HIS SWEET REVENGE

Bryan’s POV

I burst into the house, leaving Father in the car. My heart is pounding wildly in my chest and I couldn’t wait for Felix to come out and open the car door for me.

I am so sure it is Paxton and Emily. They are working together apparently and they have her in their custody.

I hurry inside so I can see Camilla whose distress call came in first. She is pacing the living room with the crying Jason in her arms and Lizzy right beside her.

When they notice my presence, they rush to me.

“What the hell happened?” I ask with a furrowed brow, wondering how Celine got out and how she was kidnapped. Camilla had announced to me over the phone that Celine was missing without knowing that I had gotten a call from the people who had her.

Camilla exchange glances with her grandchild, Lizzy before passing Jason to him.

“Daddy?” Jason’s shrill cry hits my eardrum, making me turn to him.

“Your mommy will be fine”, I assure him with a sad smile.

I promised to keep Celine safe and now this has happened. I had the intention of coming home to resolve the conflict between us. I know how sad she was about my reaction this morning and I’m sure she deserves an apology as well as an explanation.

“He has been asking about her since morning and now that it is late, I guess he sensed something bad must have happened to her”, Camila says as tears begin to pool in her ears.

Knowing that Jason won’t let me listen to Camilla with rapt attention, I wave Lizzy away with a small signal for her to take him inside, to give Camilla and me the privacy to talk.

I stand with arms akimbo as they leave, then Father comes in too, walking steadily towards me.

“How did you know she was missing?” Father questions her after she bows lightly in greeting.

Camilla sighs. “She has been gone all morning.”

“All morning?” I ask again to be sure I heard well.

How can Celine be gone all morning and she is just informing me? Where the hell did she go?

“She said she was going to get some chocolates for Jason in the store a few streets away from here and she asked me to look after him”, she explains with a look of guilt.

“And you let her?” I shout at her. “The guards let her too? Didn’t I warn you never to let her out of sight?”

Father touches my arm and I snap my head towards him. He signals to me to be calm.

“She hasn’t come back since then?” He asks Camilla calmly and she nods, lowering her head.

“Did you ask any of the guards to check the store if she was there?”

“No. I didn’t want to raise a false alarm so I kept waiting until now when it dawned on me that something bad must have happened to her”, she voices out, a sob escaping her.

Father turns to me with arms akimbo. “Any suspects?”

“Yes”, I reply sharply. “Paxton and Emily.”

“Paxton and Emily?” He furrows his brows at me in question so I nod. I turn to Camilla.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Did she go out with her phone or a bag?”

“Her mobile phone isn’t reachable, I have tried to call all to no avail and I have searched everywhere for it. I saw her go out with a purse too.”

“Did she look like someone who was going far away from home? Probably to visit someone?” She shakes her head after a moment of thoughtfulness. “How was she dressed?”

“She was wearing a long blue gown”, she responds immediately.

I raise a brow. “A long blue gown? To a store nearby?”

Reality dawns on her and she gasps softly. I know what she is thinking. She must be thinking that Celine had run off again like she once did.

“She was crying this morning”, she utters, staring into space. “Within minutes, she was back to her real self and I thought she wanted to take a breath of the air to get rid of her anger which was why she decided to get the chocolates for him herself. I never knew she was running away.”

At the mention of crying, I feel guilty. I am sure it was when she left my room that she was crying.

Is that why she decided to go out? Was she taking a stroll when she got kidnapped?

“She was kidnapped”, I find myself saying to Camilla so she won’t think she had run away just like the other time. Camilla’s eyes widen and she gasps. “She didn’t run away.”

She begins to sob louder.

“Go and check up on Jason”, I dismiss her with a wave of the hand.

She moves away reluctantly and I turn to Father.

“Paxton is Derrick Dominguez and he is familiar with Emily. I believe they are working together”, I explain to him and he nods in understanding.

We remain silent for a while, deep in thoughts.

“Emily is working with Derrick?” He snorts all of a sudden. “I believe she has no idea he was responsible for her sister’s death.”

My eyes widen. “He did?”

“Yes.”

Emily’s father and mine are close friends. They used to be very close when Father was still residing here in New York but ever since Helena died and Father isn’t always in New York, I don’t have any idea how close they are now. All I know is Father wanted me to marry Emily before I introduced Helena to them and even after Helena died.

“Yes.” He answers again. “If Celine is with Paxton, the next thing we need to find out is their hideout. I am sure he is working closely with his brothers.”

“Yes, we need to do something before he hurts her. He wants her.”

“Celine? How did they know each other?” He asks out of curiosity.

I sigh loudly. “They were neighbors.”

“Neighbours?” He asks and I nod, without providing any more explanations.

“Let’s go back to the house, I will have my boys go to their hideout, and then we will plan how to rescue Celine tonight”, he says with determination.

I almost smile. Celine is not just a woman I got married to five years ago, she is now the mother of my parent’s grandchild and my Father will do all it takes to save her.

I trust him.

I nod eagerly. “I’m going with them to save her.”

He turns to me in surprise, then flashes me a proud smile before heading to the front door.

I follow.