The Gift: The Mafia Proposal, #2 u1m57

The Mafia Proposal Series Book Two

THE GIFT

Talia Ellison

Copyright © 2018 Talia Ellison

All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Copyright Page Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17

Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 More books by Talia Ellison

Chapter 1

“STILL NOTHING?” I ASKED as I ran my hand through my long dark brown hair. Meg shook her blonde head, her blue eyes weary. “I’m sorry, Arianna.” Ever since I’d gotten that email threatening James’ life if I didn’t send him away —I had a stalker who knew way too much about me and what I did every day— Meg and I had been trying to figure out who it was or how they were monitoring me, because it was certain that they were doing it, but we hadn’t found anything. Sure, I couldn’t search every single crack in the floor, but there was something really weird about all this, and it definitely meant we had another mole. Someone had to be working with the person who was threatening me. I didn’t think there was any other way for them to do this. That person could be preventing us from finding any bugs or they didn’t need any because they were close enough to see for themselves what was going on. But how come Meg couldn’t find anything or figure out if someone had hacked our network so they could report to their boss? She was really good at stopping things like that. Unless... I eyed her for a moment. Meg had been with me since we were children, and we’d grown up together. Maybe we hadn’t always been very close friends, but when she was lying, she had a habit of getting very nervous and tugging on her necklace or a bracelet—if she didn’t have her necklace. These days, she’d been perfectly calm, and I couldn’t imagine she was working behind my back. No, I still trusted Meg. It had to be someone else. But we couldn’t exactly kick out everyone or openly search for a traitor, because then the guilty one or ones might decide to lie low, and the last thing I wanted was for everyone to start doubting each other. And if I didn’t find the mole quickly enough, someone might interpret that as weakness or use the opportunity to strike, so I’d have to worry about more than just my stalker who seemed to want to ruin my life. I let out a sigh. James’ face flashed in my mind. The way his brown eyes glared

at me when I’d lied to him and sent him away... I wanted nothing more than to tell him what had really happened and why I’d had to do what I’d done. And then I wanted to bury my fingers into his dark brown hair, drag him to me, and kiss him until I could no longer feel my lips. And maybe I could do all that. I just had to find a way to sneak out of here and get to him unseen. But how? If I ditched my guards, maybe that would be exactly what my stalker really wanted. Maybe it had never been about James and me. Maybe it was a trap—a way to frustrate me so I’d do something reckless and stupid, which would give them a chance to attack. I ground my teeth together. This was not supposed to be happening. “Meg,” I said, and she looked up at me. “I need a drink. Wanna me?” I gave her a pointed look, hoping she’d figure out I needed her to come with me. If there were cameras or bugs we hadn’t found or if her computers had been hacked without her being aware of it, I couldn’t risk being overheard. Not a single part of the house was safe, so if I went outside to talk to her, the traitor— or multiple ones—would know something was up, and I couldn’t afford them to be suspicious either. Hopefully, what I had in mind would work. “Yeah, sure.” She quickly typed something on her keyboard, then hopped to her feet. We headed to my so-called drinking room, because that was one of the places where I was sure no one would bother us. I still couldn’t be sure no one had found a way to plant bugs in it, so I’d have to be extra careful. Once we got there, I headed straight for the cabinet with drinks and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Meg settled on one of the sofas, and, on my way to her, I picked up two glasses with my free hand. After setting the glasses on the small table in front of her, I tilted the bottle above them and poured, spilling some of the liquid on the table too. If anyone was watching or listening to us somehow, I wanted to make them believe I’d given up on everything. I let the bottle thud against the table as I set it down and picked up my glass. Meg leaned forward to reach for hers, eyeing me with suspicion, but she didn’t say anything. After taking a gulp and letting it burn its way down my throat, I let out a frustrated grunt. “I miss him,” I finally said, starting to pace up and down the room with my glass still in hand.

“I’m doing everything I can.” She clutched her glass and took a sip. “I know. I’m not saying you’re not. It’s just...” I brought my glass to my lips again, going for the portable music player that was on one of the shelves. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about that anymore. Actually, I want to forget.” I turned on the music player, upping the volume. If someone could still overhear us even with the loud music, then to hell with everything, but I didn’t think that was possible. I strolled back toward Meg, swaying my hips in rhythm with the upbeat melody of a song that was all the rage right now. I had to act normal— well, as if I were really trying to have fun. When I reached Meg, she had a smile on her face, and I offered her my hand, which she took, so I pulled her to her feet. We danced for a few minutes, and then I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. As we made our way toward the sofa, I leaned forward so I could whisper into her ear, her hair hiding my mouth from view. “I need a favor,” I said as quickly as I could. “I have to see James. Can you find a way to arrange that without anyone figuring it out? I need protection, so some of my men have to come with me. I won’t tell them where I’m going, but you must make sure they can’t anyone.” I pulled back with a smile on my face and started singing along to the song. If someone was watching us, there was no way for them to tell what I’d whispered to Meg. She gave me a barely perceptible nod. Since my stalker would probably have someone ready to tail me as soon as they or their accomplice noticed I was going somewhere, I’d have to find a way to sneak out of here. It was ridiculous that I had to do that in my own house, but I wasn’t about to let the stalker get what they wanted—whatever the hell that actually was.

“THE CAR’S WAITING FOR you,” Meg said when I poked my head into the tech room, her lips curving into a soft smile as she got to her feet. “Thanks.” I waited for her to lock her computers and grab her tablet and a small bag. She came out of the room, locking the door behind her. I hoped she had handled everything carefully and that everyone believed that I was simply going out. Since the Ezzatis and the Desaltis, my greatest enemies, had been purged from my city, which was now divided between my friend Marianta Panas and me, I no longer had to worry I was going to get killed the moment I set my foot outside. Well, unless my stalker made their move, but I had a feeling they didn’t want me dead, because it seemed like they could’ve killed me ages ago if they’d wanted it. Or maybe it was about something entirely different. But, if my plan worked, instead of going to a nightclub and having some fun in its secure VIP area like my guards expected, I’d tell them I’d changed my mind and order them to take me to the house where James and his family were. I’d have to be careful in case one of the guards turned against me or tried anything, but hopefully Meg had picked the ones who were least likely to betray me—not that I could really trust anyone these days, but maybe my stalker wouldn’t see this coming. I had to believe that. If only I could explain to James what had really happened, then we could find a way to solve this together. But what if he didn’t believe me even after I told him the truth? What if he thought I was trying to trick him into helping me because I couldn’t get rid of my new enemy on my own? I supposed I could show him the proof, and he’d have to listen to me even if he didn’t want to, since our contract was still in effect, but I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as Meg and I strode down the hallway. Once we reached the garage, I spotted the guards waiting for me near one of our black SUVs that was ready to go. One of the guards opened the door for me, but I stopped, letting Meg go toward them as I took a good look around the garage. “Let’s do one more sweep. Just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. I have a new app that I want to test,” Meg said cheerfully as she lifted her tablet. “Oh, and some new phones.” The guards were supposed to check everything as they

