Silvio Pov

She was gone, vanished without a trace.

I had come back home after spending days trying to track down the trafficking ring to find her missing, completely gone from this place. I discovered a note she had written, asking me not to search for her for my own sake.

But that didn’t deter me; I understood that she was terrified. I had seen the fear in her eyes recently, and it frightened me to witness her like that.

I should never have left.

I should never have left her here all alone; perhaps she wouldn’t have abandoned me then.

I sat there, filled with self-blame, while my men...