It was funny how time worked.
When you wanted it to pass by quickly, minutes felt like hours. And when you wanted it to go by slowly, minutes felt like seconds.
It felt like Xavier had been driving through town for hours, his heart thumbing against his chest so loudly that he could hear it. There was only one thing on his mind and that was Raine. His Raine.
He wanted nothing more than to get to the hotel and find his girl safely waiting for him. He wanted to see her eyes sparkle in the light. He wanted to caress her rosy cheeks as he kissed her tender lips. He wanted to hold her in his arms, her body pressed against his. He wanted to keep her close to him forever.
"We're here Sir." Jordon announce, quickly putting the car on park and rushing out to open Xavier's door.
"Let's go!" Xavier ordered, running up the stairs and into the lobby, his eyes looking around frantically for a single glimpse of his brown-eyed beauty. "Damnit!" He cursed. "How are we going to find her? This hotel is huge!"
"Excuse me? May I help you men out with something?" A women working behind the receptionist counter asked, coming forward with her eyes glued on Xavier's body. She was dressed in a skin tight dressed, suitable for a night club much rather then a day time job. And the cleavage that she was pushing forward made her look more like a hooker then a receptionist.
"Fuck off!" Xavier growled at the same time Jordon said, "Yes please."
The women frowned at Xavier's harsh reply, but kept herself composed as she turned to Jordon. "Yes?"
"We're looking for a girl."
"Half of the population is girls." The women rolled her eyes. "What girl are you talking about?"
"Raine!" Xavier interjected. "Her name is Raine, she just checked in here a couple of hours ago. I need to know where she is!"
"I can run her name through our system and see if she checked in." The women said, walking back behind the receptionist desk. "Do you have her full name?"
"Raine Woods."
"Hmm..." The women pondered, searching for Raine's name in the computer system. "Nope. No Raine Woods here."
"Check again! She has to be staying here!" Xavier ordered.
"I'm sorry Mister. But we have no one under that name here."
"Damnit!" Xavier kicked the desk. "Where can she have gone! The taxi dropped her off right here!"
"She arrived in a taxi?" The women questioned.
"Yes!" He nodded. "She got here a couple of hours ago in a taxi! She was wearing a red blouse and white shirt. Have you seen her?!"
"Oh, yes." The receptionist nodded. "I did see that girl arrive but she is not a guest at this hotel, only a visitor."
"A visitor?!" Xavier frowned. "Who is she visiting?!"
"I'm sorry but we cannot disclose that information."
"What the fuck you mean me, you can't disclose that information!?" Xavier growled. "She's my girlfriend and I order you to tell me where and who she is visiting!"
"Sir, I recommend that you keep your voice low and your anger controlled or else I will have to call security." The receptionist warned, having enough of Xavier's attitude.
"Security?!" Xavier chuckled angrily. "You're gunna call security on me?! Do you know who the fuck I am?! I own half of this city!"
"Mr. Thorn, you must calm down." Jordon said, trying to keep Xavier from doing something that he would regret.
"Thorn?" She asked. "Wait, are youâ"
"Xavier Thorn." Xavier stated. "Now that we've got our introductions done, tell me who Raine is here to visit."
"I'm sorry Mr. Thorn, the answer is still the same. We are not permitted to give outâ"
"How much to do you want." Xavier rudely interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
"Name a price." He kept his voice monotone.
A sly smirk appeared on the receptionist's face, not surprising Xavier's in the least manor. He'd been used to girls throwing themselves at him for a chance to be spotted with New York's most eligible bachelor, and if that wasn't enough of an appeal, his money always got them kneeling before him. He'd seen it all and he knew that this would was a selfish place. But he didn't care about the world. Nor did he care about any of the women that were desperate for even a glimpse of him. All he cared about was Raine.
"Five hundred." She requested, her voice seductive, yet doing absolutely no wonders to Xavier.
As soon as the quote left her mouth, Xavier pulled out his wallet, shoving five hundred dollar into her face.
