Chapter Fourteen

Aiden

The stupid machine closest to the car was busted, so I had to walk to the other end of the carpark to find a working one. I didn’t want to leave Avery alone, but this wouldn’t take too long.

As I walked back, I noticed the passenger door was hanging open. My senses tingled. I heard the revving of an engine. My eyes fell on a huge black Range Rover driving away from my car. I stared at the number plate. It registered with me immediately. That was the same fucking plate of the car Avery told me about last night.

My legs surged forward.

They’d gotten to her.

They’d fucking got her.

I didn’t stop to check the Jag. Everything inside me screamed as I dashed after their car. Before I could even get near it, they got out onto the street. I ran out behind them, searching for the direction they’d gone in, but it was too late. I was too fucking late.

My knees almost buckled. Avery was gone. My fucking girl was gone. Some pricks had taken her. Just like someone had taken away my mother. Fuck. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I thought it might fucking burst out. I couldn’t fall apart. I had to find her. I had to rescue her. Nothing would fucking stop me from getting my fucking girl.

I dashed back into the carpark and raced to the car. I found her bag in the footwell and cursed. So much for tracking her by her phone. She always left it in there rather than on her person. I slumped against the car, running my hands through my hair.

I needed to get home and on my computer. That was the only fucking way I’d find her. I slammed the passenger door shut and got in the driver’s side. I got the fuck out of that carpark and on the road. I slammed my hands against the steering wheel as I drove.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

I couldn’t fucking believe it. The one moment I’d taken my eyes off her and they’d got to her. Whoever the fuck they were. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have gone straight to Chuck’s and demanded to know where the hell she was. Except Chuck was trying to keep Avery out of harm’s way. He needed his niece alive and well to keep up appearances.

Frazier would be the next logical point of call, but he wouldn’t send men after her. He’d have sent Tristan. So it couldn’t be him either.

This left me with a big fat load of nothing. I connected my phone to the car via Bluetooth and dialled the only person I could think of to help me in this situation.

“Aiden,” John said.

“Avery has been taken. I don’t know by who or why, but she’s gone.”

“What?”

“Some fuckers in a Range Rover followed her last night, we stayed at her friend’s place. I was taking her back to mine today, but they grabbed her.”

“What do you need?”

Something to help me calm the fuck down before I lost all sense of rationality.

“I have the number plate so I can use that to find her. I’ll need back up if I’m going to get her. I can’t do it alone.”

“I’ll head over now. I take it you don’t want me to inform Chuck just yet.”

“Fuck no. If he gets wind of this, there will be hell to pay.”

“I’ll see you in forty.”

He hung up. John was the only person I could ask. I wasn’t about to involve Ben in this shit. Not when he had a baby on the way. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could go in all guns blazing when I found out where the fuck she was. I had no idea who I was dealing with. This made it a fucking nightmare. What sick fuck would take my girlfriend? I knew she was in danger from her own family and Frazier, but I hadn’t counted on anyone else being after her.

I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel again and narrowly avoided some prick pulling out. The fucker hadn’t been looking properly. I honked the horn and flipped him the finger. Some fucks didn’t know how to drive properly. I was too fucking worked up to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Someone had my fucking woman.

I took several deep breaths. I had to chill the fuck out. Keep my fucking wits about me and put my head back on straight. Thoughts of how scared she’d be filled me with uncontrollable rage. Avery was strong but being taken by men she didn’t know to god knows where would be enough to make anyone afraid.

What the fuck did they want with her? If any of them harmed a single hair on her head, I’d fucking kill them. I’d burn the fucks to the ground. No one and nothing would keep me from Avery. Not like they’d taken away my mother. I wasn’t losing another person who meant the fucking world to me. Never again. Never a-fucking-gain.

It took me twenty minutes to get back to mine. I rushed upstairs and into my office. When I sat down at my desk and booted up my laptop, it dawned on me. I was afraid for her. Afraid of what whoever had taken her would do to her. The crippling anxiety and helplessness almost paralysed me. I had to get her back. I had to make sure she was safe.