~ Jace Reed ~

For Fuck's sake why did I listen do them ! I should have listened to my gut feeling and make Magnolia stay with me. She isn't answering her bloody phone, as I continuously press her number over and over again. Damon can't reach the men that were supposed to accompany her, which makes me only more restless.

I pace back and forth as the deadly stares of her brothers burn right through me. If it were my men who gave the decision of letting her go, they would not be breathing anymore.

I massage my temples with one hand, as the other hand types a message to Gab. The few words to him about the fact that Magnolia vanished makes him respond seconds later.

Gab

The anger I feel right now makes my whole body shake, and I have to stop myself from actually killing Damon. He shouldn't have let her go.

Instead of replying to my second man, I call him. Not even a second later he picks up, yelling questions at me.

"Calm the fuck down Gab !" I shout through the phone, earning immediate calm on his side. He is my best friend, but he still knows who the boss is. "Magnolia is gone, she went to see Elijah Woods. The fucking asshole did something Gab... we need to get on it. Now." I order and I hear him agree.

He is currently at one of my biggest warehouses, so he let's the news spread in the gang. They all now that Magnolia is a fucking protégée and that nobody should touch her. Even touching a hair of hers is messing with Burning Heath that controls over a thousand men across the country.

My brain is currently racing trying to find any clues that I missed. I have some information on Elijah, but I can't relate it to Magnolia. He had a sister, but she got kidnapped years ago and since that day nothing was heard from her. She must be dead, killed by the Italians, as they were the one to take her.

He probably wants to pressure them to give him land, but involving Magnolia... I don't fucking get it. The Italians want the keys to get to the volt. That's a fact.

This is fucking me up.

I groan in frustration, as I don't get a clear view of what is happening. Her brothers who are shouting things around the house to get their man to start searching is not helping. Especially when Blake breaks his first by punching the nearest wall. To be honest I would like to do that too, as my anger struggles to keep inside of me.

I need her so bad. I promised to care of her... I even put...

"Greyson !" As I remember a key element that could help us here, I call out for the youngest of the brothers. He turns around, frowning his eyebrows. "Magnolia took her car right ? The one I gave her."

He thinks for a second, before agreeing with a blank face.

"What is it Reed !?" Ethan questions, as a small glimpse of hope runs through my brain.

"I made someone put a microphone and a chip in her car." I state and immediately start typing on my phone to get out the informations I need.

"You fucking asshole did WHAT !" Blake suddenly jumps up towards me, anger eradicating from his tall frame that comes towards me. I don't even tense, when he stands in front of me, ready to punch me. I have some calmness flowing inside of me, making me able to resonate in some way. If he punches me, I can't do that back, Magnolia would hate me for it.

But as Blake is ready to swing his fist at me Damon and Leo rip him off of me.

"Get your shit together Blake ! If what Jace has can help us, I won't hesitate to take that opportunity to find Magnolia. Think for a second !" Leo shouts at him, but it doesn't even have the smallest impact on the furious brother. Damon also shoots me death glares, probably not agreeing with my decision to try and keep Magnolia as save as possible, but he knows that violence is useless. His anger towards me only adds oil to the fire that burns inside my eyes.

"Don't you dare judge me for trying to protect Magnolia ! She wasn't safe and I did what thought was best. I kept people around her at all times, which was clearly the best decision, because the second I let her in your hands..." I pause for a second and take a deep breath. I need to mesure my words as I see all the brothers tense out of anger by the impact my words.

"Forget it." I spit, unable to forgive Damon for what he did. I turn around and focus on my phone, as a heavy silence fills the room. We shouldn't lose time by fighting each other. We are not the ennemi here.

After calling Gab to give me the data of the last hour of the microphone and the chip that are fixed on Magnolia's car, I relax a little bit my muscles when the information comes through.

"I got it." I state and all the Knight brothers, turn to face me. We are all sitting in their living room now, listening to the tape record Gab send me through.

At the first you can just hear the faint radio in the background, as Magnolia drives. She ends up smashing on a button to turn the music off, and curses under her breath with a trembling voice. My heart clenched as I hear that. She felt so scared at that moment and I hate myself for not being at her side, as she endured that alone. The rest of the car ride is silent, but you can hear how her breathing gets quicker, as she gets closer to her destination.

I can't help myself, but to run my hand through my hair, when I hear the engin of her car being shut off. The glove box compartiment opens and shuts. Knowing Lia, she probably took a knife to put it in her boot just in case something happens. She always does that. At least she always did.

The heavy silence that fills the living room right now is weighting on our chests, as we wait for something to happen.

We hear Magnolia let out a deep breaths and then she steps out of the car, before closing the door. I curse when I realise that we won't hear any of the conversation.

"We won't hear anything !" Leo affirms with anger, as he slams his hand on the table. But I won't give up and turn the sound up to the max, hope still present in my soul. To my utter surprise, Elijah's voice can be heard clearly, as if Magnolia let the windows of her car open...

"The windows are open." Greyson states the same idea as me with a glint of hope. Is it possible that she knew about the microphone and made sure to keep the windows open so their conversation would be on record ? My mind races at the thought of this...

"Am I glad you're okay." Elijah's voice can be heard through the speaker and I immediately tense out of anger. I hate this motherfucker. "I told you to come alone though, it's safer." He continues with a much colder voice this time, meaning nothing good.