always did, but since we couldn’t trust them, I wanted Meg to do it again herself. Of course, the app she was talking about didn’t really exist, but I couldn’t let my guards think I didn’t trust them. While she was focused on the guards and checking them for bugs, I went to inspect the car. The nervous feeling in my stomach made me wonder if I was just afraid I might find out tonight who’d betrayed me and who was working with my stalker, or if I dreaded James’ reaction once he saw me. “You’re good to go,” Meg announced, and I settled in the back seat as the guards got in too. I glanced at her through the window as the car started to move, and I really, really hoped she wasn’t in any way involved with the person who was behind all this. I reached inside my jacket and closed my hand around the handle of my gun. We were on our way to the club, and the guards were relaxed, so it seemed they didn’t suspect anything. Good. Before the driver was supposed to take a left turn, I leaned slightly forward, making sure I could pull out my gun quickly if I needed to or elbow the guard who was sitting next to me. “Wait. I’ve changed my mind. Just keep driving.” “Yes, ma’am,” he said, and I observed everyone around me, but they didn’t show any particular emotion. I leaned back, letting go of my gun. Maybe Meg had chosen the right guys, or maybe they weren’t worried just yet because we hadn’t gone out of the city. I pulled out my phone. It was brand new and secured with Meg’s special encryption, and it only connected to our own network—my guards had been given similar ones. Meg had sworn to me that no one could hack it easily or quickly, even if they had gotten into our system because she’d prepared everything on a completely separate and secure computer. I supposed this would be a great test. Her systems were also supposed to fake our phones’ presence at the club. Just when I thought there weren’t any messages, a new one flashed on the screen. It was a text from Meg. All good. “Go right,” I said to the driver. No one was tailing us for now, at least as far as Meg could tell, so I wanted to get out of the city as fast as possible. “Ma’am, are you sure you don’t want us to call for backup? We didn’t know

you’d be going outside our territory and it might not be safe to...” one of the guards started to say when we were about to leave the city behind. “No, it’s fine. Everything’s under control. We don’t want to alert everyone about our whereabouts. I’m not planning to breach anyone’s territory, anyway.” I gave him a reassuring smile, but my palms were sweating enough that I had to wipe them on my pants. It took us a good while to reach the house that only very few knew about. “Park over there.” I pointed toward the parking spot under one of the nearby trees, far away enough from the house so the guards in there wouldn’t assume we were a threat, since I was coming unannounced. And it was better if our car couldn’t be easily spotted. The guards immediately got out of the car, and they seemed surprised, probably because they had no clue what we were doing here, but they knew better than to ask. As one of them opened the door for me, I turned toward them. “Stay close behind me and be quick,” I said. They exchanged a few looks, but I didn’t give them time to question why I needed to go first or to suggest that it was dangerous to do that, because I simply got out and started toward the house. There were multiple cameras around, so I looked straight into them. The guards inside would recognize me and open the door. I stopped not too far away from the door and waited. The whole neighborhood was quiet, and the houses were in the dark, but it was the middle of the night anyway, so that wasn’t surprising. My pulse sped up a little, because as I looked at the barred windows and the heavy door, I knew they were the only things separating me from James. I was going to see him again. In flesh, and not in some stupid video. “No rash movements,” I said to the guards, who seemed to be getting uneasy behind me and were holding onto their guns. “The people here work for me.” At least I hoped they still did. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and a group of guards spilled outside, weapons drawn, but the man who was coming toward me was unarmed. “Ms. Monti,” he said, and, once he seemed sure that it was really me, he lifted his hand and the men lowered their weapons. “I’m sorry about this. We weren’t expecting you.”

“It’s okay.” “Please come inside.” He stretched out his arm toward the door, and I took a step forward, my legs feeling heavy like stone. I was going to see him. I was finally going to see him. Something beeped just as I crossed the threshold.

Chapter 2

“UM, MA’AM?” THE GUARD who’d been the one to greet me said, and I turned around to face him. “What is it?” I didn’t like the surprised expression on his face as he was holding up his phone. “There’s a message for you.” He offered the phone to me. I raised an eyebrow at him. “For me?” Dread filled my stomach, because why would anyone send a message for me to my guard’s phone if it wasn’t the person who was after me? He nodded. Biting the inside of my cheek, I took the phone and tried my best to stay as calm as possible because the last thing I needed was for all the guards to see just how upset I was about this. The text simply said that the guard should give the phone to me and that the sender had a message for me, but only for me. So, once I replied, I’d get to find out something that was very urgent and important. And if I ignored it or acted too late, there’d be consequences. The sender’s number was showing as anonymous, but it didn’t even matter, because I was sure my stalker was behind this. But how the hell had they figured out where I’d gone? The guards who’d been with me couldn’t have ed anyone, and if it hadn’t been Meg who’d alerted my stalker—which would be a silly thing for her to do now—it had to have been someone from here. Shit. How had my stalker gotten their men everywhere, in every corner of my life? How the fuck had that happened? And if their spies hadn’t infiltrated us, then my men were willingly or unwillingly cooperating with the stalker. I had to find out who exactly they were and what they had on my men, which wasn’t going to be easy to do, but at least in here there weren’t as many men as at my house, so checking them shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Since I didn’t want the stalker to do something terrible, like blowing up this place, I typed a quick text and sent it. I stepped away from the guards a little.

Surely, the stalker wouldn’t wait for me to get here to kill me, so there had to be something else they wanted now. Maybe they’d tell me to turn back and go home, since they apparently believed James was my weakness. Too bad they’d never told me why they thought that or why they even cared. It was so silly, but until I could make sure I could trust people around me, and that my and James’ lives weren’t in danger, it was better to wait. The reply came a few moments later and I nearly threw the phone against the wall as I gritted my teeth. Of course, the stalker knew exactly where I was, and they forbade me from telling James anything about them or they’d kill him. At least they didn’t tell me not to go see him at all. I took a deep breath. I wasn’t going to let this stop me. “Ma’am, is everything alright?” one of the men asked. “Yeah, sure. It’s just business.” I forced myself to smile, then deleted the messages and handed the phone back to the guard. “Let’s go inside. We shouldn’t linger here.” I stepped into a long hallway that led toward a big green door, and the guards followed me. Pulling out my own phone—surprisingly, the stalker hadn’t gotten their hands on that number, but they’d still found a way to get what they wanted —I strode up the stairway and followed the hallway toward the living room where a few more guards were. I eyed them with suspicion, but I couldn’t tell which one of them was working with my enemy. “Where’s my husband?” I asked. “His room,” the guard, who was sitting on a black sofa, said. “Do you want me to fetch him for you or take you there?” “Not right now.” It was late, and James was probably asleep. “And the rest of the family?” James’ mother and sisters were here too. “In their rooms. We have them under constant surveillance.” “Okay. I need a room and a bathroom.”

