Chapter 140: Trouble Trouble

CASSIAN

My brow furrowed. Noah? Why would he be calling me? We were done. I’d pushed him away for his own safety, and he’d chosen the glittering, safe world of Alex Hendrix.

For him to call me four times, especially tonight, was wrong.

I was about to dial his number when the phone vibrated in my hand. It wasn’t Noah. It was Reid.

“What’s up?” I answered, my voice still tight from the adrenaline.

“That thing you asked me to dig into? About Alex Hendrix?” Reid’s voice was uncharacteristically grim. “Yeah I finally found something, Cassian. Something buried deep. I had to get help for this one.”

I walked toward my car, signaling my driver to stay back. “Tell me.”

“It’s not just one thing,” Reid said. “It’s a pattern. I found a police report from three years ago. A woman claimed Hendrix drugged and raped her at a private party.

The report was filed, then mysteriously withdrawn forty-eight hours later. She was paid off, forced to recant. I found the original detective’s notes, he suspected a massive cover-up by the Hendrix legal team, but he was silenced by the commissioner.”

I felt a cold prickle at the back of my neck.

“There’s more,” Reid continued. “I accessed sealed medical records from two other hospitals. Different women, same pattern. Rohypnol in the system, vaginal tearing, defensive wounds on the arms. All of them claimed they couldn’t remember the assault. And I found a cached version of a blog from a year ago, a victim who survived. She described being drugged at one of his private events and waking up in his bed, bleeding and terrified. The blog was scrubbed within hours, but the archived pages are clear.”

I stopped walking. The city noise seemed to fade into a dull, distant roar.

“Multiple victims, Cassian,” Reid’s voice was heavy. “At least eight to ten that I can confirm, likely many more. He targets vulnerable people, charms them, isolates them, and then he uses GHB or rohypnol. If they try to speak up, he uses the Hendrix billions to bury them under NDAs and legal threats. One victim who refused to take the money? She ended up dead a month later. Ruled a suicide, but the Private Investigator her family hired found evidence of a struggle. The PI died in a ’car accident’ before he could go public. Another woman recently killed herself about a month ago. There are other allegations that he runs a rape ring but it’s still currently under assumption but considering his crimes, I’m not sure it’s entirely impossible.”

The realization hit me like a physical blow to the stomach.

Alex targets vulnerable people.

Noah was the definition of vulnerable. Heartbroken, desperate for a place to belong. He was the perfect, shining mark for a predator like Hendrix.

And Noah had called me four times.

“I’ll call you back,” I snapped, hanging up on Reid before he could finish.

My heart was racing now, a frantic, jagged rhythm that had nothing to do with the fight in the restaurant. I dialed Noah’s number.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

No answer.

I tried again. My grip on the phone was so tight the casing creaked. Pick up, Noah. Please.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“The number you have dialed is currently unavailable,” the mechanical voice said.

My stomach dropped. He hadn’t just missed the call; his phone was either dead, or it had been turned off. In a venue like the gala, with a man like Alex, Noah wouldn’t just turn his phone off. Not if he was calling me four times in a row.

I didn’t wait for my security team. I jumped into the driver’s seat of the lead car, the engine roaring to life as I slammed it into gear. I sped away from the restaurant, the tires screeching against the asphalt.

I drove like a madman, weaving through the Barcelona traffic, running red lights without a second thought. My mind was a chaotic loop of Reid’s words: Drugged. Raped. Suicide. Vulnerable.

I’m coming, Noah, I thought, the fear for him clawing at my throat. Don’t be too late. Please don’t let me be too late.

I reached the gala venue in record time, the car screeching to a halt at the curb. I didn’t even bother to park; I left the engine running and bolted through the grand entrance, my eyes scanning the thinning crowd in the ballroom.

“Where is he?” I hissed, grabbing a passing waiter by the arm. “Noah Bennett. Small, blonde hair, wearing a navy suit. He was with Alex Hendrix.”

The waiter looked terrified. “I… I don’t know, sir. Mr. Hendrix left the main hall a while ago.”

I scanned the room. Alex’s table was empty. His security detail was gone. The “perfect” host had vanished from his own event.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Alex’s private number.

He answered on the second ring.

“Cassian,” Alex’s voice was smooth, infuriatingly amused. I could practically hear the smirk through the line. In the background, I heard a faint, muffled sound, but I couldn’t make it out. “What a surprise. I thought you’d be… occupied this evening.”

“Where is Noah?” I didn’t waste time on pleasantries. My voice was a low, lethal vibration.

“Noah? Why would I know where Noah is?” Alex’s tone was fake-innocent, dripping with mock concern. “Isn’t he your… well, whatever he is to you?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Alex. I know he’s with you. Where. Is. He.”

The amusement faded from Alex’s voice, replaced by something colder, sharper. “Fine. Yes, Noah and I are together. We’re having a little fun here, Cassian. He doesn’t want to be with you. He’s tired of your moods and your secrets. He doesn’t want you disturbing him.”

The way he said fun made my blood run cold.

“So leave us alone, Cassian,” Alex said, the mask finally slipping. “Enjoy the rest of your night. You’ve already lost.”

Click.

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, a white-hot rage building in my chest, warring with a terror so profound it made my hands shake. Alex had him. Noah’s phone was off. And I knew exactly what happened to the people who went into private rooms with Alex Hendrix.

I looked at the glittering, laughing crowd around me, and I felt like I was standing in a room full of ghosts.

“I’m coming for you, Noah,” I whispered, my eyes darkening with a promise of absolute ruin. And God help Alex if he’s touched him.

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