Page 121 of Coerced Queen

“Saverio,” I say, making my voice hard.

He scrubs a hand over his face.“The man at the gate was on duty the day your mother visited you here.He said your instruction was to let her through.”

“Yes,” I say.“But that didn’t mean I gave her a free pass to come and go as she pleases.”

“The guard didn’t know that,” my husband says.“He thought you invited her to your birthday party.”

I carry on toward him.“And you simply accept that?”

“No.”A muscle ticks in his temple.“I fired him for his negligence, as I did with the man who let her leave the house.”

“With my baby,” I say, stopping in front of his desk.

“Withourbaby,” he corrects.

The snideness of my question is born from fear and anger.“What’s the door guard’s excuse?”

Saverio stands.“Your mother told him you asked her to take Claire to her place for the night as the noise from the party kept her awake.”

“He should’ve checked with me,” I say, choosing the anger because anything is more merciful than the paralyzing fear.

“That’s why I’ll have them escorted off the property.I’ll keep them in detention until we find her,” Saverio says, his tone grave.

They’ll be taken somewhere isolated.If we don’t find Claire, Saverio will kill them.But I can’t think like that.I have to remain positive.

Always in tune with my thoughts, Saverio repeats the same line he knows I need to hear.“We’ll find her.”

My gaze is drawn to how he leans heavier toward one side, placing his weight on his good leg.He needs his crutches.

“Do you believe them?”Nicole asks.

“They’re loyal men,” Livy says.“I’ve had the chance to talk with them on several occasions.I don’t think they’re lying.”

Dante walks into my line of vision, still holding my bag.“I agree with Liv.I don’t think they conspired with Mary.I reckon she fooled them.”

Unable to stand still, I pace the floor like a caged animal trapped on a square of expensive, woven rug.“What now?Where does that leave us?”

Saverio’s phone announces a notification.

He glances at the screen.Whatever he reads sets his features in hard lines.

“What is it?”I ask.

His voice is terse.“Our contact managed to pick up the car on a street camera.He traced it on the interstate traveling north-west.”He takes his gun from the drawer and slips it into his waistband.“It’s currently parked at a motel north of the city.”

My heart beats so hard it echoes in my temples.

“Our team is ready,” Dante says.

Saverio takes a box of bullets and empties it in his pocket.“No radical moves.I want to catch her by surprise.”

“Do you know if anyone is with her?”Livy asks.

“From what I’ve seen on the video our contact sent, she went into a room alone.”Saverio glances at me before adding with a tight jaw, “Carrying a bundle in her arms.”

A gasp catches in my throat.

“Make sure the women are protected before we go,” Saverio tells Dante.

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