13 Aria kidnapped

Gabriel stumbled forward, breathing hard as the taillights disappeared into the dark. Aria was gone.

His fists clenched, blood smeared across his knuckles from the fight. The first man groaned beneath him, barely conscious. Gabriel yanked him up by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Who sent you? Where are they taking her?" he growled.

The man only grinned, spitting blood. "You're too late. She's already his."

Gabriel punched him again. "Who?!"

But the man passed out.

Gabriel released him with a growl, letting him slump to the ground. He pulled out his phone and called Mark.

"Get me a trace on Aria's phone. They took her—black SUV, no plates. We were ambushed."

"On it," Mark replied, already typing.

Gabriel ran to his own car, started the engine, and peeled out of the alley. His heart pounded. The memory of Aria's terrified face haunted him.

He couldn't lose her.

---

Aria's head throbbed. She blinked against the darkness, the scent of leather and cold metal flooding her senses. Her hands were tied, her mouth taped. The vehicle rocked beneath her as it sped forward.

She tried to remember the path. Turns. Sounds. Anything. Then, a voice.

"She's awake."

The tape ripped from her lips.

"Scream and I break your jaw," the driver warned.

Aria stayed silent. Her mind raced. Why her? Was this about Gabriel? Or Luca?

Then the driver's phone rang.

He answered. "Yeah. We have her. Boss said take her to the compound."

Compound?

Her pulse quickened.

---

Gabriel's car screeched into the gates of the safehouse. Emily was already outside, phone in hand, pacing.

"They took her?" she asked, her face pale.

"Yes. And we don't have time. Get inside, we're tracking her now."

Inside, Mark was pulling up satellite feeds.

"Aria's phone pinged thirty minutes ago on Route 47. Then it went dead. They're jamming the signal."

Gabriel leaned over his shoulder. "Can we predict their destination?"

"Maybe. There's only one compound-like property in that direction. Private, heavily guarded. Used to belong to an old associate of your father."

Gabriel's blood ran cold.

"Get the coordinates. Gear up. We're going."

Emily stepped in. "I'm coming too."

Gabriel looked at her. "It's dangerous."

She crossed her arms. "She's my best friend. I'm not staying behind."

Gabriel nodded. "Alright. But stay close."

---

Aria was shoved into a stone room. Cold. Dimly lit. A single chair in the center.

She struggled against the ropes. Then a door creaked open.

Footsteps.

And then—Luca.

Her eyes widened. "You?!"

He smiled, smug. "Miss me?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you humiliated me, Aria. You chose him. You slept with Gabriel before our wedding. Did you think there'd be no consequences?"

Aria spat at him. "You cheated long before I did. With your secretary."

Luca's eyes narrowed. "This isn't about that. It's about power. You were supposed to be mine—and you handed yourself to my father's enemy."

Aria froze. "Your father's… enemy?"

Luca nodded. "Gabriel. The son of the man who ruined my family's legacy."

Her heart sank.

Luca crouched before her. "You'll be bait, Aria. When he comes, and he will… I'll end this."

---

The SUV skidded to a halt outside a perimeter fence.

Mark handed Gabriel a headset. "They have heat sensors and dogs. We go silent. One mistake, they'll know we're here."

Emily gripped a stun baton. "Let's bring her back."

They moved under cover of trees, navigating the back trail Mark had found. Inside the compound, cameras rotated like clockwork.

Gabriel whispered, "Three minutes until patrol rotation. Move on my mark."

They slipped past the first checkpoint.

Then—

"Wait," Gabriel hissed, pulling them behind a wall.

Two guards walked by, laughing.

Then a scream.

Aria's.

Gabriel's jaw clenched. "She's close."

They moved fast, scaling the side wall. Mark disabled the lock. Gabriel burst into the hallway—and found the door.

He slammed it open.

Aria sat bound, Luca standing behind her with a gun.

"One more step and she dies," Luca warned.

Gabriel raised his hands. "Let her go. It's me you want."

Luca smirked. "You think this ends with me letting you walk away with her? No. This ends when I erase you—like your father did to mine."

Gabriel's eyes flickered. "My father?"

Luca laughed. "Didn't you know? He blackmailed mine. Crushed our business. Left us with nothing."

Gabriel looked at Aria. "Is that true?"

"I don't know!" she cried. "Please, just get me out of here!"

A shot fired.

Gabriel tackled Aria to the ground.

Emily rushed in with Mark, disarming Luca in a struggle.

Another gun fired—Luca's backup guard.

But Gabriel was faster.

He took the shot to the shoulder but knocked the guard out.

"We need to go!" Mark shouted.

Gabriel pulled Aria up, pain etched in his face.

They ran.

Behind them, Luca screamed. "You can't run forever!"

---

Back at the safehouse, Gabriel's arm was stitched. Aria sat beside him, holding his hand.

Emily poured whiskey into glasses. "To surviving psychotic exes."

Gabriel managed a smile. "And to new beginnings."

Aria leaned her head on his shoulder. "You saved me. Even after everything."

He looked into her eyes. "I'd do it again. Every time."

Just then, Mark entered with a tablet.

"Gabriel… there's something you need to see."

He played a video.

Gabriel's father—alive. In a recent meeting.

"That's impossible," Gabriel whispered.

Aria gasped. "Wasn't he—?"

"Dead. Or so I thought."

Gabriel stood, heart pounding. "Then this… isn't over."