Liam POV

48 hours.

48 hours of constant fear.

I'm afraid like I've never been before. I've been afraid so many times in my life. I've been afraid of so many things. I've felt fear before.

But not like this.

My mind is constantly attacked by the images of my little girl being abused. I keep picturing the way her ribs looked when we found her. I keep remembering how scared I was on the drive to the hospital.

But at least then she was in my arms...

She was safe.

Now I don't know what she is.

Now I don't know if she is even...

I swallowed the brown liquid in one sip, stopping that last thought. The liquor burned my throat, forcing my mind out of that scenario.

She will be okay. She will be home soon.

I looked at the rest of my family.

My grandfather was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He was blaming himself, and we couldn't convince him otherwise.

It wasn't his fault. It was mine. I should have listened to Theo and Noah. I should have locked her inside this house until I knew for sure that the fuckers were gone.

Dylan, Carter, and my uncle had a glass of some kind of liquor in their hands. I didn't know what they were drinking. Each of us had our own poison. Mine was whiskey.

Matt was leaning against the wall, staring through the window.

Ezra was sitting on an armchair, his lower lip trembling. He was a mess, and it made my heart hurt.

Noah and Theo never left her room. Noah was talking, but he refused to do much more. We could barely get him to eat.

Theo had two moods. Angry and broken down. He was either screaming at us or sobbing on Noah's shoulder.

"So it was confirmed?" uncle Dan broke the silence. "They were doing drug runs for them?"

I nodded, pouring myself another glass of whiskey.

The police managed to catch one of Jerry's men. He told them that Jack and Brian came to them looking for a job. They gave them a job delivering drugs around the city. When it came to payment, the only thing they asked for was for them to help them kidnap Lucy. I didn't say this to Theo and Noah, but Jerry's guy told the police that Jack and Brian had said they would get a lot of money for her once they started selling her.

I almost broke down every piece of fucking furniture my office when Peter told me that. My family was of no help because they were doing the exact same thing. We were slowly running out of furniture to destroy.

Jerry jumped at the opportunity to get his revenge on me. My company bought the warehouses outside of Chicago. The same ones he was using for all the illegal shit he was doing. He started sending his men to destroy my property, but I've never told my grandfather or my uncle because I never thought it would escalate like this. He never threatened my family. He never sent a note saying he was going to hurt Lucy.

"Peter talked to Jerry's guy himself." Ezra said. "He repeated everything he said earlier."

Peter was a policeman and a very good friend of the family. He was around my uncle's age, and he has been a great asset to our business over the years. He's dealt with every threat we've received so far. I trusted him to find her.

"Did they find anything in the car?" grandpa asked, his voice trembling.

I shook my head. We were hoping to find her yesterday. The car was abandoned on the side of the road in an industrial neighborhood. There were a lot of empty warehouses and storage spaces, and we were sure they were keeping her there. But then again, they would be stupid to leave the car so close to their location.

The police and my men searched every fucking building in the area, but they didn't find anything.

I wanted to go out there and search for myself, but I knew I would only be putting her at risk. I'm not a fucking cop and I don't know what to do in situations like that. I would run to her without thinking, and I could put her in danger. Also, I knew that the moment I stepped foot outside of this house, Theo would be in a car, driving through the city like a madman. He would probably barge into every fucking place in this city, looking for her. He would end up getting hurt, and I couldn't let that happen. I needed to keep him safe as well.

"The blood?" Dylan asked, gritting his teeth.

"It was hers." I managed to say through the huge lump that formed in my throat.

They found blood in the car. There wasn't much of it, but it was enough to let us know she was hurt and bleeding. Theo almost fainted when I told him earlier.

I really didn't want him or Noah to hear stuff like that. They were 16, for fuck's sake. But I knew they would gladly kill me if I didn't tell them everything I knew. Well, everything except them selling her because it won't happen. We will find her before that. I will never let that happen.

"Fuck!" Carter shouted, throwing the glass against the wall.

I sighed.

There goes another one.

Nobody flinched. We were getting used to the sound of stuff breaking around us.

Ezra buried his face in his hands, and I could see his shoulders shaking slightly. I placed my hand on his back.

"We will find her." I said, trying to sound convincing.

Grandpa raised his head and looked at me. His eyes were puffy and red.

"Of course we will." he said quietly. "We won't stop until we do. But how long, Liam? How long until we do find her?"

I gulped and looked away. I didn't have an answer to that. I wished I could tell him we would find her soon. But I didn't know.

I knew one thing, though. I will never stop looking.

My phone ringing broke the silence. I looked at the screen and saw Peter's name.

I picked it up immediately, putting the phone on speaker. I could hear police sirens through the phone, and my heart stopped beating. Everyone in the room was looking at the phone in my hand, waiting to hear something else other than those sirens.

"We have a possible location." I heard Peter's muffled voice. "Do you want to follow us there?"

_______________

Lucy POV

⚠️Trigger warning: mention of violence.⚠️

"Hello, doll." I heard his voice again.

I was being pulled out of the darkness. I could feel the cold floor underneath my body. I could feel the rope tugging at my wrists. I could feel each and every punch and cut I received. I could feel his breath on my skin, making me want to throw up.

"Come on, doll, wake up." Brian said, running his nose up and down my jaw. "I missed you. You've been asleep for a long time."

I opened my eyes and tried to move away from him, but the rope around my wrist restricted my movements.

Brian laughed. "There is my little doll."

I turned my head to look at him. He was grinning at me as he stood up.

"I'm glad to see you awake." he said. "Let me go get Jack."

My lip trembled and tears fell out of my eyes. Jack was angry at me for leaving him, and that only meant more pain for me.

He turned around to walk out of the room, and I closed my eyes, praying for the hundredth time for this to be a dream.

I wanted Theo.

I heard Brian closing the door to the room I was in.

I wanted Noah.

There were a few minutes of silence before I heard two sets of footsteps coming back.

I wanted Ezra.

The door opened and I heard Jack chuckle. I opened my eyes to look at him.

I wanted Liam.

"Good morning, daughter." Jack said mockingly as he crouched in front of me. "Are you ready for another round of punishment?"

My body started shaking, and a quiet sob escaped me. He was high and drunk. His addiction was way worse than when I lived with him.

Jack laughed, gripping my hair in his fist, raising my head off of the floor.

"I told you that you belonged to me." he said. "I told you not to get comfortable with them. You are mine, Lucy. You belong to me and I will do whatever the fuck I want with my daughter. You will never see your..."

A loud crash from somewhere outside the room interrupted him.

"Fuck!" Brian shouted.

Jack looked down at me and smirked. He smacked my head into the floor, and I was back in the darkness.