“We have a room for you. It’s this way.” The guard got to his feet and motioned toward a door at the end of the room. “It has a private bathroom too.” “Perfect.” I let him take me to a spacious, but bare and mostly empty room with light blue walls. There was only a king-size bed in the middle, a nightstand, a desk with a chair in the corner, and an empty closet that was hanging open. “Stay right outside the door.” I glanced at the barred windows. The mole was here somewhere, or the cameras had been hacked and the stalker could see everything that was going on, but if that was the case, then maybe it could help me figure out who they were. As soon as the guard closed the door behind him, I searched the room for any bugs or hidden cameras, but I couldn’t spot any. Maybe the stalker hadn’t expected me to show up at all so they hadn’t planted anything in here, but I somehow doubted that. Since we hadn’t found anything at my house either, I suspected the stalker relied mostly on other people, which was totally annoying, because why hadn’t they found a way to tell me everything? Why choose to betray me? They couldn’t still be upset over me marrying an Ezzati, my family’s greatest enemy’s son, could they? I sighed. There was no point in thinking about this over and over again because it wasn’t going to help. I sat down on the bed and dialed Meg’s number. “Meg, we have a problem.” Was it a mistake to trust her? I wasn’t sure anymore, but what choice did I have? If I told James the truth, I didn’t know how he’d react. What if he didn’t believe me and yelled out something so everyone could hear him? It wouldn’t be that hard for one of the guards to listen in on us either, I supposed. They knew this house better than I did, so even if I managed to get James somewhere quiet and private enough, maybe under a shower, there was still a chance my stalker would find out, and I couldn’t risk that. “What’s wrong? Did you get to the house?” she asked. “Yeah, but my stalker knows I’m here and they don’t want me to tell James anything.” “What? But how? We did everything we.... Wait, the house... It’s compromised, isn’t it?” “Yeah, well, I don’t really know if it’s cameras or the guards, or both, but I think

I might just have to get new guards.” “Are you sure that isn’t exactly what that person wants?” “They already have their guys with me, so why would they want more?” “If they’re a member of some mafia family, they might want to take over.” Her voice was filled with concern. “Then what should I do? Leave the guys I don’t trust with me? It would be better if we could figure out who they are, but we’ve been trying that for way too long now, and I’m so done with all of this.” “You need an ally there. Someone who might’ve noticed something strange.” She lowered her voice. “I don’t know if this line is secure enough. I should’ve gone with you. I could’ve...” “No, you need to make sure nothing happens while I’m away. Can you find out one thing for me?” “Yeah, sure. What is it?” I glanced around, placing my hand over my mouth, just in case, although at this point, it felt like I was up against a ghost who couldn’t be seen or tracked but was always present to mess with my life. “I need to know if there are any guards here who don’t have a family or anyone they care deeply about.” “Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” “Good. Thanks.” I ended the call. The guards I’d sent here had been carefully vetted to make sure they wouldn’t attack the Ezzatis while guarding them or that they wouldn’t easily snap, which might turn out to be a problem, because if they didn’t hate the Ezzatis, then it might not be too hard to convince them to side against me either. But someone who didn’t have a family might not be so easily swayed and wouldn’t risk their own skin for no good reason. I didn’t think many of my men would betray me just like that or that they didn’t agree with my leadership, because I was sure I would’ve already found out about the latter. If the stalker was threatening their families, the guards couldn’t protect them because they

were with me, so they’d have to do whatever my enemy told them. I wondered how much reach my stalker had, since they already knew way, way too much about me while I knew nothing about them. Or maybe some of my guards were ambitious but too cowardly to challenge me on their own or not good enough to move up in the ranks, so if the stalker had promised them something in return for their service... I dialed Meg’s number again. “Arianna? I still haven’t...” she started to say. “It’s okay. Just wanted to tell you one more thing... When you’re done, send all the info you have to my phone. I need to know everything about the men here.” “I can do that, but you’re too far away. The information I send might be intercepted.” “I’ll take that risk.” Would the stalker try to stop me? Or did they just enjoy toying with me? I lowered my phone, clutching it tightly in my hand. If I wasn’t so afraid of something happening to James, I could tell the monster who was doing this to me to fuck off, but all the guards in here were armed, and for all I knew, there was a bomb in James’ room ready to be triggered. Or maybe there was nothing, and the stalker was waiting for me to snap or give up James completely. James. What if this was his game? What if he’d somehow planned this and was controlling me so I’d eventually let him and his family go? But James’ priority had always been protecting his family, and the stalker hadn’t mentioned them, just him. And yeah, I was back in that vicious circle and risked driving myself crazy with all the thoughts that would do me no good. When my phone beeped, I realized Meg had sent me the files I’d requested. Finally, there was something I could focus on. I had to find the person who was least likely to betray me. As I scrolled through the first file, it was clear that my task was going to be really, really hard. Luckily, I wasn’t sleepy, and I still had enough time before I got to talk to James. At least the stalker hadn’t forbidden me from doing that, but I suspected it was only so I could hear what James thought of me now. Another idea came to my mind, and I hopped to my feet, rushing for the door. The two guards who were standing in the hallway flinched in surprise as I burst out, their hands going for their weapons before they relaxed once recognition flashed in their eyes.

“You have cameras in the hallways, right?” “Yeah, and around the house too.” “Great. Bring me all the footage.” The guard’s eyebrows shot up. I snapped my fingers. “Now!” The guard bowed his head briefly and then hurried off. As I went back to my room, I wondered if the guard would return and say the footage had gone missing without an explanation.

