After being disowned by her parents, fifteen year old Serena Verlice finds herself in a toxic relationship with a much older man. She undergoes four years of emotional and physical abuse until one day she goes to the doctor and receives a devastatin...
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"Emi stop pacing," My mum says softly, her face laced with concern.
"I'm fucking going in," I decide, exacerbated. "You can't, he needs time to work without you breathing down his neck," Dad reminds me, lighting up a cigarette as he leans back on the sofa.
I let out a frustrated huff, my anger almost boiling over as I clench my fists.
I've had to wait in my parents house for hours now as Matteo, their IT guy works away on the footage I gave him.
After finding out Serena was taken from out of her hospital room, I made the security officer show me the footage from outside the hospital which revealed James throwing her weak body in the back of a van.
I took the footage and brought it here; where Harper and the guys were already waiting, for Matteo to work at. He's been able to retrieve the licence plate number from the grainy footage and is currently tracking it through every traffic camera it appears across.
The more puzzling part is whilst Serena was unconscious and being loaded into the van there was a security guard positioned at the entrance of the hospital, seemingly turning a blind eye to the whole ordeal.
He was still stood outside when I left which is why he is currently heavily beaten and laying in the basement.
His incompetence could have been just that, incompetence.
However I refuse to believe that it was simply a coincidence that the only form of security just so happened to ignore a young unconscious girl being violently thrown into the back of a van by a middle aged man.
"Fine I'll go check on our hostage," I roll my eyes, knowing he's probably still passed out like he's been for the past seven hours.
Seven hours.
That's how long I've been without Serena. The fact that I don't know how she is or what he's doing with her in causing me to feel more panic than I've ever experienced.
I storm out of the room and into the hallway, heading in the direction of the basement.
I know James and what kind of man he is. You don't manipulate and isolate a fifteen year old girl at thirty if you have morals or are even remotely sane. He's impulsive and narcissistic so there's no telling what he has planned for Serena.
The only thing providing me the slightest bit of comfort is that I truly believe he won't kill her. If someone involved with the mafia had been behind her kidnapping she would have been dead by now but James is a different story.
I make it to the door which leads to the basement, the material being thick and metal to prevent anyone from escaping.
I type in the password, my mother's birthday before stepping back to allow it to clank open.
"Wait," A voice calls out from behind me.
I turn and spot Lucian speedily walking in my direction, his hands tucked into the pockets of his baggy jeans.
