“Yes, boss,” they replied in unison.
I went down the hallway, ensuring I could still see Gigi’s door.
Enzo walked up to me as he ended a call. “Okay, it looks like Stone was dirty,” he said, tucking his phone inside his suit jacket.
“I already figured that out,” I shot back. “Was he involved with Gigi’s kidnapping, or is this a separate situation?”
Enzo shook his head, a bitter smile curling at the corners of his lips. “One of his guards spilled the beans. Stone’s beenplaying both sides all along. He was knee-deep with Walsh, raking in profits from his operations.”
The truth ignited a simmering anger within me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“When you took Walsh out, Stone lost more than just a partner in crime. He lost his income. He was desperate, and that desperation made him vulnerable.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “Desperate enough to do what?”
“The Puppet Master contacted him. Offered him a large sum of money to kill Gigi and all of you. He was willing to trade her life to pay off his debts.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
“Where is he now?” Enzo asked.
“I killed him. You’ll find him in the sixth-floor breakroom,” I said without remorse.
“Fuck, Nico,” Enzo said. “Alright, I’ll get?—”
A chilling scream echoed through the hall. Enzo and I bolted down the corridor to Gigi’s room without a second thought.
As I reached the door, the doctor ran out of the room, her face pale.
“What happened?” I demanded, anxiety tightening my chest.
“She’s gone and they’re dead,” she managed to choke out, her breath catching on a sob.
I shoved the door open, and my heart sank at the sight before me. Alphonse slumped in the chair, eyes closed, while Miguel was sprawled on the floor near Gigi’s bed.
“Where the hell is she?” I growled. “How the fuck did she just vanish?”
Then I caught sight of the vent above Gigi’s bed—its cover was gone. “Motherfucker,” I muttered. “They took her through the vent!”
Enzo swore under his breath as he barked orders to his men to tighten the security around the hospital. He strode over to Alphonse and Miguel checking each one for a pulse. “They’re still alive. Must’ve been some kind of gas,” he said.
I slipped out of the room, my heart pounding as I called Luca.
“What’s up, boss?” he answered.
“I need you to pull up the security footage from Gigi’s room. I’ll give you the room number.”
I could hear a keyboard clattering in the background. “Why? What happened?”
“She was taken.”
“What?! How?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Someone gassed her room, knocked out her father and Miguel, and then snatched her out through the vents.”
“Jesus.”
I paced the dimly lit hallway, every step a desperate attempt to keep my composure as I waited for Luca to find something—anything. The silence felt unbearable, and each tick of the clock reminded me that we were coming closer to not finding Gigi before she came to more harm.