Chapter 3

I BLINKED MY EYES OPEN. At some point, I must’ve fallen asleep. With a groan, I pushed myself up. The footage and the laptop the guards had brought to me were still on the bed next to me, and when I patted my pocket, my phone was still there. I breathed out a sigh of relief, because I was sure I would’ve woken up if someone had tried to take the phone or tamper with something. From what I’d seen of the footage, there hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary, or at least nothing had caught my attention. The guards seemed to be doing their duty, but there was no way for me to carefully watch every single second of what had been going on in here. I was sure that would take me weeks, but maybe I could take the footage with me and have Meg help me with checking it all out. I’d focused on the videos from last night, but all I could see were four guards who had been glancing at their phones, which could mean something or nothing. If they were really conspiring with the stalker, they wouldn’t have wanted to do it in front of the cameras. Two guards had gone to the bathroom around the time I’d arrived. So, I’d ended up with six potentially suspicious guards. I could send them somewhere else, although I wasn’t sure if that would stop my stalker problem. If the cameras had been hacked, then once the suspicious guards were out, I could have them replaced by the three guards who were least likely to betray me. Yeah, Meg’s files had led me to three guys who didn’t seem to have any strong relations with anyone outside their job, and they didn’t appear to be overly ambitious. I stretched out my arms, yawning, then got to my feet and headed for the bathroom. Once I was done, I went to find the guards who I needed for my super-secret mission. I’d just tell them we had to change the cameras often and that they’d have to do it secretly so that no one would notice—one of the trusted guys would have to be in the control room, or someone else might find a way to figure out what was going on. I intended to say I didn’t trust the Ezzatis, because yeah, there were a few moments when they could move around the house unsupervised, and although those moments were rare, my guards were likely to believe my story. I didn’t

dare to think everyone in here was a traitor. Then my stalker could’ve just come out and shown themselves to me because there’d be no reason for them to hide. It wasn’t hard to find my guys, and yeah, I’d gotten a few strange glances when I called them to come with me, but no one could question my decisions. Even though I’d checked my whole room already, I did one more sweep before inviting the guards in there so we could talk privately. I was still trying to be as quiet as possible and made them promise they wouldn’t tell anyone. They’d have to get new cameras and install everything, all without being seen. “Ma’am?” the guard who was supposed to watch the control room said when I finished explaining the details of my plan. “If we’re going to do this, then the cameras are going to be down for a few moments until we reconnect everything, and we need a new computer to...” “Yeah, all new. I’ll set up everything.” I was sure Meg could send a secured computer to the guard who could then bring it here. Sure, there was always a chance our plan would fail, but I was willing to try anything to get my problem solved. “You just have to do exactly as I say.” The guard nodded. “Good. Now, bring James to me.” I wanted nothing more than to see him. It was past noon already, and I was sure he was awake. Had someone told him I was here? Or would my presence come as a complete surprise? There were cameras in James’ room too, so I didn’t want to go there. Hopefully, the stalker wasn’t going to try to stop me from bringing him here. How would they make sure I didn’t talk? I could tell James everything and force him to keep quiet by threatening his family, but then he’d never trust me again. I didn’t want to do that to him, but not telling him anything was also a terrible idea. Either way, he was going to think I was just using him or lying to him to get what I wanted. Hell, if I were him, I’d be wary too of anything I said after I’d sent him away, and I’d think there was some bigger game at play. Because, really, how could someone who controlled half of the city be scared of one person? He probably wouldn’t even believe I cared about him that much, or he’d think that I was just pretending to get some information he might have as an Ezzati. And if my stalker found out... No, I couldn’t tell him the truth until the time was right.

I hadn’t even noticed when the guard had left, but a knock on my door made me look up. “Come in,” I said, and the guard opened the door for James, who was standing in the hallway. My heart skipped a beat. He was as gorgeous as ever, his dark brown hair tousled. He was wearing a green shirt and dark blue jeans that perfectly fit his strong, lean body. His jaw was set, and his dark eyes were narrowed at me as he took a step into the room. I nodded at the guard. “That’ll be all,” I said. “You can leave.” The guard hesitated for a moment, as if he didn’t think leaving James alone with me in here was a good idea, but then he inclined his head. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.” “Thank you.” He closed the door, and James stopped in the middle of the room, crossing his arms. “What the fuck do you want?” he bit out, and his harsh tone made my eyes sting with tears, which I pushed back. “I want to see my husband.” I rose to my feet and started toward him. Even though it looked like he was still clenching his teeth, his gaze traveled over me, his eyes filling with longing that he seemed unable to mask. “You’ve seen me now. Can I go?” His breath hitched as I stopped only inches away from him. Oh God, he smelled so good. Pine, musk, and so, so much of him. I caught myself before I lifted my hand to reach out to him and ran my fingers through those soft dark strands of his hair. “No.” He didn’t move, just watched me, but even though his whole body was rigid, his eyes were softening. Or maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see. “I hope you like it here. Is your family okay?” Every word I said sounded stupid, because the only thing I wanted to do was tell him everything that was going on, but I couldn’t.

“Oh, we’re perfect. Who wouldn’t want to be trapped in a house under constant surveillance?” He shot me a glare. “Better than dead.” It was funny, because I was feeling the same way. Trapped. We were both trapped. “Maybe.” He let his arms drop to his sides. “Why are you really here? Came to check up on me? Or is there something you need from me?” “What if I told you I just wanted to see you?” I tilted my head. He snorted, his perfect, full lips curving. “You’re so full of shit. Just tell me what you’re truly after. It isn’t like I can say no anyway, is it?” I bit down on my lip. My gaze lingered on his mouth. Should I tell him that all I wanted right now was to pull him to me and kiss him? “I’m sorry about how things went between us, but I had my reasons. One day you’ll understand.” “I’ll understand what? That you’re a...” He pressed his lips into a tight line. “Forget it. I don’t care. If you think you can play with me, you’re wrong. I feel nothing for you.” “Are you sure?” I lowered my voice, inclining my head toward him, our lips only a breath away. As my eyes met his, all I could see in them was conflict. I was sure that he wanted to hate me but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it, especially not when I was so close to him. And I... All I needed was to touch him, to feel his warm skin against mine, and to know that I hadn’t lost him just yet. “It doesn’t matter,” he finally said, his voice hoarse. “You’ve got what you wanted, and whatever it is that you want now, you can make me give it to you. So tell me... what is it? Information? My father’s secrets? Some other mafia family trouble? Advice?” I let out a shuddery breath. “Do you really want to know what I want more than anything right now?” He flinched when I placed my hand against his chest and trailed my fingers down his stomach.

“You.” His mouth parted in surprise, and hunger flashed in his eyes. He licked his lips, closing his hand over mine. “Don’t.” “Fine. If you don’t want to, I can leave.” I started to turn away, but he was still holding my hand, his fingers caressing my skin and I wasn’t even sure if he knew he was doing that, since his eyes were trained on me. He let out a frustrated groan, and my gaze fell on the bulge in his pants. My insides quivered. How the hell was I supposed to walk away now? How was I supposed to ignore the fire surging through my veins? Maybe I wasn’t. I licked my lips, getting so close to him that I could feel his breath tickling my face. His eyes bored into mine, and I knew there was no way for us to fight this. Our lips collided only a few seconds later, and a stifled moan escaped my throat as his teeth grazed my lip, his arms snaking around me. My fingers found their way into his hair, my other hand balling in his shirt as I dragged him even closer to me while he kept kissing me with an almost bruising force. I didn’t think I could get enough of him. All I wanted was to touch every inch of him and make sure that he was still only mine. I tilted my head as he nipped on my earlobe and trailed a path of hot, wet kisses down my neck and along my collarbone. The temperature in the room had gone up by at least a hundred degrees and we were so damn overdressed. Slipping my hands under his shirt, I slid my fingers up his strong abs and lifted the soft fabric up. He helped me get his shirt off, and I tossed it to the floor. Before he could reach out for me again, I got hold of his arms and shoved him toward the bed. He let himself fall down on it and I climbed on top of him, staring into his dark eyes that regarded me with excitement and desire. There was just something about the way he was looking at me that was making it hard to focus on anything else but him. I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it behind me. James immediately reached for the front clasp of my red lace bra and undid it, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of my breasts. As he cupped and kneaded them, I brushed against his erection. He let out a hiss, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what he wanted, so I lowered myself until my breasts were within the reach of his mouth.

