Page 97 of Stolen By The Bratva King

Simple, brutal, and effective. The kind of plan I would have used.

“It wasn’t Dante?”

“No, I’d have recognized him. This guy was taller.” Her voice wavers. “He wore a face mask and had a gun. He knew about my son. Told me if I didn’t do what he said, he’d get to him.”

A shudder racks her frame. “I had no choice. I had to say whatever it took to get Emery out of your apartment.”

“Jesus,” I murmur. “She wanted to come here anyway. She didn’t only because I put a guard on her.”

Jess laughs bitterly, dabbing at her red-rimmed eyes. “No wonder I had to lay it on so thick.”

Her lip quivers, and she sucks in a deep breath, trying to stave off fresh tears. “I told her there’d been an incident. That we had kids in who’d been shot. All lies, but it lit a fire under her.”

Fuck.

Emery knew what was going down tonight. She would have assumed I was involved in whatever bloodshed I’d set in motion.

And the worst part? She could feasibly have been right.

“That’s not even the worst part,” Jess says.

I frown. “There’s more?”

“One thing I told her was true.” She looks down at her lap. “The little boy you brought in—Desi—was supposed to be transferred to an orphanage tomorrow. I knew she’d want to say goodbye.”

A cold weight settles in my gut.

“And?” I prompt, a little too sharply.

Jess shakes her head, her whole body trembling. “I’m terrified, Leon. Kill me if you want, but don’t let anything happen to Bobby.”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I say, my voice steady. She lifts her eyes to mine, and I hold her gaze. “But you need to tell me everything. Once we’re done here, I’ll have you and your son taken somewhere safe.”

She nods rapidly. “After I called Emery, the guy let me return to work like nothing happened. I walked out of that room, dazed, barely keeping it together. A doctor told me to take a break, so I went to the bathroom and threw up.”

She’s stalling, giving me unnecessary details. Fear does that to people.

“Jess.” I cut through her rambling. “Get to the point.”

She rubs her face with her palms. “When I went back out, I was looking for Emery, but I never saw her. I thought maybe she changed her mind. Then I went to check on Desi.”

Her voice cracks. “But he was gone. Blood on the floor by the nightstand.”

A sharp, electric pulse rushes through my limbs.Keep it together and listen.

“I checked the system,” she says numbly, “but he wasn’t formally discharged. Someone walked out of the hospital with him.”

“That easily?” I ask, aghast.

Jess scoffs. “We don’t expect people to beabducted, Leon. Security is here for drunks and junkies causing trouble, not kidnappers. If someone knew what they were doing, it wouldn’t be hard to slip out unnoticed—especially at night.”

Something isn’t adding up.

“If they had Emery,” I say slowly, “why let you go? The guy must have known I’d talk to you.”

Jess doesn’t hesitate. “He wanted me to tell you. He said he hoped the knowledge that you let Emery down would drive you crazy.”

Something inside me cracks open. The locker room feels airless, like the walls are pressing in.

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