Page 86 of Ruthless Royalty

“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice shaking as I watch him draw something into the syringe. “Leo, what is that?”

“Just something to help you relax,” he says casually, as if we’re having a normal conversation. “Wouldn’t want you to be too tense, now would we?”

“No, no, no…” I whisper, my heart hammering in my chest as I pull desperately at the restraints. “Please, don’t do this. Please, Leo, you don’t have to do this.”

But he’s already moving back towards me, the syringe in hand, his expression calm, detached, like this is just another day for him.

I thrash against the restraints, my pulse racing, my breath coming in panicked gasps. “No, please! Leo, please—don’t!”

“Shh,” he says, his voice almost soothing as he presses the needle to my arm. “It’ll be over soon, Chiara. Just relax.”

I feel the sharp sting of the needle, and a wave of dizziness washes over me, the world tilting precariously as the drug starts to take effect. My limbs grow heavy, my vision blurring as Istruggle to stay conscious, to fight against the pull of whatever he’s given me.

But it’s no use.

The last thing I hear before the darkness takes me completely is Leo’s voice, soft and cold in my ear:

“Sweet dreams, Chiara.”

And then, there’s nothing.

GIOVANNI

The shipping yard is eerily quiet as we move through it. The only sounds are the distant hum of the city and the crunch of gravel beneath our boots. No guards. No movement. It feels wrong.Too wrong.Every instinct I have is screaming at me.

“This isn’t right,” Mihai mutters beside me, his voice low, dark eyes scanning the area. “Where the fuck is everyone?”

I grit my teeth, my eyes flicking over every dark corner, every shadow, looking for the trap that has to be waiting. “I don’t know. But it’s too quiet.”

Nikolai moves in front of me, his gun drawn, his movements sharp and precise. “They had to know we’d be coming. It’s like they cleared out. I don’t like this.”

Connor, who usually has a grin on his face, isn’t laughing now. His jaw is set, his eyes narrowed as he checks his own weapon. “Feels like we’ve walked into a fuckin’ ghost town, lads.”

One of Dmitri’s scouts comes jogging up to us, pale and out of breath. “Boss, there’s nothing. No guards, no patrols, nothing. It’s like they up and vanished.”

Nikolai shares a look with me, the tension palpable. This isn’t normal. It’s not how things are supposed to go down. Someone should be here guarding their prize. Chiara. They wouldn’t just leave her unprotected unless?—

“It’s either a trap or they’ve already moved her,” I mutter, the thought sending a wave of dread through me.

Nikolai’s lips thin into a hard line. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

“Stay sharp,” I bark, signaling to Dmitri’s men to spread out and cover the perimeter. Every second that ticks by feels like a fucking hour, my heart pounding in my chest. Chiara is here somewhere. She has to be. But if they’ve touched her, if they’ve hurt her…

Mihai glances at me, his face unreadable but his dark eyes flashing with something dangerous. “We don’t know what we’re walking into. Keep your head, G.”

I give him a sharp nod, though keeping my cool feels impossible. The GPS led us here, to this goddamn shipping container, and if anything has happened to her?—

Nikolai moves to the side of the container, his gun at the ready, his expression taut with barely controlled fury. “Ready?”

“Do it,” I growl, my voice rough with tension.

He signals to one of the men to pry the door open, and the metal groans in protest as it swings open, revealing the dark interior. My heart lurches in my chest as the scent of something sharp and metallic hits my nose—blood.

Mihai stiffens next to me, his face hardening, while Connor’s eyes darken as he moves closer. “That’s never a good sign,” he mutters.

I don’t wait for the others. I shove past them, storming into the container. My eyes are adjusting to the dim light, and I’m praying—praying that the GPS was wrong, that she’s not here, that she’s not?—

My heart stops, the air sucked out of my lungs as I take in the scene in front of me. It’s a scene straight out of my fucking nightmares.

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