It was a long afternoon for Rhys, which he spent at his townhouse rather than the office. Mor sat with him, patting his hand or back whenever he would start to panic again. Azriel had convinced him to leave the hotel, to go back to work while he addressed Feyre's disappearance and the now three unconscious men.

Azriel hadn't called law enforcement. Instead he had sent off the three men to the hospital in ambulances and had gathered what evidence he could himself. Then told the hotel to bill him with the cost of the damages before he had gone to the hospital.

The call had come around noon about Cassian and the two other guards having been shot with powerful tranquilizer darts. The darts had been removed after depositing their drugs. Once Azriel had been assured the two guards and Cassian would be fine and would get thorough check ups once awake, he had gone to tear apart what evidence he had gleaned from Feyre's hotel room.

After work hours, everyone would gather at the townhouse to discuss how to proceed. But until then, Rhys was left without a shred of sanity. There were two possible options and they seemed connected. Either Tamlin and Lucien had taken Feyre, or Amarantha had. Either way, she wasn't in a good place. Tamlin had turned love into torture and Amarantha just tortured. There was no real way around any of it.

At 6:30, Amren arrived first with what Rhys could only assume was a peace offering of plenty of take out from Sevinda's. Though Amren wasn't particularly fond of Illyrian food, he knew she was fond of Feyre. Shortly after she arrived Cassian came in with Azriel. They all sat at the dining table with the shades drawn to pick at food no one was truly interested in despite it being just as delicious as usual.

"Well, I guess I'll start," Amren broke the silence first. "This was dropped off in the lobby for you today at the front desk. Pretty much got mixed into the mail and when I had security review the footage we couldn't pin down when it arrived or who brought it." She dropped an opened letter on the table in front of Rhys.

Nox,

Your personal assistant is safe, for now. Do not involve law enforcement. Any attempts to locate her will cause harm to her. We will send further instruction.

-A

Rhys froze as he realized it was Amarantha who had Feyre. She also knew Feyre wasn't a client, but his personal assistant. Hopefully that is all she thought Feyre was. It would go better for Feyre if that was all she was.

"Feyre was smart this morning," Azriel spoke softly. "She hid her cell phone. Possibly half the destruction of the room was in attempt to locate it. She hid it behind the toilet. Considering some of the incriminating pictures and texts on here," Azriel produced the phone.

"Incriminating?" Mor demanded.

"Pictures of her and Rhys, or of Rhys alone certainly not working, and little lover's texts," Azriel clarified.

"Pictures of you naked on her phone Rhys? I'm surprised. I didn't think you would do that sort of thing," Cassian commented, his humor still subdued.

"Not of me naked, Smart Ass," Rhys rolled his eyes. What Azriel had meant by pictures of him not working, were pictures Feyre had taken of him randomly around the house. She hadn't explained herself when he had finally caught her doing it and she had kept it up afterwards. He flipped the phone around to show a picture of him cooking them breakfast the previous weekend and swiped to the side to show him later that afternoon sprawled on the couch with a book.

"I'm a little surprised you do something other than sit in your office here. We used to have to drag you out. I didn't think you used your living room anymore for any reason," Cassian took a hold of the phone.

"Feyre doesn't- didn't like when I worked late at night or on weekends if I didn't have to," Rhys stumbled through the sentence.

"The correct way to say that is 'doesn't'," Amren told him. "She's kidnapped, not dead. We are going to get her back."

"Not involving law enforcement is easy. At least until we get a lock on everything. Amarantha isn't sloppy in her work so it will take time to get evidence gathered. Hotel rooms are impossible for finger prints because hundreds of people go through there a year. That was certainly Feyre's hair and blood you found. The type of the blood matches," Azriel confirmed. "No notes left behind or indication of where they may have gone. Surveillance at the hotel is fuzzy at best and there's no sign of her leaving the hotel. I'd guess they knocked her out, used the missing shower curtain, and hid her in a laundry cart or possibly a suitcase to get her out."

Rhys felt his heart constrict. He could imagine Feyre stuffed into a suitcase. He could imagine her being tossed into a trunk of car and waking up in a tiny place, in terror, not knowing what would be happening to her shortly or where she was. He was supposed to have kept her safe and now she was in danger.

"Rhys," Mor turned to him, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Maybe we involve others. Not law enforcement… but perhaps we should call on Summer Hospitalities and maybe we call Helion at Day Publishing. Amarantha held hostages in their families the last time she had any sort of power here. They will know what to expect of her."

"Right," Rhys nodded. Tarquin hadn't been a hostage but his father and uncle had been. It was how he had become a CEO so young when his grandfather had passed away only two years before. He would know very intimately what to expect. Helion had had a lover go in as a hostage that did not walk out again. "Let's somehow stage a meeting that won't look suspicious."

"I can make that happen," Azriel promised.

"Then do it, as soon as possible," Rhys stood from the dinner table. "Excuse me."

