A Dance with Danger

Chapter Fifty-Two

Tiberius' POV

The moment I returned Estelle to the mansion, I wasted no time. As soon as she was safely inside, I got back in the car, shutting the door with more force than necessary. 

"Drive," I ordered. 

Helio didn’t ask questions—he never did. The car pulled away from the estate smoothly, blending into the quiet streets as we headed toward the base. 

I should’ve stayed with Estelle. I should’ve kept my ass in bed, but I couldn’t. That text was still gnawing at me, filling my gut with unease. Someone had sent her a message, and I didn’t believe in coincidences. 

Whoever it was had managed to get through to her personal number. 

That alone was enough to piss me off. 

By the time we reached the base, my temper was already on a short leash. 

The underground facility was one of the many places I operated out of, buried deep beneath a nondescript warehouse. The men stationed at the entrance immediately stepped aside when they saw me, and I strode past them without a word. 

Inside, the air was thick with the scent of coffee and burnt-out monitors. The place was filled with men either working on assignments or training in the lower levels, but I had only one person I needed to see right now. 

Killian. 

I found him exactly where I expected—seated in front of five different monitors, each displaying streams of code, security footage, and other classified data. His fingers danced over the keyboard with practiced ease, his gaze sharp behind his glasses. 

"Boss," he greeted without looking up. "You’re early." 

I dropped into the chair across from him. "I need you to hack into Estelle’s phone." 

That got his attention. Killian finally looked at me, brow raised. "Her phone? Thought you trusted her." 

"This isn’t about trust," I said coldly. "She got a text last night from an unknown number. I want to know who the fuck sent it." 

Killian whistled lowly but didn’t argue. Instead, he stretched, cracking his knuckles before getting to work. 

"Pass me her phone," he said. 

I pulled it from my pocket. Estelle had handed it to me earlier, trusting me to figure it out. Trusting me.

That only made me more pissed off that someone had dared to reach her like that. 

Killian plugged the device into his setup, his screens flashing as he bypassed the standard security measures. "Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here..." 

Lines of code scrolled rapidly, and then, within seconds, the message appeared on the center monitor. 

Unknown Number: ‘You look beautiful when you’re sleeping. I wonder if he knows how fragile you really are.’

A heavy silence settled over the room. My vision darkened. 

"Shit," Killian muttered. "That’s... unsettling." 

I shot him a sharp look. "Trace it." 

Killian was already on it, his fingers moving fast. "Whoever sent this was careful. They rerouted it through multiple servers, but I’ll crack it. Just give me a second." 

I leaned back in the chair, my jaw tightening. 

Someone had been watching her. 

That thought alone sent rage burning through my veins, barely contained beneath the surface. Estelle was mine. No one was supposed to get near her, let alone have the balls to send a message like this. 

And fragile? 

They didn’t fucking know her at all. 

Estelle was many things—stubborn, reckless, a pain in my ass sometimes—but she was not fragile. 

Killian cursed under his breath. "They masked their location well, but I’ve got a lead." 

I straightened. "Where?" 

"Signal bounced around, but the origin point was somewhere in the city. Looks like a burner phone. Last known ping was near the docks, but it’s already offline." 

I exhaled through my nose, thinking. If they were near the docks, it meant one of two things—either they were trying to leave, or they were taunting me, knowing I’d come looking. 

"Get me the security footage from the area," I ordered. "I want to know if anyone was lurking around." 

Killian nodded, his fingers already flying over the keyboard. 

"You think it’s someone from the past?" he asked. 

I didn’t answer immediately. 

It could be. The list of people who hated me was long. But this wasn’t about me—this was personal. 

This was about her. 

I thought back to Estelle’s hesitation when I asked her about the message. She’d been shaken, but she’d tried to hide it. 

She didn’t want me to worry. 

Too fucking bad. 

I was going to find the bastard responsible, and when I did, I was going to make them regret ever thinking about her. 

"You gonna tell Estelle?" Killian asked after a beat. 

"Not yet," I said. "Not until I have something concrete." 

She already had enough on her plate. The last thing she needed was to stress over this. 

I stood, grabbing her phone off the desk. "Keep me updated." 

Killian gave a lazy salute. "On it, boss." 

I left the base, my mind already running through a dozen different possibilities. 

Whoever they were, they’d made a mistake. 

Because now, they had my full attention.