I wasn’t a praying man, but right now, I would be willing to pray every day for the rest of my life if she was okay.
Mikhail’s phone shrilled through the silent car.
I held my breath and looked at Damien.
“Do you recognize the number?” he asked, a tortured expression on his face.
Mikhail shook his head.
“Answer it.”
Mikhail put the call on speaker. “Hello?”
A voice sounded out from the other line that had my blood run cold. “Ah, Mikhail. Have you figured it out yet? Please tell me you did before getting on that plane. It would be such a waste of time for you to have to turn it around, no?”
Impossible.
Damien tensed beside me. He recognized the voice.
“You’re the one who sent me the picture. And the coordinates,” Mikhail said calmly. I wondered if he knew whom he was talking to.
Luca answered, and I could hear the fucking smile in his voice. I wanted nothing more than to use my fist on his disfigured face. “Yes. It was me. Sorry, but I had to get all three of you out of the house. I know how much you value family. I mean, you’re always going on and on about the brotherhood and your brothers and blah, blah, blah. Am I right?”
Luca laughed.
“Who’s this?” Mikhail asked, but the way he looked at me told me he had already figured it out. He was stalling for time. Kirill made a sharp turn. I estimated us only fifteen minutes out.
“Don’t you recognize my voice? I gotta say, I’m hurt. It hasn’t been that long.”
We didn’t say anything for a moment. Then Damien nodded at Mikhail, and Mikhail spoke through the phone, anger burning in his eyes.
“Luca. You really are a cockroach, aren’t you? We cut off your head, and you’re still moving, polluting the Earth with your mere presence.”
“Enough,” Luca said, his voice tinged with anger. He always did have a problem with his temper. “I wouldn’t test me if I were you.”
Fuck, I should have made sure he was dead after Damien tortured him.
“Yeah? And why’s that?”
A loud scream sounded through the phone, making it hard to breathe.
He had her. Fuck, he had her.
My fists clenched on my side as helplessness weighed me down. I hadn’t felt helpless in years, but Luca had Catalina, and there was fuck all I could do about it.
The scream stopped suddenly.
I didn’t know which was worse, hearing her screams in pain, or the sudden silence that followed.
“Catalina! Catalina!” Mikhail screamed through the phone.
I grabbed the phone from him. “I’m going to fucking kill you, and this time, I’m going to make sure it sticks.”
“Ah, Nikolay. It’s always so nice to hear from you again. Is Damien there? Would he like to say hi?”
“What do you want?” I gritted out.
“It’s simple, really. Your precious Catalina for Damien. I want the man who fucking ruined my life. I want the man who made me like this.”