He knew it was unhealthy to walk away from his family. He knew it was unhealthy to hide in his room and let the panic he felt for Feyre take over. He knew it wasn't good that he was sitting on the floor, curled up, hearing Amarantha's voice taunting Feyre the way she used to taunt him. But he knew the thoughts were going to come and he'd rather his family not see him like that, that anyone see him like that.

It took until the following Monday for anything to be arranged with his fellow CEO's to meet for what, on paper, was a meeting about possible mergers. Rhys wasn't sure the reasoning was believable as Helion ran a publishing company and Tarquin ran resorts and hotels, but it was believable enough that the media had picked up on it. Nothing had come to him yet. Feyre had been missing since Friday morning and he had heard nothing. Nothing over the weekend, no instructions, but he had heard all about how other major CEO's were stirring as three major corporations looked like some sort of alliance might form. Something that hadn't happened in a long time.

"Rhys," Cassian called from the lobby. It was his way of alerting him that Helion and Tarquin had arrived. And they had come, with small entourages that were completely expected if they were to be doing some sort of true big business deal. Cassian had come ahead of them while his men did a thorough check over of each of them.

"What is the plan for the extras?" Rhys asked after a moment.

"Mor is treating them to a nice relaxing movie day in the executive lounge," Cassian promised. "She's going to accompany them up."

"Right," Rhys nodded and wandered into the conference room, but not before he stopped at Feyre's desk and ran his fingers across it once more. Cassian, wisely, said nothing about it as he watched Rhys the entire walk into the conference room.

Rhys settled himself into his chair and waited with his back to the glass wall. He didn't want to see everyone that would come in because if anyone knew what this was actually about, it would hurt to see their pity.

"This way," Cassian's voice was unusually quiet. Likely an attempt at respect for the other CEO's that held some sort of decent standing.

He waited as he heard the door to the conference room close and seats be taken before he turned to face the table. For a moment he was stunned. It wasn't just Helion and Tarquin before him. He also recognized Thesan from Dawn Medical, and Kallias the CEO of Winter Insurance.

Helion, Rhys was actually friends with. They were close in age and had attended the university together. The large, dark skinned man was a clever thinker, a fast absorber of knowledge, and a lover of orgies and polyamorous relationships. They didn't cross paths much in the world of business which kept them apart but he knew he could count on Helion for discretion and as a friend.

Tarquin, he had only truly met the once when he had flirted with Feyre at the art gallery but he knew the man had started attending Feyre's art classes, on her advice, to seek out new artists to support. The reports from Feyre were enough that he could trust Tarquin would do the right thing.

Thesan was usually a neutral CEO. He did good work and Rhys never had a reason to interfere with him, and Thesan never had a reason to dislike him beyond more than reputation. Why he was there was a better question.

And Kallias, well that one just threw him for a loop. Kallias had hated Rhys in the past when Amarantha had controlled him. There had been an "accident" that had appeared to have been caused by Nox Industries. It had killed nearly two dozen children in one of the childcare centers Winter kept for its employees. It had truly been caused by Amarantha and her cronies, but Rhys had been unable to defend himself. He had sent his apologies after the fact as part of his healing and had paid to have the center rebuilt far better than it had been before, as well as a memorial for the children lost, but nothing would assuage his guilt in the situation and he doubted Kallias actually forgave him.

"I have to say, I'm impressed with your people, Rhysand," Helion commented after a moment. "Though Azriel has always been quite the hacker. He made this meeting appear on my calendar like it had been booked between us two months ago."

"The same," Tarquin nodded. "I'd be worried if I was on your bad side."

"You're not," Rhys promised. "Feyre speaks highly of you, and I have no reason to believe any bad of you."

"Yes, the matter at hand," Helion waved out at the empty desk in the lobby. "I hope you don't mind that I invited Thesan and Kallias. If Amarantha is pulling this crap again, I thought we should all be in the know. Your hacker agreed and added them to his agenda."

"I'm surprised no one thought to invite Beron or Tamlin if they thought everyone should be in the know," Rhys looked around.

"Beron is a greedy bastard who only looks out for himself. I feel bad for his wife and that youngest son of his," Helion explained.

"And word out there is that Tamlin is working with Amarantha," Thesan added. "No need to bring those two into what can be a nice civilized meeting. Then I can go out and tell the media that is gathered outside that we discussed business ethics we are hoping to adopt to better Prythian together. They will believe it coming from me."

"Appreciated," Rhys sighed. "Here is what I know of Amarantha, Hybern, and Spring's involvement." He listed out the pointed attacks on Velaris as if he had simply been tracking her movements, not as if he personally had connections. Then he spoke of the Illyrian mountains and the move to get the reservation rights revoked in order for Hybern to move in there. When he was done, he looked to Helion.

"Then she took your personal assistant as a bargaining chip for your cooperation," Helion finished.

"Feyre is more than your person assistant though," Tarquin cut in. "You two are seeing each other. If you aren't after that subtle threat at the art gallery, then I'll eat my shirt."

