Chapter 5 - The frozen empire
Richard did not scream. He did not need to. The absolute, lethal calm in his voice was far more terrifying than any outburst. He pulled his luxury phone from his pocket, his dark eyes never leaving Camille's trembling, bruised face. He hit a single speed-dial button. His head of security answered on the first ring.
“Lock down the hotel,” Richard ordered, his American accent sharp and unyielding. “Freeze every corporate and personal account connected to Camille and Edward Sterling. Ground my brother's private jet immediately. No one leaves.” He hung up the phone before the security chief could even reply.
Camille let out a frantic, breathy sob, shaking her head. “Richard, you are making a mistake! She is a street rat! Someone hired her to scam you, they painted that mark on her arm!” Richard ignored her completely. He turned back to Lucy, effortlessly scooping the small girl up into his massive arms, cashmere coat and all. Lucy instinctively wrapped her tiny arms around his broad neck, burying her cold, rosy face against the warm lapel of his tuxedo. She felt incredibly light, painfully thin, and the realization made a fresh wave of primal fury wash over him.
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He carried Lucy straight past the shocked crowd, past the shattered ornaments, and bypassed the gala entirely, walking directly to the private elevators reserved for the penthouse suites. As the elevator doors closed, shielding them from the world, Richard looked down at the little girl resting against his chest. She was already falling asleep, the sheer warmth of his hold overwhelming her exhausted body. He placed her gently in the massive king-sized bed of the penthouse, pulling the heavy down comforter over her. He assigned two of his most trusted, armed guards to stand directly outside her door.
Then, Richard went to his glass-walled office overlooking the glittering, cinematic city below. His security chief, a rugged former military operator named Vance, was already waiting by the mahogany desk. “The accounts are frozen, boss,” Vance said quietly. “But Camille didn't stick around. She slipped out through the kitchen loading dock and got into a cab. She called Edward. He was already at the private airfield trying to get the jet in the air. We stopped them on the tarmac.” Richard poured himself a single glass of bourbon, his knuckles white around the crystal. The people who had stolen his child were trapped. But Richard needed to know exactly how deep the betrayal went before he tore them apart.