"Spill." He gritted out.
"The girl, Raine, or whatever her name is, came here yesterday as well. She came to meet the guest in room 506."
"And who is staying that room?" Xavier pressed further.
"It's under the name of Ethan Woods." She responded.
"What?!" Xavier exclaimed. "Ethan Woods? That's Raine's father."
"Calm down, she's here to met her father, not cheating on you or anything." The receptionist rolled her eyes once more.
Xavier's blood was boiling and he wished so much to slam her head into the computer screen but for now, he kept mum, running alongside Jordon. There are too many questions on his mind and the answers to all of them were waiting upstairs.
"Ethan Woods?" Jordon panted as he ran up the staircase with Xavier, not willing to wait for the elevators.
"That's impossible! He's dead! There is no way that he can be alive!" Xavier said.
"500... 501..." Jordon counted, running past the rooms.
"506!" Xavier shouted. "Let goâ"
"Step aside Sir." Jordon stopped him, pulling out his gun and knocking on the door. But just as his fist hit the door, it pushed open on it's own.
Jordon entered the room first, inspecting it for any threats while Xavier followed him on his tail.
"It's empty." Jordon remarking, noticing the barren room. He shoved the gun back into his coat before walking around.
"Raine!" Xavier called out, frustrated with her absence. But his call was left unanswered and the silence of the room drove his mind wild.
"She's not here!" Xavier claiming with defeat, ready to step out of the room.
"Wait a minute." Jordon stopped Xavier. "The bed is unmade, and the furniture is out of place."
Xavier paused, looking back at the room. Although it was empty, someone had for sure been there. The misplacement for furniture and wrinkles in the bed were evidence of that.
"Someone was here." Xavier stated. "Look around, perhaps we can find something."
"Yes sir." Jordon nodded, walking towards the windows. "I think they may haveâ" He began, only to stop abruptly by the sight in front of him. "Oh my god!"
Xavier ran to Jordon, his eyes wide in shock when they fell on the man lying lifelessly on the ground. The blood had poured out of his body and was soaking the carpet. But that was not what terrified Xavier the most. It was the body's face, that had Xavier's hands trembling.
"Charles." He whispered.
"He's dead." Jordon announce, taking a quick pulse. "We mustâ"
"RAINE!" Xavier shouted. "WHERE IS SHE!"
He began running around the room, searching for any signs of his girl. He searched every closet, the bathroom, and every single corner of the room but there was no signs of her. She was nowhere to be found.
Tears began welling up in his eyes and his heartbeat had escalated so quickly that he was afraid that his heart would give out. But nothing mattered in that moment.
All he could think about was her. If this was Charles' state, then what was Raine's? Where was she? Was she alright? Was she hurt? Was she deaâ
No. She couldn't be. She had to be alive. She had to be healthy. She had to be safe.
He couldn't accepted anything less then that.
He could live with anything less than that.
"Fuck!" He cursed, throwing anything that came into his hands to the ground, destroying it.
Managing his anger had always been one of his struggles and he had never cared about it. But everything had changed once Raine came into his life.
She had calmed his reckless mind and controlled the boiling anger that had made it's home in Xavier's heart. She had pushed anger away so for and made room for love. She had filled all of the darkness with light but now that she was gone, all of the darkness was coming back.
"Calm down Mr. Thorn!" Jordon quickly got to his feet, trying hopelessly to prevent Xavier from damaging anymore of the property and corrupting the crime scene. "Raine's absence is proof that she is alive!"
But in that moment, nothing made sense to Xavier. He was losing his mind. She was gone and that was all that he could think about. His girl was gone.
His hands came across the plant that was located besides the door and without thinking twice, he grabbed it by the leaves, lifting it up and smashing it against the floor causing the pot to shatter across the floor.
"Mr. Thorn!" Jordon shouted, getting ahold of his arms. "You must calm down! I have called 9-1-1 and they will be arriving soon!"
