Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

When Hull walked in, he caught the tail end of Idris's sentence: "Miss Yvonne owns too many private islands. It's going to be tough to track her down."

Honestly, even now, it wasn't just that it would be hard to find Susanna. Back when Stella got taken, it was the same nightmare all over again.

Hull's eyes were dark as a thundercloud. "Hard or not, we're finding her."

The moment he entered, Idris stepped back respectfully, giving him space. Ronald looked over at Hull without a word, just shot Idris a meaningful glance.

Idris cleared his throat. "Last time, with Miss Stella, he was the only one who finally brought her back."

Did Ronald care during that whole mess?

He cared so much it nearly broke him.

He knew damn well what his own little sister was like-there was no way he wanted to leave Stella in her hands for long. But no matter how they searched, it was like she'd vanished off the face of the earth.noveldrama

They combed through every lead, every cottage, every private yacht and vacation home they could think of. Zero luck. Not even a shadow.

In Idris's mind, once Yvonne had Susanna, unless she decided to give her back, they could search till the cows came home and it wouldn't matter. They'd find nothing.

Hull's jaw clenched. He shot a look at Silas. "You got everyone out looking?"

Silas nodded. "Yeah, they're already out there."

Of course they were. But after hearing Idris, even Silas felt their chances were slim.

Hull turned back to Idris. "Is there any way to contact her? Tell her-she can have whatever she wants, just give Susanna back."

His voice was tight, almost shaking with anger.

Silas nearly gaped. Did he just say Yvonne could have anything she wanted, as long as she brought Susanna back? Was he hearing this right? Their boss-Hull -wasn't known for sentiment, especially not for women. In fact, no one could even picture him caring about someone like this.

But now... wasn't this exactly what it looked like?

Ronald caught Hull's words and shot him a surprised glance. Stella, too, was stunned. Hull, to her, had always been like a stone-strong, cold, immovable. And now, that stone had a heart?

Idris, hearing Hull's barely contained rage, felt a shiver run down his spine. "The problem is... there's just no way to reach her."

Meaning, even if they wanted to trade or ransom Susanna back, there was simply no way to make contact. Once Yvonne took someone, she only ever brought them back if she felt like it.

Right now, finding her was next to impossible. Completely hopeless.

Hull's expression darkened even further. Without another word, he stormed out of the room.

Stella had never seen him lose his temper like this in front of Ronald-not in all these years. This time, he was truly furious.

After he'd gone, Stella turned to Ronald. "Is it really impossible to find her?"

Ronald sighed. "When your sister took you, we poured in every resource we had and found nothing. You think it'll be any easier now?"

If anything, Yvonne had only gotten better at this game over the years. Getting Susanna back from her? Next to impossible.

***

In the car, Hull sat in the back, a

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cigarette dangling from his fingers.

His

back from Eastlandiacon to get

voice was icy. "Tell

Both Silas and Barnaby stiffened in shock.

Lincoln? Leaving Eastlandia, just to help find Susanna? Hull must be desperate.

Lincoln had run things smoothly in Eastlandia for years-never once slipping up. Just how serious was Hull about this?

Before either man could recover from their surprise, Hull was already dialing Ronald.

The call barely connected before Hull cut straight to the chase. "I need Hugo."

Hugo-former CEO of StarRiver Corp. Ever since Ronald found out where Stella was, Hugo had been in charge of handling all of Stella's affairs in Portis City. The guy was every bit as capable as Lincoln.

Now, even Hugo was being called in, just to look for little Susanna?

Silas and Barnaby exchanged stunned looks. Hull was pulling out all the stops. All this for that quirky, short-legged girl?