Page 158 of A Dangerous Proposal

Lifeless, glassy eyes stared up at her.

Cold. Plastic.

Jax was gone.

Chapter Forty-Nine

The phone buzzed in Alex’s pocket at the same time Liev burst into his office.

“They were attacked at the playground.”

Alex was already moving, pulling out his phone and pressing the button as he strode toward the door.

A choked sob hit his ear. “A-Alex… please… It’s Jax. He’s gone.”

The world ground to a halt.

For a split second, Alex couldn’t breathe. His body went ice cold before his blood turned to fire.

“Madison,” he said, his voice razor-sharp as he slid into the passenger seat of Liev’s car. His cousin floored it before the door even shut. “Take a breath, Angel. Tell me what happened.”

“I—” Her breathing was erratic, each inhale jagged. “An older woman… she had a baby. She gave us cookies. I thought she was being friendly.” She swallowed hard, her voice cracking. “Then Cami collapsed. Fyor went to get the car, and I ran to her?—”

Liev turned his head briefly, his own phone glued to his ear, expression murderous. “Cops are all over the scene. There was a bomb in the car. Fyor’s being transported to the hospital along with Camellia Bloom.”

Alex’s stomach twisted into a violent knot.

A gut-wrenching sob tore from Madison’s throat, her words barely coherent. “By the time I turned around—Jax was gone. She was gone.”

Alex squeezed his eyes shut, his grip on his phone so tight he was surprised it didn’t snap in half. Rage surged through him, a lethal pulse beneath his skin.

“I’m coming,malyshka.” Liev took a hard turn never touching the brake. “I will find him.”

Liev’s phone rang again, and he put it on speaker.

“Tell me you have something.”

A voice came through the line. “Witnesses say the woman had gray hair, possibly in her sixties, wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants. They lost her in the panic.”

Useless.

Alex ground his teeth. “Track every security camera in the area. I want a face and a name, and I want it now.”

His cousin nodded sharply, already dialing another number.

Alex forced himself to breathe, to shove back the tsunami of fear flooding his chest as he pictured Jax’s smile.

The car skidded to a stop. The playground was a mass of flashing lights, uniformed officers, and crying parents gripping their children.

Madison was in the center of it, pale and wild-eyed, surrounded by officers who were asking questions she clearly wasn’t processing.

The moment she spotted him, she shoved past them, running straight into his arms.

Alex locked his arms around her, as her body shook violently against him.

“Alex,” she gasped, her fingers digging into his shirt. “I walked away from him. I wasn’t watching, and she took him.”

Her voice broke completely, and his gut twisted. He gripped her tighter. “This is not your fault.”

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