A Billionaire In Disguise

Chapter Eighty-Eight

As Rome paced back and forth with the phone pressed against his ear, he could feel fear getting the

best of him and his hand trembling.

After procrastinating for a while, William swallowed hard and finally answered the call and said, “Boss,

Ma'am is missing.”

It took Rome a moment to process those words because the instant he heard them, his entire mind

went blank.

When he finally snapped out of the feeling that had him lost of words, his grip on his phone tightened

as he asked, "What do you mean by my wife is missing?!"

"She went into 'Dallas Cafe,' I swear to you, boss. But she never came out, and I am inside the

building, but it's empty. Not even a staff member is in this place." William cried out with a trembling

voice.

“That lunatic!” Rome shouted, tightening his grip around his phone fiercely with anger blazing in his

eyes.

Suddenly the call between William and him got interrupted because of an incoming call.

Recognizing the name on the screen, Rome hastily accepted the call and mumbled, "Babe?"

Taking his eyes off Catherine's tears stain face, Axel gazed at the knife in his hand and coldly said,

“Your voice always makes my desire to kill you become stronger.”

“Listen to me. Whatever my father or I did to you, my wife is not at fault, so let her go, please!”

“The greatest vengeance is murdering not the offender, but the ones he holds so dearly to his heart.”

It was taking every last bit of Rome's willpower to keep calm as he said, “It's me that you want. Please

let Catherine go, and you can have me.”

“What use will it be, keeping an enemy hostage that could break free at his own will.” Axel coldly

intoned, eyeing Catherine for a second. "Also, your wife is the perfect hostage for my plan, not you.

“You can't do this! She's innocent in all of this!”

“But she's your weakness, so I'm not the reason she could die, you are.”

“Axel!”

Abruptly, the call got cut off in Rome's ear, and he almost tossed the phone on the wall. But he held in

his anger and dialed Scar's number.

“Forget about Amara, and put together a search party of all our men and tell them to look for

Catherine,” Rome said the moment Scar answered the call.

“What? Why?” Scar's voice echoed into his ear.

“Axel has Catherine, and I don't know what he's going to do to her or have any idea of what is going

through his sick mind. I'm going out to find her, but I alone can't cover the entire city, so I need you

guys' assistance.”

“Okay, I will get the team together, and we will join you in the search.”

“Proceed with caution and spill blood if necessary, even if that blood belongs to Axel.”

“Copy that!"

After ending the call, Rome shove his phone in his coat pocket and ran for the elevator.

Once Rome reached the parking lot, he raced for his car, and after he got in the backseat, Mr. Orlando

and K looked at him with confusion in their gaze.

"Catherine has been kidnapped!" Rome blurted out, trying to catch his breath.

"What!"Mr. Orlando shouted in shock.

Tightening his fist, K's eyes grew dark as he asked, "What's the plan, boss?"

"We should start our search at, 'Dallas Cafe.' That's where she was last seen and then, we can follow

whatever trail we find." Rome said in desperation.

At that moment, his phone started buzzing, and immediately, when he saw that it was an unknown

number calling, he answer.

“My bad for ending the call abruptly. It was kind of shocking that you knew my name. But I wasn't that

surprised because I studied you for a while now, Rome. You are a very crafty man, and the best

teacher." Axel's voice flowed into his ear.

Then when Rome didn't speak, he continued, "Also, I had to damage your wife's phone. But now, we

can talk freely since there is no means of you tracking me."

After a moment of hesitation, Rome got a hold of his emotions and said, "Anything. Name your price in

exchange for my wife."

"Your husband really loves you. He just said he can give anything for you. Let's see how true those

words are." Axel said, gazing at Catherine's tears stained face.

Unable to bear the heartache any longer, Catherine let out a soft cry, and the sound of her outburst © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

echoed throughout the room.

“You son of a...!” Rome yelled, squeezing his fist to the point that his nails cut his palm.

Keeping his silence, Axel got up from the bed and gazed at Catherine's anxious eyes before walking

out of the room.

When he was a few distances away from the door, he let out a bitter laugh and said, “You can have her

back. In exchange for your father's life.”

Frowning, Rome clutched his fist, feeling his nails sinking deeper in his skin, and said, “Listen here,

Axel...”

“No, you listen to me! She's the punishment for your father's sin against me. You either allow her to die

to pay for his crime or allow him to die for it."

“Axel, please, come on. It is my wife and my father's life you are talking about here! Don't make me...”

“Do I look like I give a fuck about my own life before I will care for another! It's either she's dead or your

father does!”

Running his fingers through his hair, Rome rested his head against the car seat, holding back his edge

to scream.

Then he mastered his rage and half-heartedly said, “Anything else! I swear! Ask for anything else, and I

will give it to you in a heartbeat, just not anyone lives, please!"

A sneer escaped Axel's lips, and then his face hardened as he said, "I knew you weren't like your

father. A cold-blooded murderer! It's inspiring to know, and I have decided to change my terms."

"Okay. What is it? I'm listening." Rome hastily said with a look of desperation in his eyes.

"Firstly, cancel the search for Catherine. If I learned that you have a search party looking for her, I will

take it as your way of telling me to pull a bullet in her skull."

"You!"

“Don't worry, I will make sure while she is with me, not a single hair on her head with getting touch.”

"I swear if harm ever comes to her...!”

“I don't plan on letting her get in harm's way if you keep the end of your bargain and do exactly as I

say.”

The was a brief hesitation on Rome's face as he wondered in his head for a second. Then he sighed

and said, " Okay. I will call off the search."

"Secondly, I want you to sleep at a hotel tonight. The should be no physical contact between you and

your so-called father from now onward!" Axel said, resting his back against the wall.

"Why?"

"I give the command, you follow the order! Is that simple enough for you to understand?!"

"Yes."

"Great. Thirdly, go tomorrow to work as though everything is fine. A few people will visit you tomorrow.

Answer their questions with the right words, and you have your wife back, alive. Easy peezee."

Even though the question was on the tip of his tongue, Rome knew not to ask it because he already

understood that if he doesn't do what Axel says, it's death for Catherine.

When Axel abruptly ended the call, Rome banged his head against the car seat and screamed out his

pain as he clutched his chest.

Afterward, he hit his back against the seat, squeezing his eyelids shut as he fought back tears.

It took a while for him to pull himself together. Then he picked up his phone, scrolled through his call

log, and dialed a number.

“Sorry, boss. We don't have any lead on ma'am yet.” Scar's voice echoed from the phone speaker.

“Forget about the search,” Rome mumbled said with an ache in his chest.

“But…”

“I said, forget about it and cancel the search! That's an order!”

The line grew silent for a moment. Then Scar's voice flowed from the speaker, “Yes, boss.”

After Rome ended the call with Scar, K looked back at him, hesitated for a moment, and then asked,

"Boss, what is going on?"

"I just became a puppet for Axel," Rome mumbled, finally giving freedom to his tears to run down his

cheeks.