Page 18 of Capturing the Ruthless Billionaires

“They took care of me. They loved me. The fire. The fire. The fire.” She used both her hands to block her ears, shaking uncontrollably.

Alexandria gently lowered her hands.

“They loved me. They died. The man said they had died. I remember now. Before I came here,

“No. Cara, they love you. They’re alive. They’re here.”

“Alex?” Rhea whispered, her voice quivering.

“They’re here. Cara’s brothers are here. In the dungeon.”

Rhea gasped. Cara bolted for the door.

Alexandria grabbed her back.

“Not that way. We have to go through the tunnel.”

“I want to see them now. Take me to my brothers now.” In all her life, Alexandria had never heard Cara speak with such force.

“I want to see them now.”

Wasting no time, Alexandria told Rhea to grab one of the duffle bags while she grabbed the other. They walked down the tunnel, using the flashlights Amanda had left for them.

Alexandria turned left. She pushed against the third stone door but she needed Cara’s and Rhea’s help before it squeaked open. The door had been unused for decades.

It was there that Alexandria had to make a decision. Everything could go south, and she would jeopardize all three of their lives.

“Rhea, take the bag and go through the south tunnel. You know what to do with the guard. He’ll be asleep. Just taser him. And run. Get into the car and wait for me.” As she spoke, she retrieved one of the burner phones from the bag. The only number saved in the contacts was Doctor Amanda Foster. She was waiting in the car outside their house.

Without letting Rhea see what she was trying, she let Amanda know that if she wasn’t there in ten minutes, she had to get Rhea to The Console. Alexandria would find another way to get out. Maybe they had less time. Did Melle’s friend’s son already get into trouble for turning off the surveillance? Were they looking for them already? The possibility was too high to ignore. She had to get Rhea out, knowing that Cara would not leave the dungeon without seeing her brothers.

Rhea squealed in protest, but Alexandria remained forceful, sending her sister off immediately, but not before Rhea warned her that if she wasn’t back in ten minutes, Rhea was going to come and get her. She also refused to hug her because they were going to see each other in ten minutes. That was Rhea’s way of showing she wasn’t terrified.

With Rhea on her way to safety, Alexandria and Cara faced the other sleeping guard. Using the chlorophyll, Alexandria pressed the white cloth to the snoring guard's mouth while Cara held onto his hands for dear life. Alexandria held the chlorophyll against him until he stopped trying to fight it off.

She stalled for a millisecond as the ante came into view, and with it came the three men who were kept imprisoned and all the things they had done to her. Her left breast still bore the red bruising of their mouths. Three bite marks next to each other, one from each of them.

Cara saw them, but before she could rush to them, Alexandria grabbed her and hugged her so tight that she took both their breaths away.

“I love you, Cara, my sister. Just go right and keep going until you get out. Tell them that.” She did not doubt that once they were released and their sister’s life was no longer in danger, they could fight their way out of there. Still, she tucked the bottle of pepper spray into Cara’s hand before she pushed her toward the cells, staying hidden in the shadows.

She couldn’t give in to her tears right now; she still had to disarm the alarm that would automatically open the cells.

Trembling all over, she cried in relief when she found the metal box—the new equipment was added to the ancient dungeon only recently.

She pushed in the code. A series of gears kicked into place. The last thing she heard was the cell bars sliding open.

Chapter Twelve

Lachlan Grant steepled his fingers together and glanced at the two men closer to him, and meant more to him than if they’d been blood brothers.

It had been five days since they were back in their own house, with its sleek glass and chrome architecture and panoramic private beach views.

Five days of sleeping in their own handcrafted beds, luxury epitomized. They were showering in their own real gold and diamond-specked bathroom. Wearing their bespoke suits, with their million-dollar cufflinks, Patek Philippe private collection watches, and Italian-made shoes.

All of it materialistic things they didn’t care a fuck about. What they did care about was power, and true power came with the prerequisite of having wealth. Fuck tons of money. But like money was to some people, they craved power more and more, and still, it hadn’t been enough for them.

They’d been invincible. Dragons of the universe. Their company name was Dragon Peak Enterprises, a reminder of who they were, where they’d come from, and what they were made of.

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