Chapter 224

Logan

It was the night before the court date, and everything was ready to go. I had the file on Marina and Harry locked safely away in my filing cabinet to be carefully slipped into Ella’s briefcase. In the morning, we would finally see Marina and Harry face justice for their crimes.

I never thought I would be saying this, but I no longer cared about my father’s money in the slightest. If he wanted to give it all to Harry, then fine; but my goals now laid in doing what was right, which was to finally, hopefully, begin to dismantle the mafia here in this city.

I knew, of course, that it would be a long and arduous process to accomplish something so lofty. Maybe it was too big of an expectation to take the mafia down, but Marina and Harry were a good start. Maybe Ella and I would never even be able to fully accomplish it, but we could sure as hell try.

“Her attitude rubbed off on you, didn’t it?” my wolf teased. He had been content ever since Ella and I had finally marked each other, and he was right; she had made quite the impact on me.

“I won’t deny it,” I replied as I looked over the files one last time. “Never thought I’d admit it, though.”

My wolf chuckled in response. “You’re still planning on taking her away once this is all over?”

I couldn’t help but smirk a bit at his words. Truthfully, I had been considering it for the past week; I wanted to take her somewhere nice, maybe somewhere tropical. Somewhere far away from here, just for a little while. Somewhere to celebrate…

Just then, my phone buzzed, jolting me from my reverie.

I glanced over at the caller ID to see that it was Hartman, my trusted informant. Considering the fact that I had only just received the files from his personal courier a couple of days ago, I assumed he was calling to make sure that everything was in order.

“Hartman,” I answered, my voice steady despite the fact that my body was practically jittering in anticipation of what might happen tomorrow.

“Logan,” came the gruff voice from the other end, a voice that had become synonymous with hope in recent months.

“Good to hear from you,” I greeted, leaning back in my chair. “I received your package the other day. Everything is in order.”

His chuckle crackled through the line. “Excellent,” he said. “That information on Harry and Marina's involvement in what happened in Italy—it should all be there. Damning, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” I said. “Sucks that it has to be my brother, but…”

“It’s always the people we’d least want it to be,” he said. “But rest assured that they won’t be able to hurt anyone anymore.”

I paused, my gaze drifting to the file in front of me. I just hoped that he was right, but part of me was still worried about what would happen after they were put behind bars. They both had connections. One word from them, and Ella and I would be dead people walking.

Hartman’s voice brought me back to the present. “Just make sure you follow the plan,” he said. “Deposit the information with the judge discreetly. Once they see what’s in there, Harry and Marina won’t just be facing jail time—they’ll be done for.”

“I understand,” I assured him, feeling the weight of the responsibility. “They’ve caused enough damage. It’s time for justice to be served.”

A brief silence fell between us, filled only by the distant sound of traffic from the street below.

“So, Logan,” Hartman began, a new seriousness in his tone, “about the payment for my services...”

“Don’t worry about that,” I interjected quickly. “Once this is over, I’ll make sure you’re compensated more than we agreed. You’ve been instrumental in this, Hartman. I won’t forget that.”

“I appreciate that, Logan. You’ve always been a man of your word,” Hartman said, a note of respect in his voice. “And speaking of which, there’s something else you should know.”

“Oh?” I leaned forward, intrigued.

“The Italian mobster, the father of the girl Harry and Marina offed—he’s got connections. Inside connections.”

My brow furrowed in concern. “What kind of connections?”

“The kind that ensures Harry and Marina won’t be a problem for you ever again. Once they’re in custody, they’ll be ‘taken care of’. Permanently.”

I froze, the gravity of his words hitting me like a ton of bricks. This wasn’t what I wanted. My fight against Harry and Marina was to bring them to justice, not to sentence them to death.

“Hartman, that’s not...” I began, struggling to find the words. “I don’t want blood on my hands. Not like this.”

There was a pause on the other end, and for a moment, I wondered if I had crossed a line. “Logan, sometimes justice needs a helping hand,” he said. “This is how the underworld works, and you should know that by now. And besides, that mobster is out for blood. This is no petty crime; his daughter, his only child, was brutally murdered in cold blood.”

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “No, Hartman,” I said. “There has to be another way. You promised that no one would get hurt. I’m not stooping to that level anymore.”

Hartman let out a sigh on the other end. I knew that I was fighting a losing battle here, but we had made a deal; no harm would come to anyone, and if I could help it, then I would do whatever I could to make sure that deal stayed true.

But before he could respond, the door to my study burst open, and Mrs. Wentworth, my housekeeper, stood there, her face ashen and her eyes wide with panic.

“Mr. Logan!” she exclaimed, her voice frantic.

I furrowed my brow. “Hold on, Hartman,” I said, putting myself on mute. “What is it, Mrs. Wentworth?”

Mrs. Wentworth took a shuddering breath. She was gripping her shirt so tight that her knuckles were turning a ghostly shade of white. I never saw her like this, and something about it made my blood run cold. “It’s about Ella,” she said, her voice trembling. “She’s… She’s gone! I heard a commotion, went to her room to make sure everything was alright, and found the window wide open! There was a black car speeding away!”

The phone slipped from my hand, clattering onto the desk as Hartman’s voice became a distant echo. My heart pounded in my chest, a mix of fear and disbelief coursing through me.

“Ella... gone?” The words barely escaped my lips, a whisper in a suddenly too quiet room.

Mrs. Wentworth nodded, her own fear palpable. “Yes,” she stammered. “I-I don’t know who they were, but they took her!”

In that moment, everything else faded into insignificance. The plan, the impending court date, the machinations of the underworld—all of it paled in comparison to the stark, terrifying reality that Ella, the woman I loved, was in danger.

I stood abruptly, my mind racing. I had to find her. I had to bring her back. Nothing else mattered.