Page 4 of Ruthless Prince

“Vincent,” I say. “I’m here. Wake up.”

And yet … he doesn’t. He doesn’t move an inch, and it’s obvious he’s not sleeping.

“No,” I sob, falling to my knees.

“I want you to feel like absolute shit before I blow your brains out,” Igor says.

A sudden rage fills me, and I spin around, grabbing Igor’s arm and tossing the gun out of his hand. I run for Vincent’s body, but Igor shoots at me again, landing a hit to my shoulder. Fuck. If I don’t make it out of here now, I won’t survive, and I can’t do that to Aurora.

With a growl, I barge into Igor, pushing him back, and run up the stairs. Vincent is still down there. I need to get his body.

But I can’t get him just by myself.

I manage to run outside and down the street to my car. Igor doesn’t bother following me. He knows I lost.

I lost.

After getting patched up by a private doctor I used to work with, I call on some of my old contacts to help me get back into Igor’s mansion and retrieve Vincent. He deserves to come home.

With the help of a few men, we break into Igor’s house without any problem.

Except … Igor and Vincent are nowhere to be found. I know what that means. Igor packed up and left so I can’t find him. He could be anywhere. I have a lot of spies, but even I’m not God.

Vincent’s body could be anywhere, and I’ll never find him again.

“Keep looking,” I tell my other men. “Everywhere in the city. If you get even a hint, let me know.”

“Where are you going?” one of them asks.

“Back home. I need to tell my wife …” That our son isn’t coming home. That I failed.

The flight back to Italy is long. It’s torturous. It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt.

Aurora opens the front door for me when I arrive in our driveway, hope in her eyes. That hope is quickly dashed when she sees my face.

“No,” she sobs, falling to her knees. “No.”

All I can say is, “I’m sorry.”

VINCENT

I wake up from the cold with Igor leaning over me. I’m no longer in the basement. I don’t recognize where I am—some bedroom.

“Wakey, wakey,” Igor says, pulling a needle out of my arm.

Tears rush out of me. “That hurts.”

“I had to give you medicine to wake you back up.”

It’s then I remember. When I was on the basement floor, Igor pushed a needle into my arm, and everything black until I woke back up here.

“I hate you,” I hiss.

“Get over it, kid. You’re officially mine now. Your mommy and daddy think you’re dead. No one’s coming for you. Come on. It’s time I start to train you on how to fight.”

VINCENT

Present Day

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