"Yes, Feyre is my girlfriend as well as my personal secretary," Rhys confirmed. "I don't think Amarantha knows who she has. At least, I hope she doesn't know."

"You've never been through this before," Kallias pointed out.

"I did… terrible things to keep my family out of her mind last time," Rhys shuddered at the thought.

"You were her whore," Kallias' voice had turned cold.

"Yes," Rhys breathed out. "So I know what tortures she can unfold first hand."

"From your timeline she took Feyre on Friday morning or likely super late Thursday night," Tarquin cut in. "With my father and uncle, she made us stew for three days after we received the initial note. I'd expect something today and don't plan on it being pleasant."

"About the same pattern here," Helion agreed.

"Three tends to be her number," Kallias interjected. "That daycare center accident happened three days after I rejected a business contract with what I assumed was the actual Nox Industries."

Rhys nodded along, knowing the details. Amarantha wanted to jack up insurance prices to keep people paying themselves into poverty so she had sought to merge Nox with Winter. Except Winter had declined the "generous" offer of do it or else. Then one of the areas Rhys had a mining contract with right next to the daycare center apparently hit a gas pocket and suffocated the center above it.

"Check your email or phone," Thesan instructed. Rhys touched his phone and brought up his work email through it. Immediately he found an anonymous email with an attachment. He opened it and the video attached started to play immediately.

"Feyre, Fey-re, Fay-ruh…" Amarantha's voice taunted as an exhausted and already bruised Feyre knelt in the middle of a dark stone room. Amarantha herself was not in sight. "What can you tell me about Rhysand that I don't already know? You're the only personal assistant he's taken. He seems protective of you."

"I don't know anything. He just makes me get his coffee," Feyre spoke, her eyes down.

"Is lying any way to start this game, Feyre?" Came the cruel voice. A hand with a baton came out of the dark. The baton stoked down the side of Feyre's face, almost like a lover might touch her. She flinched away from the contact. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

"I don't know anything. He likes his coffee black, dark roast, in a very specific mug. He's very picky," Feyre rattled off. As much as Rhys was mortified by what was happening, he was proud of Feyre. She was playing the role of his ignorant personal assistant well despite her fear.

"That's not the correct answer, Feyre," Amarantha sighed. "Begin."

The baton moved away and came back with enough force to send Feyre to the ground. For the next three minutes he watched Feyre being battered to the point he heard bones breaking. She cried out, she screamed, but she did not say anything. Then the assault was over and Feyre was a teary mess on the floor.

"You tell me where to strike Rhysand Nox. Who his family is, which parts of his business he loves the most, and where his private residence is, and I will let you go. That will remain the deal, Feyre. Take her back to her cell." Hands hauled her off and Rhys could see blood left behind on the floor where Feyre had been.

"Rhysand, you can come to me and spare her, or I can break her. One way or another," Amarantha spoke. Then the video ended.

"I told you it wouldn't be pleasant," Tarquin whispered.

Rhys snapped his head up from his phone completely having forgotten his company in the conference room with him. It was against everything he had ever been taught for his competition to see him so vulnerable. To see him wounded in any way. And despite all of that, Rhys couldn't help the tremor in his hands as he set the phone on the table or the tears the leaked from his eyes.

"Your father and uncle," Rhys looked to Tarquin. "They didn't survive."

"They didn't break and my grandfather didn't give in," Tarquin clarified. "Even if it cost him both of his sons."

"I need to get Feyre out," Rhys whispered. "I need her."

"So we need a plan to cooperate and to undermine," Kallias pointed out.

"And to drive Hybern out before he can establish a foothold because he isn't going to stop at just taking the Illyrian reservation. He's going to deplete this land like he did his own," Helion added.

They spoke for another hour on strategies then agreed to meet again in a week. Rhys thanked each of them as they left, or at least all of them except Thesan, who hung back and closed the conference room door once more.

"I know enough of the signs of trauma, Rhysand. Did you ever get help after Amarantha brutalized you? It's been years, have you allowed another woman to touch you, or is Feyre the first?" Thesan nodded to his chair, indicting Rhys should sit once more.

"I had help. Saw someone to get cooping techniques. Some days are harder, as you know," Rhys admitted. "I've been with women since then, but Feyre is the first relationship."

"She must be truly remarkable," Thesan smiled at him.

"That she is," Rhys admitted.

"Then I'm going to give you my card. With my personal cell phone number. When you get her out, you call me. I will see to her care personally. And if you ever need a referral to a very discreet psychologist, you call. I'll get you the best." Thesan handed over a handwritten card and Rhys took it. He doubted he would ever call for himself, but to know that Thesan, a world renowned surgeon and doctor turned CEO would take it upon himself to look after Feyre when they got her out, that was something he wouldn't pass up.

After pocketed the card, he led Thesan to the door and shook his hand as he had the others. And only when everyone was gone, he called up Azriel and shared the video with him. If Azriel was going to get any sort of evidence base to take Amarantha and her cronies down the way he had before, he would need every scrap of information that came, no matter how painful it would be for any of them.