Page 143 of Tempt Me (Dark Odyssey 4)

“You fucker, you know this is all wrong. How the fuck can you take him? He’s a baby!” I roar.

I don’t know why I bother. The fucking words fall on deaf ears when it comes to men like him. Look at what he did to Ava. He is truly evil, and this bastard has my son.

“There’s always a way to get what you want, Vincent Giordano. I’ll tell you what. Looks like you need to sleep on it a little more. I’ll call in the morning. You can tell me what your decision is then. Nine o’clock.”

It’s him who hangs up on me this time.

When he does, Ava walks out, and I try to rush to her.

I may be wobbling, but I’m still faster than her. I grab her arm before she gets to the door.

“I’m going to get him,” Ava cries. “Don’t you dare stop me. They want me. Let me go.”

“Stop it. I’ll find a way.” I’m talking out of my ass, pulling words from the air because I don’t have the answer. I don’t know what way I’ll find, but I know I have to find one. Men like him don’t trade. They make their mark by teaching a lesson. If she goes, I lose them both.

“What way? What can you do? Vincent, you know there’s no way around this. He wants me,” she says with a firmness I’ve never seen in her before.

I shake my head free of the daze from whatever shit they knocked us out with and pull her upstairs.

Thank fuck she comes because I don’t want a scene. The fucking shit has already hit the fan, and I need clarity to figure things out. I can’t have the others looking at me. Guilt like never before is already weighing on my soul. My boy is the last thing I have left in this world to live for, and he’s not here.

The fucking enemy has him, and I know they won’t hesitate to kill him.

I take her to my room and practically throw her on the bed.

“Stay there. You stay there and do not move,” I tell her.

“Vincent… you know this is wrong. You can’t keep me in here when I could be the only thing to save him. They want me. Let me go. Just let me go,” she pleads.

“I can’t,” I answer, and it feels like it comes straight from my heart. There has to be a way.

I leave her in there, locking the door. It’s the first time I’ve ever locked her in.

I rest against the wall and bring my hand to my head. What am I going to do?

They have my son. They took my son.

I can’t allow them to kill my son. I can’t let that happen to him. I just can’t.

If I do… I’m dead.

Chapter Forty

Ava

He’s locked the door.

I’m locked in here, and I can’t stand it. I can’t stand knowing that I could be trying to do something, yet I’m just here.

I’m the answer to this mess, yet I’ve been locked in here for the last couple of hours watching day turn to night. Not doing anything, just sitting on the bed watching and waiting.

Blaming myself as usual.

It’s all my fault again.

The events of the past were things I blamed myself for, and they weren’t exactly a direct result of me. They were all occurrences that happened indirectly. This is different.

This is completely direct.

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