His tongue swirled around my nipple, sending a shock of pleasure through my whole body. I kept my eyes closed, just enjoying the sensations, as he teased my swollen buds, licking and sucking until my skin felt as if electrified. I straightened my back, smiling down on him as I ran my finger over his lips. “I want to taste you,” he said, giving me a look that would melt anyone’s icy walls—if I’d had any, they had crumbled a long time ago. “Me first.” I flashed him a wicked smile and pulled back so I could unbutton his pants. When I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his underwear, he lifted his hips, so I yanked his pants and underwear down, exposing his thick length. He grunted as I gently trailed my finger up and down, circling around his tip. “Arianna...” My name on his lips was like the most beautiful melody I’d ever heard, and heat pooled inside me as his cock twitched under my touch. I took him into my mouth, torturing him with slow licks, and he clutched at the sheets, having trouble staying in place. When I rubbed the sensitive spot behind his balls, he gasped, his chest rapidly rising and falling. “Please,” he choked out. “I need you. I can’t take it... anymore.” I twirled my tongue around him one more time, just enjoying seeing him squirm and struggle to stay in control. Once I got to my feet, James started to rise, but I waggled my finger at him. “Nun uh. Stay where you are.” A quick intake of breath made me look at him just as I was trying to get out of my pants and underwear as quickly as possible. His eyes were transfixed to me, and a smile spread across my lips. “Do you want a taste?” I slid my hand down my stomach and over my wetness. He nodded, his lips parting, as if he was unable to form words. There was nothing left of the conflict that had lingered in his eyes before, and I was sure he wanted this as much as me, which gave me hope that the damage that had been done to our relationship could be fixed. The connection he and I shared... It had to be stronger than whatever my enemy did to separate us. I climbed back onto the bed, got on my knees, and positioned myself just above

his head, exposing myself to him and offering him all of me. Why couldn’t I just tell him the truth and whisk him somewhere far away from here? We could run away together and my stalker would never ever find us... But it wasn’t just us against the world, and I couldn’t... My thoughts fled me as James gripped my thighs and pulled me to him, his tongue parting my slickness and building the pressure inside me. He spread his tongue over my slit, lapping at me, then slipped inside me, pushing in and out. I arched my back, grinding my hips against his mouth, and almost toppled down when he flicked his tongue over my clit. Every part of me was tingling, and just before he could tip me over the edge, I pushed myself up. The disappointed look that crossed his face brought a smile to my face. “I want you inside me,” I said, reaching for his throbbing cock and rubbing myself along it, which made both of us gasp out. Yeah, I so wasn’t patient enough to tease him any longer. The need for him was just too strong. I wanted us to be one again. The look of pure bliss on his face when I guided him between my folds was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen, and I’d never felt more alive as I started to rock my hips. He pushed against me, getting deeper inside me, stretching and filling me. The moan that tore its way out of my throat was so loud that I was sure the guards outside would hear it, and the shaking of our bed wasn’t quiet either, but I couldn’t care less about any of that. Actually, a part of me got a special kind of a thrill from that thought for some reason. “You’re so beautiful,” James whispered, reaching out for me, as he met me thrust for thrust. I offered him a smile as I rode him harder and faster until he threw his head back, his eyes half-closed. He let out a groan, and I cried out as the delicious throbbing inside me grew and spread. When our bodies collided again, my orgasm shook my body like an earthquake, leaving me breathless and quivering. James pulsed inside me, his release coming only a few moments later. I collapsed on top of him, my chest heaving. We didn’t move, just stared into each other’s eyes, and then I lifted my head to plant a soft kiss on his lips. But after he slipped out of me and I rolled off him, sprawling on the bed next to him, the expression on his face changed. His eyes still had a glow in them, but

his jaw was clenched, and a frown furrowed his brow. “James...” I said as he sat up, turning his back to me. He quickly gathered his clothes and started pulling his pants on, not even looking at me. “James, we should talk.” I didn’t want this to be just sex. Even if I couldn’t tell him the truth, I could find some kind of an explanation. As he was buttoning his pants, his gaze finally met mine, and this time his eyes were guarded. “There’s nothing to talk about. You got what you wanted.” “But that’s not...” My phone beeped. “It looks like you have business to attend to. That’s what matters most to you anyway.” He turned on his heel and strode for the door. I opened my mouth to stop him, but then just sighed. The stalker’s days were numbered. Once I find them, I was going to make them pay for all of this.

Chapter 4

AS SOON AS JAMES HAD left, I’d checked my phone and found a text from Meg, who urged me to come back home, because the stalker had sent another message threatening the lives of everyone in this house if I didn’t leave immediately. So I’d had no choice but to leave. Before I’d done that, I’d given my trusted men a few instructions about what they should do to figure out if there were any breaches in our security. I’d told them I’d always had enemies and that we shouldn’t relax, not even for a second. It pained me that I couldn’t speak to James, but there’d be time for that. A whole week had ed since I’d seen him and I missed him so damn much. The sex had been good, but I wanted a whole lot more. I wanted to hold him, to talk to him about random, stupid things, to take a walk, or go to a party. Meg was remotely monitoring the house where James and his family were, and she thought that this time the stalker wouldn’t be able to crack her encryption and hack into her network. I hoped she was right about that. I was lying on my bed that felt so damn empty and cold, and just as I was about to close my eyes and try to get some sleep, a loud knock sounded on the door. What the hell was going on? I hopped to my feet, grabbing my gun off my nightstand, and padded toward the door. “Arianna!” Meg’s panicked voice came through the door. Lowering the gun, I opened the door. She was standing in the hallway, looking flushed as if she’d been running, and her eyes were wide. “Oh, thank God you’re awake,” she said. “What’s going on? Are we under attack?” I glanced around, but I didn’t see any guards rushing around, and the alarm hadn’t sounded, so I didn’t think something had... My throat constricted as I considered another possibility. “James! Is he...?” My heart jumped like crazy in my chest. What if the stalker had made their move and...