Magnolia explains how she needed the two protection cars with a harsh voice, one I barely hear her use. She isn't comfortable fucking hell.

Blake who is standing, as he listens carefully to the recording, visibly tenses, as Magnolia speaks. He noticed the change in behaviour too.

A long silence spreads out for a minute, making me think that she is probably trying to read him. That is until we hear rushed steps, followed by an explosion.

The air is sucked out of my lungs and I feel like my heart just dropped, skipping a few vital beats. Please tell me she is okay...

"What the hell happened ?" Greyson asks with a weak voice, demonstrating the breaking of his heart for his sister.

Nobody moves or even dares to say an other words, as we all hold our breaths, waiting for any sign that could give us a hint on what is happening.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you sweetheart." An unfamiliar voice rings through the speaker and we all look at each other, unable to understand what is happening. At least Magnolia seems too be okay, right ? "Give me the phone Magnolia" the same person snears again and I have to stop myself from slamming my fist against my phone. Who the fuck does this girl think she is, talking to my princess like that !

We don't hear much appart from the unknown girl stepping away from the car. When Magnolia speaks up again, saying the name of the girl, she seems so weak, as if she was going to break down.

"Abigail was her friend ! Fuck... we missed that information how could we be so dumb ?" Leo whispers under his breath and I watch as Blake tenses at the name of the girl. My mind races, thinking of any possibility that could give us an answer to who is trying to hurt Magnolia in the world of mafia.

"Valentina Mariano." I mutter the name, even before the bitch says it. I knew her existence, but I never thought she would be faking her identity in a high school. The daughter of Alejandro Mariano, the leader of the Italian mafia. Hidden away from the entire world to protect herself, but used to get her father what he wants. Of course. But still. She is 25 fucking hell. She was under the noses of two mafia gangs and none of us saw it coming. We got fooled like little children.

She is responsible for Grace's death and admits it with an amused voice.

Blake is so pale, I almost think he is going to pass out. His best friend betrayed him and that is one thing he will never forget in his life. But I understand why he is so pale too, when Valentina speaks about how she got the necklaces. Blake got fooled, as she was a fucking one night stand to him.

The rest of the conversation gets hushed, when they take her towards a van and a heavy silence falls on the Knight brothers and Me.

So many informations on one simple record and it leaves us all devastated.

But we need to get our shit together. Damon is the first one to react, as he stands up and asks the youngest of the brothers to hack the circulation camera's so he could find the destination of the van.

Greyson obeys and takes his laptop to do as he says. Blake and Ethan both stay quite still under the shock of how they got robbed from their necklaces. They won't be forgiving themselves anytime soon.

"Fuckk..." Greyson drags the curse word on and I stare at him, waiting for an explanation. "They took a plane..." he stays silent, as the information sinks in.

This is bad. So bad. If they left the country we won't be able to track them.

"FUCK !" Damon shouts, letting all his anger out for the first time in this whole conversation. Everyone is taking back by his sudden violence, because he never loses control and seeing him like this, makes us see the reality : we have no trace of Magnolia. Not a single one.

"I am sending people to go to the private airport to threaten the people to tell us the destination of the plan." I state with my most calm voice, which even happens to shock me. "This is not over for you Elijah motherfucking Woods."

___

Three days passed since we got any information on Magnolia. All we aware of is that they took her to Italy, which leaves us trapped. It's their territory.

I haven't slept since the day she left my arms, leaving me exhausted and on the edge. I can't take it much longer. The knight brothers are at their lowest point too. Not a single one of us has stopped working and trying to find traces that could lead us to them, but we are empty handed.

We are all in the living room discussing multiple pressure points that we could us against the Italians, but the simultaneous message we all get on our phones, leaves us frozen. Each and one of us take our phones out at the same moment, making multiple pictures appear on the screen.

I gulp with difficulty and stop breathing at the sight I have in front of me. A ringing sound can be heard in my ears and my vision starts to see red. I have to close my eyes to get the trembling guilt out of my system for a few seconds. I don't even hear the gasps, curses and gun shots from the brothers that seem to have got the same pictures as me.

On the multiple pictures, Magnolia is laying on a cold floor unconscious, only covered by a t-shirt, as blood surrounds her bruised and battered body. Bill rises up my throat, as pain rips through me at the sight of this. They tortured her for the past days to get to us and I don't even know if she is alive at this point.

"I think I can track them..."Greyson stutters and types on his laptop with trembling hands. He is just as traumatised as we all are, but I can't stop but feel a little bit grateful for his courage. He just saw pictures of his sister, assaulted on every visible corner of her body and he still finds the courage to locate her. Nobody dares to add a single word.

At the same time, we all get an other message that leaves us all silent once again.

"Give me the password of the vault, she won't be holding on for very long."

Alejandro Mariano.

A/N : This is an other chapter on the kidnapping of Magnolia, but with Jace's point of view. My heart is aching, as I write this, but it has to be done.

I am currently trying to find the best way to end this story, but ideas are getting hard to find, and my mind is currently drained of any energy. But I trust the process of this book and I trust you guys to support this book and me, as much as you can.

Please vote and leave a comment !

xx