eyes read the contents, and then, abruptly, he froze in his tracks. A sharp intake of breath. A slight shake of his head.
“No,” he whispered. His voice scarcely made a sound, but the devastation in it was deafening. “It can’t be possible. She–she wouldn’t do this.”
His face contorted, an incomprehensible jumble of anger and betrayal and something else–something far deeper.
I didn’t wait. I wrested the folder from his fingers, my pulse hammering in my chest as I read the title.
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Chapter 195
+25 Bonus
Faith wasn’t joking.
The words seared themselves into my eyes. A thick silence dropped over the room. Dominic stood stock–still, his hands gripped in his hair, his breathing ragged. Then, suddenly, he exploded.
“I can’t lose her,” he snapped, his voice breaking. “I won’t lose her.” He turned to me, his expression wild, desperate. “Alex, this isn’t just about the fucking divorce. Nathan is a goddamn psycho. If he has her-” He clenched his fists, his entire body shaking. “I’ll kill him myself.”
He paced up and down, his curses interspersed with muttered threats. His feelings were raw and unfiltered. He was falling apart, and for once, I had nothing to say to put it back together.
I just let him be.
I didn’t know precisely how he felt–I hadn’t lost Raina–but understood enough to realize words wouldn’t help.
Minutes passed before Dominic stopped pacing. He let out a heavy sigh and planted his hands on his hips. His voice, when he spoke again, was husky.
“At least Raina and the rest are away from him,” he muttered.
I nodded, forcing myself to swallow the lump in my throat. “Yeah,” I agreed. “At least Raina’s safe.”
Because if it had been her, I wasn’t sure I’d be as calm as I was right now. But even as I said it, something gnawed at me. A sinking feeling. Something wasn’t right.
I spun on the men. “Check the surveillance cameras around the café,” I barked, my voice sharp with urgency. “I want every angle, every frame. If there’s footage of the van, we get the plate number. If we get the plate number, we find who owns it. And if we find who owns it, we find Faith.”