“Come! Quickly! Something’s wrong. I was monitoring James and his family, and the cameras just went dark. I’m sure someone tampered with them.” She broke into a run and I raced after her into the tech room. Felipe, our tech guy, looked up at us as we burst inside. He focused his dark brown eyes back on the screen as he scratched the back of his dark head. I wasn’t quite sure if we could fully trust him, because even though he’d been with us for many years, I wasn’t friends with him like I was with Meg. But I supposed she wouldn’t have given him any data that might put us all in danger in case he turned out to be a traitor, or one of them—there had to be more people working with the stalker, or I didn’t think they’d be so good at monitoring me. “Any updates?” Meg sat down in the chair next to him, and I came to stand behind them as she furiously typed something on her keyboard. There were multiple dark rectangles on the screen. “Nothing,” he said. “Someone destroyed the cameras. I ed the guards who were off duty so they could go to the house and check what’s going on.” I swallowed hard. What if something had happened to James? What if the stalker had hurt him? But what leverage would they have over me then? Killing James wouldn’t be in their best interest... or would it? If they wanted us apart, getting him out of the picture would be a perfect move, but why wait so long? No, I couldn’t bear the thought that James had been hurt. “Hello? Bev, can you hear me?” Meg asked as she tapped the com link she’d put into her ear. “What? I can’t hear you. Just turn on your phone camera.” I was chewing on my lower lip while Meg was trying to get the camera feed to work. A face of a man showed up on one of the smaller windows. His eyes were wide, his forehead beaded with sweat. “Meg? Can you hear me?” he asked, throwing an uneasy glance at his surroundings that we couldn’t see. Oh God. What the hell had happened? I wanted to reach through the computer and shake Bev to tell us already. “Yeah, we can hear you. The boss’ here too.” She adjusted the speakers so we could hear him better. “They’re gone,” Bev said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Who’s gone?” “The Ezzatis. All of them. They’re not here.” “James?” I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. “Gone too.” “Wait, what?” Meg asked. “What about the guards? Are there any signs of...?” “The guards are dead. There’s a lot of blood and bullets lying around.” Bev shuddered. “It’s... messy.” “The cameras have been down for about twenty minutes.” Meg ran her hand over her face. “Are there any clues or anything that could tell us what happened? Do you think the Ezzatis escaped or...?” “No idea. Everything was quiet when I got here. I’ll have to ask around if anyone heard anything, but I think someone attacked and took the Ezzatis. There’s no way the Ezzatis could’ve done this on their own.” Meg and I exchanged a look. The stalker must have kidnapped them. I didn’t think anyone else could’ve figured out their location that easily, and I’d been careful when I was leaving, so I didn’t think an enemy’s spy had spotted me. The stalker was the only one who knew exactly where they were, but why do this now? Why not before? It didn’t make any sense. What if the stalker had struck an alliance with someone and revealed their location in exchange for something? A whole lot of possibilities flashed through my mind, and I didn’t like a single one of them. “Keep looking. I’ll send more men. There has to be a clue of some kind.” Meg’s fingers moved over the keyboard again. “Are you going to inform the assassins?” Felipe asked, and I blinked at him. “What?” “The Ezzatis escaped. The deal you signed with James allows you to call the assassins to find him.”

“No!” I almost growled at him. “I’m still alive, so there’s no need for them to do anything unless I tell them to. The Ezzatis might’ve been kidnapped, and I’m not going to kill them for something that wasn’t their fault. Gather the men and tell them to wait for my orders. We have to find whoever did this, and we have to find my husband and his family. Got it?” “Yeah, I’ll tell them.” Felipe got to his feet and headed for the door. I didn’t want to say anything until he was out of the room. “Are you sure you can’t just tell the assassins to find them and not to kill them?” Meg asked. “They’re really good at finding people, so it might be...” “No. I don’t want someone to misunderstand my request and make a mistake, and I definitely don’t want everyone to know we lost the Ezzatis and that James is out there somewhere...” My voice quivered. I only hoped that he was okay, because I didn’t know what I’d do if he wasn’t. “Okay. We’ll find him. They couldn’t have just vanished into thin air. I’ll see if there are any traffic cameras nearby that might be of help.” Meg was completely focused on the screen. “Do you think that person who’s after you has something to do with this?” “Probably,” I muttered. “But why? And why haven’t they done it before?” “I’ve been wondering the same thing. Something’s wrong about this.” I took a seat in Felipe’s chair, wringing my fingers. What if my stalker was punishing me for having those few happy moments with James? But why not just stop me or get one of the guards to do it? I didn’t understand any of this. It made no sense. Except, nothing about this person made sense anyway. I jerked as something let out a loud beep. “Sorry,” Meg said. “I set up an alert and I...” I waved my hand in dismissal. “What is it?” “Bev found a piece of fabric that he thinks doesn’t... didn’t belong to any of our guys.”

“And there aren’t any unfamiliar bodies?” Were the attackers so good or had they cleaned up to make this as difficult as possible for us? Wouldn’t our enemy or my stalker leave a message for everyone to see? Meg shook her head. “What if this was someone else? It’s not like that psycho’s style.” “I don’t know. Who would want to get their hands on the Ezzatis and not just kill them?” If they wanted to prove they could mess up my plans or get to me, they would’ve killed them all. My guards were dead, so that was already a blow to me, but what would anyone want with the Ezzatis? Did they think they could blackmail me if I wanted them back? But no one actually believed I cared about them. Maybe only about James, but I’d sent him away too, so... I didn’t think that simply finding out that I’d had sex with him when I visited would mean anything to anyone. Meg turned her head toward me. “No clue. I want to go to that house myself to make sure no one misses anything. Do I have your permission? It wouldn’t take too long.” “You think we can’t trust Bev or anyone else.” “Well, our guys are dead, and that might include the traitors... unless this was your stalker’s doing and they made sure their inside man was away when the attack happened.” “Right.” I was getting a headache from all this. All I wanted was to find out where James was and if he was okay. But I needed to keep my head as clear as possible. “Bev wasn’t the only one off duty. Go there and check them, but bring more men with you too, just in case. Trustworthy ones.” “Do you really think they’d try to hurt me?” “If there’s anything in there pointing to the stalker, then yeah.” “Oh.” Her brow furrowed. “If you’ve changed your mind about going...” “No, I can handle it.” She gave me a small smile. “But this is still so...” A red

