Chapter 24
873 Words
Armani’s POV
I was at the shooting range when it happened.
The smell of gunpowder filled the air. The sound of bullets hitting the target echoed in the large room. I fired again. And again. Perfect aim.
Then the doors burst open.
Two guards rushed in. They did not even look at me. They went straight to Theo and whispered something in his ear.
I kept shooting.
But I saw it.
Theo’s eyes widened.
Something was wrong.
He walked toward me slowly. His face was serious.
“The mission was a trap,” he said.
I sighed and pulled the trigger again. The bullet hit the center.
“What about the girls?” I asked calmly.
“The building exploded,” he said. “They were still inside.”
My finger froze on the trigger.
The silence was loud.
I slowly lowered the gun.
“Explain.”
“The warehouse was fake. It was set up to lure them. They triggered an explosion. The whole place burned.”
Burned.
For a second, Riley’s face flashed in my mind.
Was she gone?
No.
She would not die like that.
She was not weak.
My jaw tightened. Anger rose inside me like fire.
“Send men there,” I ordered. “Search every inch of that place. I want bodies. I want proof. I want something.”
Theo nodded and left immediately.
I walked out of the shooting range, my mind dark.
Those fools really thought they could trick me.
They made a fake warehouse. They trapped my Wildcats.
They thought that would save them.
By the time I am done with them, they will understand why no one dares to steal from me.
A few hours later, I heard shouting in the hallway of the mansion.
“Call the house doctor!”
I turned.
Several guards rushed inside carrying a girl in their arms. Her body was burned. Her clothes were torn. Her skin was red and black from the flames.
My heart tightened for a second.
Please let it not be her.
I walked closer.
It was not Riley.
It was the leader of the mission.
She was barely breathing, but her eyes were open.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“She’s the only one we found,” one guard said. “The rest… burned.”
My fists clenched.
Burned.
“I am not… the only one,” the leader whispered weakly.
I leaned closer. “What do you mean?”
“She… she warned us…”
“Who?” I snapped. “Who warned you?”
“R… Riley…”
She fainted.
For a second, I just stood there.
“Take her to the hospital room now,” I ordered.
The guards rushed away with her.
Some of the girls in the mansion gathered in the hallway. They gasped. They whispered. Fear was spreading.
But I was not afraid.
I was thinking.
If Riley warned them…
If she knew about the explosion…
That means she was not inside the building.
Which means she survived.
Which means—
“She used it,” I muttered.
Theo looked at me. “Used what?”
“The explosion. The chaos. She used it to escape.”
My jaw tightened.
How dare she.
How dare she think she could leave me.
Footsteps echoed behind me.
“Armani.”
I turned to see Lucas walking toward me quickly. His face was tense.
“I heard about the mission,” he said. “Is she safe? Is my Wildcat safe?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t know,” I said coldly.
Lucas clenched his fists. “If anything happened to her—”
“If she is alive,” I interrupted, stepping closer to him, “then she is in very big trouble.”
Theo raised a brow. “Trouble?”
“Yes,” I said quietly.
Because if Riley really escaped…
If she really thought she could run from me…
She forgot something very important.
I always find what belongs to me.
I walked back to my office.
I poured myself a drink but did not touch it.
Riley’s face kept appearing in my mind.
The way she looked at me sometimes.
The way she stayed silent.
The way she did not fear me the way the others did.
She warned them.
That means she overheard something.
She was clever.
Clever enough to survive.
Clever enough to run.
A slow smile formed on my lips.
“Run,” I muttered to myself.
Run as far as you want.
Hide in the shadows.
Change your name.
It does not matter.
Because I will hunt you.
And when I find you…
You will regret ever thinking you could leave me alone.
I picked up my phone.
“Activate all contacts,” I ordered. “Check hospitals. Check roads. Check nearby towns. I want cameras hacked. I want cars tracked. I want everything.”
“Yes, sir.”
I ended the call.
If Riley was alive, she would not get far.
And if she was dead…
Then the men who did this would beg for death before I was done with them.
Either way—
Someone was going to pay.
And blood would wash this mistake clean.
- Writer
