The video has played twenty times.

There’s no sound except her muffled whimpering behind the tape over her mouth. Her head hangs to the side. Blood has dried along her forehead and beneath her nose. Mascara is smeared in dark streaks under her eyes. Her wrists are bound on the chair.

I’ve watched men die. Pulled the trigger myself without blinking. But this video?

This is the first time in my life I’ve felt fear.

Manuel didn’t send a message. No demands. No deadline. No terms. Just this video. From an unknown number. He doesn’t want money. He doesn’t want territory.

He wants me to break.

And it works.

The house in front of us looks like it belongs in a horror movie. Half collapsed. Dirty windows. The kind of place where screams go in…and never come back out. Movement everywhere. Men. Guns. Cars. And she’s in there.

"We came here to find her in the middle of all that?!" Noel snaps beside me.

My gaze shoots to him. Normally, no one would talk to me like that. But right now, I’m not the boss. I’m just a man about to lose the only thing that ever made me human.

"We’re…we’re really going in there, Boss?" One of the guys behind me asks. I don’t answer. I just stare at the house.

Armed men surround it. Watching. Waiting. Ready to kill anyone who takes one step too close.

And they know that anyone is me.

“I’m not going in there!” One of the new guys mutters, taking a step back. Noel looks at him, then lets his gaze travel over everyone else before landing on me. “No one's going in there.”

My eyes stay fixed on the house. “I am. With or without you, I'll find her." My voice comes out calm. Too calm. Like it belongs to someone already dead.

“You're gonna get yourself killed, Lando! Is that what you want?!” Noel jumps off the rock and follows me. “Is that what you want?! You came all the way out here to get yourself killed?! Huh?!" His hand grabbing my shoulder. “Listen to me!”

I shove him off. Hard. “She’s in there because of me! Do you understand? I started this, I end it!” The words burn on the way out.

He steps in front of me, blocking my path. "Listen to me! If you go in this building, and if she’s even still alive, there's no way you're gonna be able to reach her! We’re not seventy men anymore! Look around!” He gestures furiously behind me. “We’ve got maybe thirty left! Maybe! Manuel has a hundred! Look at how many are guarding just the outside of that wreck!”

I shove him away again. And that’s when I feel it. Tears. I’m crying. In front of my men. “What you suggest I do?!” I choke out. Noel’s face softens. I almost hate that more than his yelling. “It’s over..” He says quietly. Then firmer. "I’m sorry…but it’s over."

Over. The word echoes in my head like a gunshot. It was over when my parents were shot. It was over the first time I had someone buried. It was over every time I thought I had nothing left to lose.

And then {{user}} walked into my life. With that sharp mouth. That reckless laugh. She brought light into rooms that only knew blood and fear. She was the one thing in my world that wasn’t built on violence.

And now she’s tied to a chair, in the hands of my enemy…because of me.

I step past Noel. Slow. Certain. His hand grabs my arm again, tighter this time. Not pleading, desperate. “Damn it, Lando!” His voice cracks. “This is exactly what he wants! For you to charge in there like a madman!”

I rip my arm free. Too fast. Too rough. “Let. Me. Go.” My chest heaves like I’ve run miles. Behind us, there’s silence. No stupid comments. No muttering. Just men waiting to see if their Boss is about to lose his mind.

“You’re not thinking straight!" Noel says, quieter now. More dangerous than shouting. “You’re angry. You’re scared. And you’re trying to convince yourself that this is courage.”

I let out a short laugh. “Courage?” I shake my head. “No. This is guilt.” The word hangs between us. Noel says nothing. Because he knows I’m right. “If I do nothing..she dies in there, and It's my fault. I can't live with that."