alert flashed on the screen. “What’s that?” I was doing my best not to jump out of my chair. “Someone’s trying to get into my system.” She pressed her lips into a tight line, her fingers banging away at the keyboard. “Oh, no you won’t,” she whispered, then leaned back in her chair. “It’s a message. For you.” “Let me guess? From my worst nightmare?” “No, I don’t think so. The code’s different.” “They could’ve hired a different hacker.” “It has a video file attached. Do you want me to play it?” “Yeah.” As soon as she pressed the play button, James’ face popped up on the screen, making me gasp. He was staring straight into the camera, and all I could see was a bit of a pale yellow wall behind him. There weren’t any visible bruises or scratches on him, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been hurt. “Hello, wife,” he said, his lips spreading into a wide smile. “I bet you thought you were safe and that the city was yours... That I’m yours too.” His face grew serious. “Well, you were wrong. I want a divorce, and our little contract should be voided. And don’t think you can find me or get to me, because I’ve made some really powerful friends who aren’t afraid of you or of all the assassins in the world you might send after my family or me. If you don’t do as I demand, you’ll suffer the consequences.” The corners of his lips quirked up, and then the screen went black. I was still staring at it in shock. “Um,” Meg said. “I don’t think anyone had to force him to leave.” I rubbed my face, unsure what to believe. James was mad at me, yeah, but I didn’t think he’d do this of his own free will. Was there really someone who’d only want to help him? We’d already purged all the Ezzatis’ ers, and I didn’t believe any family or gang would side with James or that they’d want him to divorce me for some reason. The stalker had to be behind this because they wanted to separate me from James, but why keep him alive then? Not that I was

complaining, but it was very confusing. “This is definitely a breach of your contract.” Meg grimaced. “I don’t care. This doesn’t change anything. We’ll find him and we’ll find whoever is behind all this.” At least I could take comfort in the fact that James was alive, but if there was even a tiny possibility that what he had said was true and that we were back to being true enemies, I didn’t know if I could handle it.

Chapter 5

AS SOON AS MORNING came, I knew I couldn’t just sit at home and wait for news. James was out there somewhere, and he was working with someone— either willingly or unwillingly, so I had to find him before we both ended up doing something we wouldn’t be able to take back. If he went after me and attacked me, I’d have no choice but to defend myself. But if it came to that, I didn’t even want to consider what that would mean for us. If he was doing this because he thought I’d played him and had been using him, then I had to find a way to get to him and explain everything. But if my stalker was with him and had tricked him into trusting them... I entered the garage where a car was waiting for me. My guards only knew that I was going out, and while no one was particularly happy about me taking such a risk with an active threat, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere outside the city. I suspected James and whoever was with him wasn’t here or they’d be risking being spotted and caught. “Drive,” I said after getting in the car, and the driver brought the engine to life. “Take me to Seven Soups.” It was a restaurant that I liked to go to from time to time, but I hadn’t been there for over a year. My guards were so going to hate me, but I picked that restaurant because Marianta’s territory was nearby, and I needed to talk to her without anyone finding out about it. I probably should’ve asked her for help before, but with James’ life on the line, things had been different. Now, I didn’t know where he was, but I was almost a hundred percent sure the stalker had to be involved in this, even if they weren’t the one who had taken him. Since Marianta was new in town, I hoped the stalker hadn’t set their eyes on her too. I’d given her half of my city under the condition that we would remain allies because I would’ve been overtaken too easily if I’d had to spread my men over such a large area. Once we arrived at our destination, the guards opened the door for me, and I got out as they shielded me completely. They wouldn’t let anyone get close to me, and they were looking around to make sure there weren’t any threats. I didn’t think anyone would try to kill me just yet. Not if they wanted me to divorce

James first, which, yeah, was super weird. If what James had said in the video was true and he didn’t care about the assassins or me, all he would have to do was kill me, but it didn’t seem like he was up for that. My stalker seemed to want me alive too. The only question was why they hadn’t just coerced me into divorcing James without getting him kidnapped first? Or did they want him to turn against me and force me to kill him myself? That would be a nice and twisted plan. As soon as I entered the restaurant, the waiters greeted me with smiles on their faces and led me to one of the tables at the back where I’d be safer and hidden from prying eyes. There weren’t many people in here at this time of the day, though, and they’d opened so early only because I’d announced my arrival an hour ago. My family had been friends with the owner for years, so everyone here knew who I was. As I took a seat, the guards went to stand nearby. I hoped my plan to get rid of them would work. First, I had to get them to relax, so I ordered some food and drinks. Since nothing particularly interesting was happening while I was munching on my steak and fries, which by the way, were totally delicious, the guards’ muscles weren’t so stiff, and their hands were farther away from their guns than usual. I glanced around for cameras but couldn’t see any. There hadn’t been enough time for the stalker to prepare a trap or something since my decision to come here had been a bit random, and their spies couldn’t have reported my every move so quickly without getting caught—or at least I hoped so. When I got to my feet, my guards immediately focused on me, but I lifted my hand. “Just going to the restroom,” I said. One of the guards followed me while the others stayed near the table and watched the entrance. Okay, just one more guard to get rid of, and then I had to make sure they wouldn’t panic once they realized I was gone. As a younger, good-looking waiter appeared at the end of the hallway, a slow smile spread across my lips. “Hey, there,” I said to the waiter while I indicated for my guard to stop where he was. “Yes, ma’am?” He gave me his brightest smile, but his dark eyes kept going to the gun that was peeking out from the holster under my jacket and to my guard

who was watching us carefully. I tilted my head, twirling a strand of my hair around my finger. “I need a favor,” I said sweetly. “Would you like to come with me? In there?” I bobbed my head toward the restroom. His eyes went wide, his jaw almost hitting the floor. “Ma’am...” He visibly swallowed. “I just need... a favor. That’s all.” I kept smiling. It was creepy, actually, but I needed to make my guards believe I was having sex with this guy in the restroom so they wouldn’t bother me or wonder what the hell was taking me so long. The waiter blinked at me. “Um, yeah, okay.” His smile was forced, and I knew he’d agreed only because saying no to Arianna Monti seemed like a terrible and dangerous option. “Great.” I curled my finger at him in an invitation as I opened the door. He followed me inside, and before I closed the door, I winked at my guard, who had come closer. I locked the door and turned around to face the waiter, who was shifting from foot to foot and biting down on his lip as if he wanted to say something but didn’t think it was a good idea to do it. “About that favor,” I said, inching closer to him and lowering my voice so the guard wouldn’t hear us. “I need you to stay here and pretend you and I are busy. You can make some noise too. Just make sure my guards don’t realize I’m not here.” His brow furrowed in confusion, and when I reached into my pocket for my phone, he flinched. I offered the phone to him. “You’ll have to guard this for me too.” I couldn’t have anyone track me, not even Meg. This had to be something I was going to risk doing alone. “Um, okay.” He held my phone in his hand as if it were hot charcoal. Hopefully, he wouldn’t drop it. The phone was locked and encrypted, so there was no way for him to do anything with it. “But what are you...?” “Thanks. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” I flashed him a wide smile and headed for the window that was just about big enough for me to through. It was