"Don't fucking tell me toâ" Xavier began, but the sound of metal rolling against the tile made him pause. "What's that sound?" He quietly asked.
The two men looked around the room until their eyes landed on a small silver ring, rolling on the floor before hitting the table and stopping.
"What is that?" Jordon asked, following Xavier who had already taken the ring in his palms, inspecting it. "A ring?" He frowned.
But it wasn't any ordinary ring and just as Xavier realized who that ring belonged to, his eyes widened in recognition.
"It's Raine ring." He announced. "Oh my god, Jordon! This is Raine's ring! She wear's it everyday! That's my Raine's ring!" He excitement on his face reflected the hope that was now diminishing the anger once within him.
The ring had always been a symbol of her parents to Raine, a symbol of their love. But to Xavier, this ring was a symbol of hope.
"If that's Raine's ring then it means that she isâ"
"Safe." Xavier completed. "Raine is safe."
Xavier quickly pushed the ring onto his own finger, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it.
And although it wasn't nearly the same as kissing her soft, rose-like lips, Xavier couldn't be happier in knowing that she was alive.
"She left this here. She left this here for us to find." Xavier concluded. "Or else she would never leave this behind! This ring means the world to her!"
"So she's giving us a hint." Jordon suggested. "She must be in danger!"
"We have to find her!" Xavier declared.
"But none of this makes sense. Why would Raine come to met Charles! And most importantly, who killed Charles?" Jordon asked.
"That son of a bitch, who else?!" Xavier gritted out.
"Malin? But Charles is his father. Why would he kill him?"
"But Killian isn't!"
"I still don't â"
"Shit!" Xavier cursed. "What if all of this is a set up? We thought that Killian had no idea about Raine but what if we were all wrong? If Killian knew Raine's whereabouts, then he must've known that I was with her. What if he was in on the whole thing? We thought we were trapping him but what if he's really the one trapping us?"
"But Killian was with us the entire time." Jordon remarked. "How could he have gotten Raine?"
"I don't know!" Xavier ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "But Killian is the only one that wanted Raine out of his path. He threatened to kill her once before when she was younger. Her parents confessed that themselves."
"But all of this happened ten years ago. He had all of the time he needed to take care of Raine when she was living with her aunt. Why would he take her now after all of these years?"
"Because she has the tapes!" Xavier came to realization. "Raine took the entire videotape of her parents' confession with her! And that recording is the only evidence that we had against Killian!"
"If he gets them thanâ" Jordon began, but the loud thumbing noise from the hallways brought him to a halt and within seconds, police officers filled the room.
"NPPD!"
* * *
The ice cold water pouting on her face, caused Raine's eyes to open from her deep state of slumber. Her eyes scrunched in confusion and a sudden jolt of pain shot up to the back of her head causing her to groan. Her hand reached out to massage her head alleviate some of the pain, but frustration coursed through her body at the disability to move.
This place was all to familiar to her. But the throbbing pain in her head blocked all her memories.
"Wakey wakey, Rainey Rainey." Malin's disgusting voice pierced through Raine's ears causing her heart to burn in anger.
"What the hell!?" She shouted. "Let me go Malin!"
"You think I'm an idiot?" He chuckled. "I'm never letting you go now that I've finally got you! You're finally mine!"
"I'll never be your's Malin!" She screamed. "Never!"
"And why's that?" He questioned. "No one's here to save you anymore Raine. No one!"
"Xavier will come!" She shouted. "Xavier always comes and he will kill you if you touch me!"
"Oh, that pathetic boyfriend of your's. That bastard will never be able to find me!"
"He will." Raine spat. "My Xavier will find me and he will kill you for everything you've done. He will search every corner of this country to find me! And once he has, he will not spare you!"
"That will take him months to do." Malin grinned wickedly.
"Then he will!" She screamed. "And he won't stop until he finds me!"
