Secret Crown

XIX. Nineteen

Adrián

Scarlett was gone from my bed and far away from home. I wasn't surprised, though, as I saw on my desk, where I had purposefully left my phones, that one of my personal lines was missing. After everything that had happened between us, I knew there was a chance that she would still run away, but not out of fear; it was for revenge. From the moment that ankle monitor came off of her, I knew better than to let her walk into my home without any sort of security measure put in place. I had a little surprise inserted into her that same night we arrived at my family's home. Not only had I released myself in her fully, but while she was distracted by her many orgasms, I managed to slip a tiny tracker into her most sensitive area that could track her every location without being detected by anything or anyone unless they knew about it. After making her mines, no one else could touch her there without getting a fucking bullet to their heads, and I'd know it all from that little device.

It'd be just a matter of moments before I'd have her location again, although part of me already had a gut feeling as to where she had run off to. I got out of bed, changed into an all-black outfit, and loaded up my guns. I sent a text out to my brothers as the tracker finished loading out on the map on my phone. Not even a minute later, the tracker was active and at a standstill at her old house. It was time to go hunting. I was pleased with how things were rolling out. Maybe tonight Luca would be taken down, although I must say it would be such a waste of his uncle's severed body that was currently occupying one of the freezers down at the docks. The dark side of me wanted to use it, and now I might not ever be able to.

Whatever it was that Scarlett needed, she went to her house, knowing she was going to get caught. It was smart of her to play the clueless damsel in distress; it worked with everyone else but me. These little surprises had turned into something more as of last night, and I knew deep down she felt it. She was smart like a snake, waiting in the grass for the right opportunity to strike, thinking no one would catch on. It was partially true still, as she jumped at the first chance she got, but she wasn't alone in this anymore. She belonged to me and would jump because I let her jump. She was mine just as much as I was hers, not just because she had a tracker inside of her but because we'd agreed that she'd be my wife. As I made my way downstairs, Leo and Ian were waiting for me, loaded up and ready to go with a handful of other men. "So, the lost princess ran away?" Leo grinned. "What little game are you two weirdos playing at?"

"Cat and Mouse," I replied, except this time the cat let the mouse take the lead, I thought. "All while trying to see who kills Luca Romano first," I added. We all loaded into four separate cars, as her location was still blinking at her house. As Leo was driving at full speed, Scarlett's tracker beeped on my phone, and I was on the move again. She was moving fast. We wouldn't have reached her by the time we arrived at her house. A half hour later, we arrived a block away from her house. The dot was no longer there, and just when things couldn't get more interesting, they did, as we had finished searching her house and checking the hidden cameras I had ordered to be installed before the Romanos could have shown up. An incoming call from my missing personal line came in from Scarlett. She didn't sound afraid or cry, begging me to rescue her; she was speaking determinedly and confidently in her power, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"I know you won't trust me after tonight, Adrián. And I don't blame you. I've been lying about not knowing who I am." She sighed, "I've been knowing, and it's always been my plan to take down my father's killer and find my fortune to take care of my mother and me. That's why I wanted to help you take him down. I want to see him pay for what he's done. I want to make him suffer. But before any of that can happen, I need the missing clue my father left about the money, and it's currently in Romano's possession. So, I had to be captured by them again. They're probably going to search for me as soon as they come back into the room; they're keeping me in and taking away your phone. So, before I go, there's something I want to say to you, Adrián. Something is more important than revenge. I want you, Adrián, and I need you to trust me when I say I'm on your side. I mean it." She whispered, followed by a long, anxious pause as she waited for my answer.

"I know Scar," I replied.

"You do?" She asked with relief.

"I've been knowing."

"Then you really live up to your name, Adrián De Leon." I could feel her smiling behind the phone before she paused again. "Then you know you can't come for me yet." She added.

"And what makes you think I'd come save you?" I grinned.

"I'm yours now," she purred, "or do you want me to become Scarlett Romano instead?"

"You'd never make it to that fucking altar, Princesa (princess). You have until the evening before I come and get you." I said this as she hung up the phone. A small, proud smile crept into my face as I put my phone away. I managed to see the other layers of her coming out of her shell. The tracker was active and would continue to be active. Scarlett would get her clue, and I would get Luca's head.

The red dot continuously showed up on the map in the same location. Luca was stupid enough to take her back to his hideout. I quickly sent the address to Ian and began to set my plan in motion. Now that we knew where Luca was hiding, things were slowly coming to an end. There was the matter of Scarlett, though. I had yet to see her fighting skills, and I wondered if she could handle herself if needed. This feeling was a new one. I was worried for her.

An unknown number texted me on my personal line. A line that my family had access to online. It came from Luca Romano himself. He was calling on the high table for a meeting for the evening on the grounds of requesting admission to the high table. This had everything to do with Scarlett being in his possession now, but the bigger question lurking in all of this was: who was pulling the strings? Who has enough sway to call in a meeting? I sent a handful of soldiers to spy on and scope out the property where Scarlett was being held without being able to go and pull Scarlett out, yet I knew I'd have to wait for the meeting.