My Protector

Chapter 29: Lost

Killian's POV

The moment we stepped foot into the penthouse something felt off. The TV illuminated the eerie room but made no sound. As I walked towards the light switch my shoes stepped over something that crunched beneath my feet.

"What the hell," I whispered and looked at Adam who just stood in his place, confusion riddled over his face. I flipped the light on and my body instantly became stiff while Adam let out a loud gasp. 

"Loren!" I called out. Nothing. I looked to Adam who was standing in his place taking in the mess of a room in front of us. Shattered glass coated the floor just in front of the elevator doors. On the dining table were full plates of food, the metal cloches on the floor. "Loren!" I yelled as I stepped farther into the room and again, nothing. 

And then I saw it. Stopping in my tracks, my heart dropped into my stomach and quickened its rate to that of a rabbits. Sweat coated my hands as a wave of nausea rushed over me. My core temperature rose about 90 degrees with what I saw. 

In front of me was a pool of blood. Next to it laid a brass candelabra also coated in blood. From that pool was a large streak, eventually turning into drops forming a trail towards the elevator where it formed another small pool. 

I felt Adam step up behind me and whisper something but my mind was too fogged to register it. Something was wrong and in this moment I had no idea where Loren was or if she was even alive. I couldn't think clearly, my mind went straight to the worst possible scenario.

"DAMMIT!" I yelled out and punched the wall beside the bed. Powdered dry wall fell from where my fist broke the wall. "Search the apartment. I'll call Matteo." I instructed and he followed the command as I pulled my phone out, scanning the living room one more time.

 On the coffee table sat her phone, a small green light flashing on the screen. The message I had sent her prior to our final meeting. 

Something didn't sit right with me as I stood there waiting for Matteo to answer. The million dollar art pieces were still in the room, if not shattered on the floor. Our luggage was still neat, our items seemingly untouched. This wasn't a robbery. 

Whoever was here came for one thing. And that was Loren. 

***

"I want her found in the next 24 hours. I want the security footage from every single camera in this damn hotel. Whoever came in here came specifically for Loren. They didn't steal a single item here. Whoever it was is not afraid to get violent. I want to find out who brought up this food and when. They are our closest bet to finding out what happened." I looked over at the untouched fish and chips and cocktail on the dining table. 

"I will have every single one of my men on the lookout for her. Do you have any idea who would have done this?" Matteo questioned, his Italian accent subtle. He was one of our good friends from Stanford, earning a business degree as well. He ran his fathers "businesses" which was just a cover for running the mafia here in London as well as New York. 

"There is one person..." I spoke slowly as I realized the timing of this attack. Just before the meeting behind the whole reason we came to London, Loren just so happens to get attacked and kidnapped. "Somebody may be trying to sabotage our meeting tomorrow. But it doesn't make sense because we've just formed a relationship with this company a few months ago. I've only met the founder once." I rubbed my temples. I had developed a pounding headache since arriving to the apartment. 

"Do you think this has anything to do with Joel? Maybe he was trying to distract us from coming here so that whoever could come and take her?" Adam suggested

"No," I shook my head "I've known Joel a long time. He wouldn't do this. The man is just friendly and doesn't know when to shut up".

We spent another hour trying to figure out who would have taken Loren, the strongest suspect being Brunswick Tech. Matteo agreed to have his men sweep over their factory and warehouses tonight and in the morning. 

We spoke with the butler who delivered Loren's meal who informed us that she was already asleep on the couch when he brought the food up so he placed it on the dining table, not wanting to wake her. 

We attempted to review the cameras but of course, the system was down from 11:45 PM until 1 AM just before we arrived back to the apartment. 

This was my fault. I was so selfish I brought her here on this trip, even if that meant she was just going to sit around the apartment all day. And now she was missing. Now she was hurt. I clenched my jaw as my eyes started to tear up. I couldn't believe myself. I was supposed to protect her yet I brought her into this mess. A mess that I wasn't even aware existed. A mess that I had no idea how to clean up.

"Should we cancel our meeting with Brunswick today?" Adam suggested

"Fuck. Thats in what... 5 hours?" I placed my head in my hands and shut my eyes. "No," I finally said and lifted my head back up. "I want you to go and take care of it"

Adams eyebrows shot up and he stared back at me with a quizzical expression. "Without you?"

"Adam you own this company just as much as I do. You have an equal say in things. I trust that you will fix this mess."

"B- but you're the scary one" he whined causing me to chuckle

"Just fake it Adam! Slam your fist on the table when you really need to. We can't cancel it right now because if they are the ones behind Loren's kidnapping, we are giving them exactly what they want. They want us to be scared. They want us to be distracted. But we won't give them that satisfaction." 

He let out a soft sigh and slowly nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. You need to go find your girl and I need to grow a pair. In 5 hours. Easy." He laughed nervously. 

"Do it for Loren" I finally said as I stood up and squeezed his shoulder. "You'll be just fine" I said under my breath as I walked away. I wasn't sure if I was saying that for myself or Adam. 

Within 30 minutes I was in Matteo's small Italian sports car racing through the empty London streets. Where could you be...

Loren's POV:

My wrists and ankles burned from rubbing them raw trying to free myself from the impossible restraints. My head continued to throb and my sweat soaked through the silk pajama set Killian had packed for me. An occasional sharp breeze would hit me and send chills through my whole body.

I wasn't even sure how long I was locked up for but I knew one thing. I needed to get out of here. My memory from the last night was slowly coming back to me. I remember that I had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up thinking that Killian was back. The next thing I remember was backing into somebody and probably getting hit on the head? That would explain the blood all over my hands and my raging headache. And now the wound was probably infected... which would now explain my fever.

I needed to get out of here before the infection gets any worse. 

I still wore the raggedy sack over my head which made no difference as I was stuck in the pitch black 24/7. 

I had one visit since waking up in this 'dungeon' and that was when I got tied up to this metal chair. 

I tried not to think about how hungry or how tired I was. I tried to tell myself that Killian was coming to save me but how could I be so sure? I didn't even have an idea of where I was. 

A painful ring started to take over my hearing and I gritted my teeth trying to focus on something other than the pain. Gradually my thoughts became foggy and I was painless.