Chapter 0334
Alexander POV
I could feel Ella’s wide eyes upon me before I looked, and shame instantly flooded me. I had lost my temper. I had been violent.
I never wanted her to see me like that, but it was impossible not to let my frustration show in some way. Still, feeling the tension coming from her as she stared at me made my heart twist painfully.
There were too many unanswered questions. Even with everything we had learned over the past few weeks, it wasn’t enough to solve this puzzle. I felt like I was losing control of the situation, which was something I couldn’t allow.
Who was helping Amanda?
That man was terrified–he wouldn’t dare try to hide anything from me. He was probably in there shaking with fear, wracking his brain for anything that he forgot to tell me. Or maybe he was just hoping that I wouldn’t come back.
I had to, though. There had to be something more I could learn here. Amanda wouldn’t have driven herself to that meeting. She wouldn’t have arrived alone.
There had to be someone else in that car. Someone pulling the strings. Someone who had arranged it all.
There were only a few people powerful enough to do this.
And one of them… Well, that didn’t even bear thinking about.
If he was involved, things were far more dire than I had realized. Could he really hate me so much that he would target my wife? It wasn’t his style to go after families and children, but he was ruthless.
Still, I couldn’t think of anything I had done in the past few months that would have pushed him to this.
I forced the thought aside.
It had to be someone else. Someone less terrifying.
That woman–she wasn’t just a go–between. There was something about the confidence in her movements when she and Amanda crossed the border. She knew exactly what she was doing.
She had to be the one responsible.
But who the hell could she be?
“Alexander?” Ella said softly, stepping forward and gently touching my arm.
My hand fell away from the wall, my scraped knuckles aching dully.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I hoped we would learn something useful here.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” she said, gripping my arm more firmly and pulling me to face her. “We’re going to figure this out. I’m okay. James did his job, right? He kept me safe like you ordered him to.”
“But it was too close,” I said tightly. “If he had been one second slower-”
“But he wasn’t,” she said insistently. “Look at me, Alexander. I’m fine.”
I lightly gripped her wrists and pulled her hands up. A brief look of concern flashed in her eyes before she turned her hands over, showing me her palms.
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Chapter 0334
They were scraped, with dried blood still visible.
The sight sent rage coursing through me, my wolf growling maliciously in the back of my mind.
I swallowed it down, kissed her forehead, then released her and went back into the interrogation room.
Ella POV
Alexander’s eyes flashed as he looked at the blood on my palms, and my heart stuttered at the sight. I had seen him this angry before, and it was always on my behalf. In a way, it was endearing—even if his rage was frightening to witness.
He released my wrists, and in one fluid motion, he leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. While I was still processing the sudden shift in his demeanor, he turned and vanished back into the interrogation room.
I hurried after him, afraid of what he might do if I left him in there alone.
The door clicked shut behind us. Alexander walked across the room and stood directly next to the man, who I now realized was handcuffed to the table, unable to move further away from him.
He looked like a trapped animal as he stared up at Alexander fearfully.
I held my breath, not knowing what to expect.
“You’ll be released in the morning,” Alexander said.
Rather than relieved, the man looked more frightened. “Why?” he asked quietly.
“Because I want you to pass along a message,” Alexander said, the deep growl of the Ice King creeping into his tone again.
“Sure,” the man said hesitantly. “To who?”
“Your employer. And anyone else foolish enough to associate with a pathetic excuse for a criminal like you,” Alexander said coldly. “Ella is under my protection, as is the rest of her family. Anyone who dares to make a move against them from now on will answer to me. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what that means.”
The man’s face paled, and he nodded once, never taking his eyes off Alexander.
“And one more thing,” Alexander added. “Whoever is helping Amanda–I’m coming for them.”
“I…” The man began uncertainly.
Alexander looked at him expectantly but didn’t say a word.
The man swallowed thickly, then continued. “I only know one thing about who may be helping Amanda Gray.”
I glanced at Alexander. His expression remained cold, waiting for the man to speak again.
“It’s an older woman. I didn’t meet her myself, never spoke to her, but I’ve heard talk recently. Someone that hasn’t been in the game in years, but she’s suddenly reappeared. That’s what they say. I don’t know her name or anything else.”
Alexander studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. With that, he turned away from the man.
He paused by the door and offered me his hand. I took it without hesitation, lacing our scraped fingers together.
We walked out of the room, then out of the station. Alexander led me around to the passenger side of his car and opened the door for me.
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Chapter 0334
I sat inside, suddenly feeling heavy and exhausted. The night had started out so light and fun, and now… we were here.
Alexander got into the car and started the engine in silence. As we pulled away, heading toward home, I wasn’t sure how much time passed while I stared out the window, watching the city lights blur past us.
My mind felt stuck in a loop, trying to piece together who could possibly be helping Amanda—but I kept coming up empty.
“I don’t understand,” I said softly.
“Understand what?” Alexander asked, glancing at me.
“Why someone would be doing this,” I murmured. “It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t have any other enemies… at least, not that I know of.”
Alexander’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. He let out a slow, steady breath. “I don’t think this is an enemy of yours,” he said, his voice tense. “I think whoever’s helping Amanda is doing it to hurt me.”
I turned to stare at him. Alexander kept his gaze focused on the road ahead, his expression unreadable. It hadn’t even occurred to me that someone would target me in order to hurt him. But he was right. That had to be the case. What the man had just told us suddenly made sense–someone who had once been active in the criminal world had resurfaced after years of silence. There was no reason they would do that because of me.
It had to be because of Alexander.
Because of the Ice King.
Someone wanted to hurt him, and they were going after his family to do it.
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Chapter 0335