"Aw." Malin cooed. "Is that how much faith you have in that billionaire? You may be forgetting that the Xavier Thorn you are dating, loves nothing more than his company. You really think he'll toss his company aside to find you?" He mocked. "Poor little Raine. Let me give you a little news flash. Xavier Thorn is known for using girls like toilet paper! I wouldn't be surprised if he's found a replacement for you already."
"The Xavier Thorn you're talking about doesn't exist." Raine spat. "I know Xavier. The real Xavier and I know that he will come find me."
"Even if he goes out looking for you, he won't ever think about looking here." Malin smirked. "He's an idiot Rainey. He'll never guess where I kept you. And once he's tired of searching, he'll move on."
"He won't." Raine declared. "He won't because he....he won't because he loves me."
"Does he now?"
"He does." Raine said confidently.
"Well, in that case, I still don't care. It will take him at least a week to search every spot in town and guess what Baby? You and I will be far, far away by the time he gets here." Malin said with a sinister smile.
"What do you mean?! Where are you taking me?!"
"Me and you. Oh, sorry. Mr. and Mrs. Malin Hadleigh are officially moving to France." Malin announced. "It'll only take me two days to fix up the flights and get you a fake passport. Once that's been arrange, you'll be so far from here. From that stupid Xavier Thorn. And once I marry you and have my way with you.... Ohhh Raine, I can't wait till I can claim you as mine. He won't even want you once I'm done with you."
"NO!" Raine began crying. "You can't take me to France! I won't marry!"
"Oh yes you will Raine." Malin said. "You won't have any choice but to marry me. I'll make you mine Raine, I'll making you mine forever."
* * *
It had been hours since the police had arrived at the hotel. And yet, Raine was nowhere to be found.
It had felt as though someone and snatched his heart, ripping out of his chest and smashing it into a billion pieces.
He had learned to live his life is solitary. Women had been a game to him, people were always at the bottom of his feet and his bank account had always been loaded with a surplus of money.
But even when he had everything he wanted in his life, he had nothing.
He had nothing until a certain someone and slipped across the floor and fallen into his arms.
It was as if it was meant to be.
The moment he had held her small body in the warmth of his arms, the void that he had always felt, diminished from within him.
He suddenly changed from a man that had nothing to a man that had something. And that something was the girl in his arms.
The girl that had him wrapped around her fingers. He'd proudly and happily to anything for her because that's was people did who had lost their hearts to their special someone.
But Raine wasn't just his special someone. She was his special everything. She held the power within her to make him smile, to make him laugh, to make him love.
Love.
It was a word that he'd used least of all. He never really knew what love was. His life had been void of love for as long as he could remember and he had been ok with that.
Love meant pain. And therefore, he'd always run from those who brought it up.
But for Raine he was willing to go through any kind of pain. He's walk in a pit of fire for her, jump off the tallest building. He's swim in an ocean full of sharks for her, run a million miles to her.
He'd do anything to make sure she was his everything.
But now she was gone.
She had slipped through his fingers and disappeared, without a word of where she was going.
No.
She had been stolen.
She had been stolen from him, ripped away from his arms and he would not have that.
He'd search every inch of the world to find her because she was Raine and Raine was everything.
"Mr. Thorn..." Jordon's voice broke Xavier out of his thoughts. "We should return home."
"Not without Raine."
His voice was strong and clear. A demand that no one would dare to go against but Jordon.
Jordon had seen him grow up, from an innocent child to the CEO of the single largest company in the world. He had seen him fall for that girl, that was now missing. He knew that Xavier wouldn't take this well. For she was all he thought about since that day they'd met and she was all he'd ever talk about when they were alone.
"Mr. Thorn, I know you are worried for Raine, we all are. But staying here won't solve anything. He took her and until we find out Raine's location, you must come home."
"Home is where she is." Xavier stood up, wiping the tears that had stained his face.
"We will find her." Jordon assured but Xavier didn't say a word.
He didn't have anything to say but think of her.
