EGAN

Egan turned from his desktop as the clock chimed, indicating the top of the hour. The end of the workday.

He sat up, and winced as his still sore shoulder ached a little. 

He was eager to rest up at home.

Primrose, he mouthed. 

He slept well last night because of her.

Since that ugly night his father died, he had not had as good a sleep.

Sometimes he had dreams of actually getting on that plane, other times he had nightmares of the red-haired woman that ruined his life. 

She was always in his dreams, and in all those dreams he seemed to find a more painful way to end her miserable life.

He shook his head. 

He would not think of that now. 

His mind traveled back to Primrose. Her presence was the only logical reason why he had slept so well.

Especially since he did not take the medication those silly doctors had recommended.

Those ones were more likely to kill him in his sleep. He wanted sleep, not endless sleep.

He frowned as his mind yet again traveled to Primrose's face as she slept. He was not sure he liked the woman.

She was an alternative sleeping aid and had that beautiful name.

But she exasperated him. 

Always edgy and shifting, except in her sleep. It was almost like she was powered by some invisible tiny batteries. Just so restless.

He winced, and dropped his head in his hands at the thought of going back home to her.

This was that fool, Riccardo’s fault. Him and the others. 

He did not need a wife. He was just fine with his occasional rendezvous with models.

But now..

“Sovereign.” A guard burst it and bowed his head.

Egan frowned.

“How many times have I told you all never to call me that at work?”

“I apologize, Sovereign.”

Egan held his jaw tightly. “What are you doing here? The family is very separate from this company? How many times do I have to say that?” 

His voice was low, but his fury was beginning to climb within.

“I’m sorry, Sovereign.”

Egan slapped his hand on the table and stopped. He sighed.

“What do you want?”

“Your wife has been kidnapped.”

PRIM

Prim opened her eyes slowly, unsure where she was. 

Her blurry vision finally came into focus, and she noticed a man sitting opposite her in the moving van.

She felt her hands bound behind her in biting cuffs.

“What are you doing? Let me out, let me go.” She shouted as she started to struggle. 

She remembered everything now. 

She remembered the weird man, and the restroom, and the dead guard, and Aurora.

No! Aurora! Had she been caught too? 

She looked around in panic, but the only people here were the weirdo and two other men.

Wait! Was this Aurora’s handiwork? Would she really go this far? It was one thing to point a gun at her that she was hesitant to shoot, it was another to do this.

Everyone must be so worried. Grandma Alexakis and..

Mamita! she gasped. 

Mamita could not find out about this. Her heart could not take it. But the longer this went on, the higher the chances she would learn about it.

Prim frantically looked around the van, and froze. 

She recognized the man sitting quietly at the other end from her.

He was staring at her with such hate.

This was the man from three years ago. The scarred-faced man at the hotel. 

The man was squinting at her now. His eyes now holding more curiosity than hate.

“Those eyes,” he said. 

Prim felt herself trembling. 

“But your hair is not right.” He was still squinting at her as he pulled out his phone and took a picture of her.

“Do that shopping thing you kids do, change her hair color.” He said, handing his phone to the guard sitting by the van’s door.

“What color, captain?”

“Red.”

Prim held her breath. She was done for. Now she knew why they had taken her. Were they taking her to meet that dirty old man?

“Here.” The guard handed the phone back to the scarred-faced man. 

“I didn't mean to hurt him. Please don’t take me back to him.” She pleaded as the man peered into his phone.

“You are the one.” The man said, looking up from his phone. He laughed bitterly.

“Just my luck. All my problems end in one day.”

“Please don’t take me to him.” She pleaded desperately as the van began to move faster.

“The wh*re that murdered the Sovereign?” The weird man asked.

“No, I did not murder anyone.” How could that strong-as-a-bull man have died from such a simple blow? 

Murder?

“That is the kind of thing I cannot have you saying.” The scarf-faced man said quietly, and smiled sadly.

“No. I did not..”

“Gag her.”

And that was the end of her protest. 

Her life seemed to be spiraling since yesterday. This was not real. This could not be real. 

Egan would save her. He was a billionaire, the most powerful in Miami and one of the most important in the world.

But would he know?

Would he care? 

She still did not know why he had married her. But whatever the reason was, was it big enough for him to care whether she died?

The man stopped, and she was hauled out and slung over the weirdo’s shoulder.

She stared at the floor, shivering as they went up an abandoned building. On the rooftop, they dumped her on the floor roughly.

The pain of the impact made her eyes sting.

“Set up the tripod, Renzo.” The scar-faced man said as he walked towards her. He hauled her by her armpits to her feet.

“Listen child. This is not about you. If anything, I am glad you hurt that filthy pig. But you happen to just work for the wrong people.”

Prim stared at him wide-eyed, shaking her head.

Damn this stupid gag. How could she plead her case if she could not even speak?

“Your employer, Egan, is a proud bastard. Killing someone from his household would push him to act. That should also teach the government.”

Prim stared at him, wide-eyed, confused. 

Employer? 

Suddenly, realization hit her like a punch in the face as she remembered what Grandma Alexakis had said about clothing earlier.

Of course, in these clothes she had elbowed her way to get at the local thrift store, anyone would assume she was the Alexakis maid. 

And she had been out and about with the old lady all day.

Of course, she had to be the maid.

Dammit. She would so wear all the Alexander McQueen the old lady was willing to buy if she got out of this alive. Cheap clothing was not only getting her embarrassment from Karens like Katie, it was downright about to cost her her life.

She mumbled through the gag, trying to tell this stupid man she was the wife and not a maid. But he was looking ahead as he marched her to kneel before the tripod.

He patted her head like a child, or a dog, deepening on how you looked at it.

“Don’t be scared. There is nothing to miss in this ugly world.” The man said, and turned to the camera.

Oh, rich of you to say with your million dollar gold wristwatch. She may not be rich, but she has her mother and siblings to live for. And there was still Aurora. She needed to give that witch some real beating before she exited this world.

She looked at the stairs that led to the rooftop, expecting to see a crop of gold hair. 

What was keeping Egan? His billions would be such a shame if she died like this. 

Billionaire who could not protect his wife. Some billionaire that was.

She was in this because of him. 

It irked that she would not get to watch her favorite series she had waited two whole years for, just because her Greek-statue husband made an enemy of this Mr unofficial-Aristotle.

Talking about THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD TO MISS. Her series will be back on air in just three days, dammit.

“And I will continue to execute your innocent citizens till you let my children go.” She caught the last of the man’s sentences.

She gasped, struggling to free herself. She was truly about to die. She was not dreaming and this was no joke.

She started making so much noise through her gag, trying to get the man’s attention. He should at least let her speak.

Although now that she thought about it, she was not sure if the knowledge that she was actually Egan’s wife and not his maid would help her case.

But she could at least try.

“Relax.” The man leaned down to look at her with sad eyes. “It would be painless and quick.”

His voice dropped to a whisper. 

“And you will take our secret to the grave.”

Suddenly, she felt blood on her face. The smell of gunpowder was so powerful she was gasping and sputtering at the same time.

To her relief and horror, she looked down to see the man staring up at her with just one eye.

Whoever had killed him had shot him through the other eye.

“I could kill you too, but I guess your father’s death is a big enough lesson.” She heard the Ice god’s voice.

She looked up from his shoes that reflected like mirrors to see him glaring at the young man who had photo-shopped her hair.

“I apologize, Sovereign.” The man fell to his knees, shaking like a leaf in the wind, the way she was certain she was shaking.

Sovereign? What the hell was that? And where had she heard that word before?