Page 29 of Declan

“Viviana!”I roar, my voice cutting through the stillness like a whip.“Don’t even fucking think about it!”She turns to me. Is that fucking blood on her face? Is she bleeding?

But before I can reach her, she dives into the water.No…My breath catches, my pulse hammering in my ears.

Panic grips my chest, squeezing tight, suffocating. The hunter in me vanishes, replaced by something far more primal: fear. Real, gut-wrenching fear.

I hear Connor and Kian crashing toward me, but their voices are muffled, drowned out by the chaos roaring in my mind.

I hit the water’s edge and dive in without a second thought, the cold a brutal slap that barely registers. My body surges forward, arms cutting through the dark water, but it’s fucking impossible to see. The murk swallows everything.

“Where is she?”

“Viviana!”I scream, my voice breaking, raw and desperate, the sound tearing from my throat like it could drag her back to me. Tell me she didn’t drown.

Connor dives in beside me, Kian right after him. The water churns with our frantic movements, but it feels like we’re fighting against time itself.

“I can’t see her!” Connor’s voice shudders, sharp and strained, his head breaking the surface only to dive again. Every second that passes is a dagger twisting deeper into my chest.

My heart races, a wild, frantic rhythm, each beat screaming the same thing: “I almost had her. I was so close.”

It’s been six long hours, and still nothing. My men have scoured the lake, searching for her body until exhaustion finally pulled them from the water.

“It’s my fault,” I snarl, shoving the whisky bottle into my mouth. The sharp burn rushes down my throat like fire, but it does nothing to dull the guilt gnawing at me.

“She decided to run; it’s on her, Declan.” Kian’s voice is steady, but the undertone of doubt is clear. He’s trying to sound reassuring, but he knows as well as I do that the blame doesn’t rest solely on her.

“Ifucking scared her, Kian!” I clutch my head, the pounding becoming deafening.

I should’ve locked her in her room! Why did she go into that room?

I punch the table, sending paper flying to the floor. What have I done…

“She might still be alive,” Connor’s voice cuts through, standing at the corner of the office, a towel around his neck, his eyes dark as the night.

“After all this time? She fucking drowned!” The words sting more than I thought they would.

The door swings open without a knock, and we all jump. Kian draws his gun instinctively, but the barrel of the gun to Mike’s face makes him freeze.

“Fuck, it’s me,” Mike raises his notebook. “You need to see this, boss.”

“Fucking hell, Mike, this is not the day to barge in like that!” Kian snaps, quickly holstering his gun.

Without another word, Mike slams his notebook on my desk and presses play on a video. The security footage from the road outside the mansion flickers to life on the screen.

“What are we looking at?” I squint, the footage showing only the dark woods next to our estate.

He points to a small motion behind some bushes; it’s dark, and I don’t even know how he caught it.

We all crowd around the screen, and there she is—crawling out of the woods, her clothes torn and soaked, blood trickling down her face. She stumbles toward a car parked at the edge of the road. My heart stops, a jagged punch to my chest.

“Who the hell is that?” I snarl, the words thick and heavy in my throat. My pulse quickens, adrenaline coursing through me, burning hotter than the whisky.

A man rushes from the car, scooping her up like he’s been waiting for her.

“That’s fucking Carlos,” Connor mutters, stepping closer with his phone in hand. He swipes to a photo, showing me, a younger Viviana standing next to the man from the footage.

“I thought he wasn’t working for the Morellis anymore,” I bark, standing abruptly, yanking my leather jacket off the back of the chair and shrugging it on.

“He’s not. He retired years ago.” Connor doesn’t even look up from his phone, his fingers flying over the keys. “But my guess is she found a way to contact him. I’ll pull his address and known associates.” He’s already moving down the hall, determined in every step.

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