Where was she? In what condition? What was that bastard doing with her? Was he touching her? Was he hurting her? Was she thinking of him? Was she waiting for him? Did she know that he'd look for her? Did she know that he'd search the whole planet for her? Did she know that he'd find her?
Xavier shut his eyes tightly.
He had to find her.
He had to find her because without a Rose, there could never be a Thorn.
* * *
"This is FBI agent Conner. He's been handed this murder case and he's like to speak to you." A police officer introduced to the two men.
After Xavier had refused to leave the sight, Jordon had gone back up to the crime scene to see if there was anything clues left behind that might help them locate Raine. But as soon as he found out that the FBI was involved, Jordon knew that whatever was going on was something big. And that stake of finding Raine was higher than ever.
"Xavier Thorn." Xavier introduced himself. "And this is my head of security, Jordon Harring."
"NYPD informed me that you were the first witnesses of the dead body?" The FBI agent confirmed.
"Yes." Jordon nodded.
"And why were you at the location of the crime scene to begin with?"
"We were searching for an employee and came across the dead body." Jordon replied.
"An employee?" The agent clarified.
"She isn't just an employee." Xavier said. "She's my girlfriend."
"And where is she right now?" Conner asked.
"She's nowhere to be found." Xavier said with defeat in his voice. "Raine Woods is her name.
She dissappeared from my office earlier today and we went out looking for her. She was dropped off at the hotel by a taxi so we came here to find her but when we entered the room to find her, she was nowhere. The room was empty and Charles' body was laying behind the couch."
"Charles?" Conner questioned immediately. "Are you saying that you know the identity of the victim?"
"He's no victim!" Xavier yelled. "He's a pathetic son a of a bitch who deserved to die! All I care about is Raine! I need to know where she is and that she is safe!"
"Mr. Thorn, notifying me that you wish death upon a murdered victim will only force me to put you on the suspect list. Now to avoid further drama, you must tell me everything there is to know about this case." Conner spoke. "Starting out with the first question, what is your relationship to Charles?"
Xavier took a deep breath, ready to tell the fellow FBI agent Raine's story.
"Charles Hadleigh." He answered. "He's a lawyer from California. His son actually had been a threat to my girlfriend for years now. About two years ago, he tried to force her to marry him. Fortunately, Raine ran away. However, his son followed her here and even assaulted her once before. It was an attempt of murder but he fled the scene and we couldn't catch him..." Xavier explained. "Please Conner, you have to help me find her. I need to know that she is ok. She's my whole entire life and I cannot live without here."
"Charles Hadleigh..." Conner repeated his name. "And how can you assure to me that this Raine Woods didn't kill Charles and run?"
"Raine would never do that." Xavier said. "She'd never harm another person. And she left this." Xavier showed the agent Raine's ring that was now on his finger. "This ring is priceless to her. It was in the flower pot. She left it there on purpose because it would never just fall out or get lost. She intentionally left it there. She knew that I would find it. "
"Are you sure the ring is the only thing she left for you to find?" The agent asked.
"I...I don't know. I didn't find anything else."
Conner pulled out a small plastic bag from his pocket, displaying it in front of Xavier's eyes.
"We found a broken memory card in the pile of dirt from the flower pot. Do you recognize this?"
"The memory card!" Xavier recognized. "Yes! Raine had that with her!"
"Unfortunately, the card has been damaged." Conner informed. "But, if Raine did leave the ring in that flower pot, that means she left this memory card for you too."
"What?!" Jordon gasped. "That card was imperative."
"Fuck!" Xavier cursed."I broke that memory card! Raine left it for me and I fucking broke it!"
"We will try our best to retrieve anything we can from it." Conner notified. "But because you know a lot about the victim, we will need you to identify some people from the surveillance cameras that we have retrieved. Unfortunately, Raine Woods may have been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?!" Xavier felt his heart dropping.
"Take a look at this." The FBI agent said, pulling out a tablet that played a video footage from the cameras in the hotel corridor.
