DANTE’S POV
The phone slammed onto the wall, still vibrating from the noise it had just made, still echoing in my office.
My fists were fisted and I could feel rage building underneath my skin.
Every second counted when I had to deal with this betrayal.
“Dante, we are going to catch the rat, we are working on it,” Alex said, matter of fact, and tugged me to spin me around.
I shrugged him off.
“Working on it? We’re bleeding, Alex!” I snarled at him.
My heart was racing against my temple.
“They’re stealing from us, leaking information, destroying everything I built. And Camilla’s out there, trapped. What am I supposed to do first? Clean up this mess or save my family?”
Alex didn’t bat an eye; his face was rock steady.
He was used to me losing it, used to the rage that I couldn’t always keep inside.
“We’re close. I’ve got the team monitoring every communication. The traitor’s going to slip up, and we’ll be ready.”
I wanted to trust him, but trust was not that easily earned, not in this world, not now.
How was Camilla?
Was she safe, or she’s already caught up in danger?
I slumped backward in my chair, hands circling the armrests.
I felt myself spiral down, torn between two wars: one here in my office, another in my heart.
I had promised her with every fiber in me that nothing would ever happen to her.
And here I was, stuck right in the middle of whatever mess was on.
“How much longer?” I asked this time softer.
Alex stepped forward.
His tone met mine in a soft dance.
“I’d say just a little more time.
The bait’s out there.
He’ll take the bait.
We’ll get the mole.
I nodded.
Time.
Camilla didn’t have time.
But what was the alternative?
***********
Another day dragged on into a dream of bad things.
Every single hour rolled by like one big, oozing bleed, my patience frayed, my focus divided.
Guilt gnawed deeper, knowing quite well that I hadn’t done enough for Camilla, and hadn’t kept my word to her.
“Boss, we’ve got movement,” Alex said finally after hours, releasing pent-up tension in the room.
His eyes met mine, and something in them; a glimmer of anticipation, maybe even relief-caught.
I rose, and the adrenaline shot through me.
“Who?”
He handed me the tablet to show the coded messages we’d been tracking.
My heart stopped for a second as I saw it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
Her?
“She’s been into your personal files for weeks,” Alex said, and his voice was tight.
“Everything that’s been leaking? It came from her.”
I stared at the screen, trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing.
There was just no way, it was a woman who was trusted by my father and had worked for him for years and years which was why he sent her to me after Camilla left.
“How? Why?”
Alex’s jaw flexed.
“We’ll find out.”
*********
She was small in the interrogation room, scared.
The woman who had betrayed me put my business, and my family in jeopardy.
Career criminal.
“Why?” The word dropped from my lips before I could call it back, a thread of anger weaved in my tone.
She looked up, her eyes were red-rimmed, and she was shaking noticeably.
“Mr. Draven, I-I didn’t have a choice.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
Patience was wearing off now.
“That’s a pretty lame excuse.”
Her voice cracked.
“My parents, they’ve taken them. They’re holding them hostage, threatening to murder them if I didn’t… if I didn’t comply with their demands.”
I froze.
My mind kicked into overdrive.
My mind just wanted to deny that this could be a possibility, I clung to disbelief, but another part knew she spoke the truth, the part that knew the ugly sides of this world.
“Who does?” I insisted, taking another step closer.
She swallowed and tears streamed down her face.
“It was the silver skull. The one in charge. He said… he said that if I didn’t get him information, he’d kill my parents.”
Silver skull.
Those bastards.
I turned to Alex, anger welling up inside me.
“Get people out there now. Find her parents. I want them here, in one piece and alive.”
Alex nodded and, without any further questions, left the room to send them on their way.
I turned back to the woman.
“You should have come to me,” I said, my voice softer this time, harsher-edged.
“You should have told me. I could have helped.”
Her head fell, her voice no more than a whisper.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t going to cut it,” I growled, pivoting on my heel and stalking out of the room.
The minute Alex got confirmation her parents were still alive, my attention went back to where it should have been all along: Camilla.
I stood in my office, the reality of it all setting over me like a thick fog.
“This has taken too long. I should’ve been there weeks ago.”
“I have mobilized the men,” he said beside me, calm.
“We’ll get her out.
We’re ready.
“We move tomorrow morning,” I said, and my voice was resolute.
“No more waiting. No more distractions.”
Alex nodded dense but firm.
“And the silver skull men?
“After Camilla’s safe, we deal with them. For good.”
He didn’t need an explanation, because he knew exactly what that meant.
Silver Skull had stepped beyond their limits, and when you cross me, there was no return over that line.
But one had come before that: Camilla was to be returned.
She and Jasper, my son, were in danger, and I would tear down every wall, and annihilate every adversary in my way to bring them home.
I simply could not bear for her to suffer any longer.
While Alex went off to make the final preparations, I turned back to the window and gazed out over the city, my empire.
An empire that I had fought so long to build, to safeguard, but none of that mattered if I wasn’t able to keep my family out of harm’s way.
She’d been patient, far more than she should have been.
And I’d failed her by not acting sooner.
But I was going to make it right.
I was going to fight to make it right.
I pulled the gun out of the drawer, loading it up with a satisfying click.
This was it.
There was no turning back now.
“Dante,” Alex called from the doorway, his voice urgent.
“We’ve just got word on Silver Skull.
They know we’ve caught their spy.
I smiled.
“Let them.”
The night was drawing in, and with it, the last battle to save Camilla.
I could feel the tension coil in my gut, the sense that everything was coming to a head.
“We need to be ready for tomorrow. No mistakes,” I said, my voice low but steady.
Alex nodded firmly at me.
“We’ll be ready.”
I strode toward the door, ready to walk into the fire.
But before I did, I turned back to Alex, hard-eyed.
“If anything happens to her, if we’re even a second too late…”
He didn’t let me finish.
“We won’t be.”
I gave him a tight nod and stepped out into the night.
What was at hand weighed heavy on my shoulders, and little room remained for hesitation.
Not anymore.
Camilla had waited long enough.
And tomorrow, I would make sure she was out of any danger.
My hands had closed down on the door handle of my car, and I knew then that I was all in, for better or worse.
I had made up my mind.
“I would bring my family home.”