Page 65 of Vows of Silence

“You’re to meet Stanislav with the weapons he requested tonight. I trust you will be on time?”

I said nothing. We both knew I always saw a job through to completion.

“Handle this, Silas,” he sighed. “We can’t have a repeat of last week.”

I chuckled under my breath as I remembered last week.

Adrien had sent spies onto my estate searching for Isabelle. Into my home. Looking for what belonged to me.

I’d repaid the favour by returning his men to him. Skinned. And draped across his bed as a blanket.

I’d branded one of them with Isabelle’s name as an extra added touch.

Rafael watched me carefully, as though waiting for some sign of instability to crack through the surface. “Every police force in the country is looking for that girl,” he said eventually. “Airports are being monitored. Borders are being monitored. Vescari is throwing around enough money to buy entire governments if it means finding her. It’s making our livelihoods difficult, son.”

As though we weren’t already facing difficulties running all the illegal operations we did.

I was well aware of the… adjustments that needed to be made. Adrien and Vittorio were already convinced Isabelle had been trafficked. Vittorio assumed it was due to his connection with the mob, and repayment for his own crimes. He assumed he had pissed off the wrong person.

Which he had.

Me.

I had assumed Adrien would grow bored given enough time. And once he was out of the picture, I could easily convince Vittorio to back off. I should have known better. My little bird was impossible to grow tired of.

My attention shifted back towards the monitors again before I could stop myself. Downstairs, Isabelle had moved closer tothe shelf, her fingers gliding carefully along the wood as she searched for hidden details.

Pride settled heavily in my chest.

She was close now.

So fucking close.

Rafael followed my gaze toward the screens and exhaled sharply through his nose. “You should have fucked her the first night you brought her here.”

I ignored him. He wouldn’t get a response from me.

“She’d be out of your system by now if you’d have fucked her. We could have easily staged it to make it look like she was randomly attacked. There are thousands of people in this city wearing masks. You would never have been considered a suspect if she said a masked man attacked her and raped her.”

Raped her.

I had no intention of raping her.

Isabelle would give herself to me freely or not at all.

“I’m giving you until the end of the month, Silas. This is getting out of control, and I’m sick of talking about her in every meeting. She’s even being spoken about in the underground channels. They want her just for the bounty they’d receive as a reward. Kill her, or impregnate her. Secure the heir, or get rid. I’m sick of indulging you. If you won’t do it, mark my words—I will.”

My jaw tightened beneath the mask, and my fists clenched inside the gloves. My grandfather didn’t notice.

But Isabelle would have.

I shut all the other cameras down and focused back on my woman. Behind me, Rafael sighed heavily before walking out of the office.

Isabelle finally found the indentation beneath the shelf.

My chest tightened instantly as excitement sharpened her entire expression. She looked alive again down there. Curious. Focused. Engaged.

Beautiful.