Xavier and Jordon stared at the screen intently as they watched Charles entered the hotel room. A couple of minutes later, another man with a hat and black glasses entered the room, clearly hiding his identity. And once thirty minutes had passed with no activity, Raine was seen walking through the corridor and entering the room.
"That's my Raine." Xavier whispered with sadness.
"So, as it appears, Charles entered the room initially, followed by the suspect." Conner reviewed. "And after approximately thirty minutes, Raine entered. But when we fast forward to about an hour, we see that this man exits the room with Raine in a wheelchair."
At the sound of wheelchair, Xavier's heart painfully lurched. Was she hurt? Was she injured? Was she ok? These were the only questions in his mind.
Conner played the video once more, and Xavier watched as the man came out of the room with Raine limp in a wheel chair. Xavier's eyes welled with tears at the sight of his precious Rose helplessly being taken away. But not seconds later, his blood began to boil when he recognized the man that was wheeling her away.
"Malin..." He mumbled. "That's Malin!"
"Malin Hadleigh?" Conner asked.
"Yes! That's the same Malin that tried to kill Raine once before! He killed his own father! He's a psychopath!"
"Calm down Mr. Thorn." Conner said. "Malin Hadleigh... I will get all of my units tracking his whereabouts instantly."
"And Raine?" Jordon asked. "We must find her as soon as possible. If that son of a bitch murdered his own father, I can't even think of what he might do to Raine."
"I won't let that bastard hurt my girl!" Xavier said. "I won't let anything happen to her!"
"Because this is a kidnapping case, your company and house phones will be tapped." Conner notified. "This Malin might call for a ransom."
"He doesn't want money." Xavier spat out. "The only thing he's ever wanted is Raine and he has her."
"We will still follow protocol." The agent said. "As soon as we get any followups, we will notify you."
"Thank you Agent Conner." Xavier said. "Please, please help me find her. I am nothing without her."
"We will do everything to make sure she is safe and sound. You can do your part by finding any clues that relate to this case. Any information is helpful for us to locate her."
"We will." Jordon assured, putting his hand on Xavier's shoulder as he watched the agent leave.
Jordon had been with Xavier for so long and this was the first time he was seeing him like this. Xavier had always been so cold hearted, not giving a care about anyone that was around him. Even when his own father had died, Xavier had emitted no emotions. But here he was now, begging for Raine, a girl who had come in his life and changed this man for good.
"Mr. Thorn Iâ"
"What do you want?!" Xavier cut off harshly.
"I was just checking to see if you were doing alright..." Jordon hesitantly said.
"No! I'm not doing alright and I'll never be doing alright until Raine is back in my arms. I don't give a fuck about anything but her. She is the only thing that matters to me and nothing will ever be alright if she's not here! I need her! I've only needed her."
"She will be fine." Jordon assured him. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you tell the FBI agent about Killian?"
"Because you know how these people are. If we say anything about Killian, they'll begin investigating that case since it has to do with national security and they won't focus on Raine! She's the only thing that matters right now." Xavier justified. "I will inform the FBI about Killian as soon as we find Raine."
"But what if Killian has a hand in all of this?"
"Killian and Malin have no contact." He stated.
"How can you be sure of that?"
"Because if Malin really is a psychotic lover, he'll do anything to make Raine is his." Xavier reasoned. "He won't tell Killian because Killian would kill her."
"So we have to make sure that Killian doesn't get to Malin."
"We have to beat Killian to Malin." Xavier said, raking his hair with his fingers, wanting to pull it all out. He was angry. Angry at himself for leaving her alone.
Malin might have started this battle but Xavier was sure that he would end it.
All he needed to do was to find him. Because once he did, he'd eliminate him from the surface of this planet.
______________________
A/N: Hey fellow readers! Is it getting intense or what?! Hope all of you guys are having a great time enjoying the story unfold! We've got about 5 more parts left and I'm so excited for you guys to find out what happens next! Keep up the votes and stay tuned for the next part! The more you vote, the more inclined I'll be in doing sequel ;)
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