right above a cabinet that seemed sturdy enough to my weight. I climbed onto it and opened the window, glad it wasn’t barred. It looked onto an alley that was thankfully empty. I squeezed through, climbed down, and jumped, scratching my arm on the wall in the process, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. Making sure no one was around and that I still had my gun, I rushed down the alley. Since I couldn’t risk anyone spotting me, I kept close to the buildings, then headed for the nearby park. That was the closest path to Marianta’s place that not many people knew about, and I really hoped she was there, because leaving a message for her would be way too dangerous. It was still early, so maybe she didn’t have any important business to attend to just yet. As I crossed the street with quick steps, I held my head down, wrapping my jacket around myself so my gun wouldn’t show. I didn’t think there were any surveillance cameras on this block, so all I had to worry about were people, but they didn’t seem to pay any special attention to me. It took me a few minutes to reach the right building, and I truly hoped that waiter was good at acting or my guards were going to wonder what the hell was taking us so long. As soon as I entered the building, which looked like a normal apartment building, the guards stepped in front of me, since this whole place belonged to Marianta and her men, but they quickly recognized me and lowered their weapons. Surprise was written all over their faces as they kept glancing behind me for my guards, which weren’t there. “Is your boss here? I need to talk to her. It’s urgent,” I said, and one of the guards took a step back, pulling out his phone. A few moments later, he nodded at me. “This way, ma’am.” We crossed the large foyer and ended up in a dark hallway. When we reached the end, the guard opened the door that led to a courtyard, which had been turned into a beautiful small park with trees and flowers. “Arianna, what a nice surprise,” Marianta said as she came from around one of the trees. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, her lips pulled into a smile, her hazel eyes hidden behind shades. She was wearing a black robe, so she must have woken up recently. “I need to talk to you. In private.” I glanced at the guard behind me.

“Of course.” She waved at him and he left, closing the door. “What’s wrong?” “I have a problem,” I said. “Do you have a phone with you or anything? I need to be a hundred percent sure no one can listen in on us.” “No. This is my quiet spot.” Her face grew serious. “Come here.” She led me deeper into the trees, and we sat down on a bench that was completely hidden in the greenery. No one could see us. I still took a good look around to make sure there wasn’t anything in the grass or on the tree trunks, but that was a little harder to check. There was no time to inspect every corner, so I had to risk trusting Marianta that this was indeed a safe spot. “Someone took James or maybe helped him escape. I don’t know, but he’s threatening me. I also have a stalker who wants to control my life and who seems to know too much about me and about what I do, so I think they’re the one who has my husband.” Revealing this had better not open me to yet another attack, but I needed help. Besides, Marianta didn’t want the whole city either. I was sure of it. She brought her fingers to her lips, her eyes filling with concern. “What? How’s that possible?” “I don’t know. Someone betrayed me, but it’s very hard to figure out who because they have a good hacker team who helps them hide their location or any identifying info when they me, and apparently they have enough men to attack.” “So they have the Ezzatis? All of them?” “Yeah, and for some reason James is asking for a divorce. My stalker did everything to separate James and me, and they threatened his life if I didn’t send him away, so I did that. But I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t figure out who they were by now. My guards don’t know I’m here, so I don’t have much time. I don’t want to cause panic, and my men are looking for James anyway, but I don’t know who to trust and you...” “I’ll help you,” she said with determination. “What do you need?” “Finding James is my priority. Whoever has him and his family can force him to do whatever they want, and they can possibly manipulate me too.”

“But why ask for a divorce?” She frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t have time to explain everything. Send your men to look out for him and his family, but please make sure no one finds out about this.” “Alright. It’ll be done.” “Thank you.” “It’s what friends are for.” The corners of her lips quirked up. “But if this person can do that to you, they have to be powerful.” “Yeah, that’s exactly why I don’t have any clue as to who they might be. I thought we weeded out all the Ezzatis’ ers. Who else would want James free or the feud between his family and mine restarted? They could’ve killed us both, but they didn’t.” “They might not be from this area, so ing with a family who’s already had a foothold in this city would make it easier for them to come here. There still might be some of the Ezzatis’ men in hiding who will come out if they feel it’s safe. It would be easy to the families in marriage, then eliminate James and take over everything.” “Sure, but who could it be? My men haven’t noticed any families showing an interest in this area, especially with you and me in charge.” “I ran into an issue with the Santanos cartel a few weeks ago. They seem to be expanding, and they wanted me to agree to new , but I didn’t like them, so I found a new supplier for my business.” “The Santanos?” I’d heard about them, but they mostly operated on the other end of the country. “Why would they want to come here?” “I didn’t think they would, but they might see this city as a good potential market for them, especially since it’s ruled by two women.” She rolled her eyes. “Right,” I drawled. “At least you have a husband. For now. I’m drowning in marriage proposals. It’s ridiculous. It’s like they can’t comprehend why I wouldn’t want a man to rule

my empire so I can dedicate myself to... more womanly things—whatever the hell that is.” Her lip curled in disgust. “Sometimes I wonder what century we live in.” “Oh God. I thought it might be someone who wanted me to divorce James so I could marry them instead and so they could take my name, but then they would’ve just had him killed, or they would’ve used him immediately to blackmail me into it. But the Santanos don’t sound like someone who’d have enough reach here to spy on me like that, and I don’t think they’ve been planning to expand so far away from their territory. They would spread themselves too thin.” “They might be working with someone else.” She shrugged. “It’s hard to say, but I’ll do what I can to help you untangle this mess and track down your husband.” I inclined my head, getting to my feet. “I have to go. My guards won’t believe I’m having sex with a waiter for so long.” “You what?” She burst into laughter. “Well, I had to do something. I don’t want my stalker to know everything I’m doing.” “Go. I’ll find a way to you as soon as I have news.” She was still laughing as I broke into a run. Hopefully, my guards wouldn’t torture and kill the waiter before I got there. I was a little less careful as I hurried back, but I kept my head down. Now that I could count on Marianta’s help, it might be more complicated for whoever took James to avoid getting caught. Once I reached the restaurant, I realized I’d need something to climb back through the window. A trash container was close nearby, so I raced toward it. Ugh, it stank to high heaven, even though it was mostly empty, so I closed the lid and pushed it closer to the window. I hoped the noise it was making wouldn’t draw too much attention. Climbing onto it, I managed to reach the window. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I spotted the waiter looking up at me with a terrified expression on his face. My guard was banging on the door, though, so I didn’t have much time. Holding onto the wall, I managed to lift myself through the window and jump onto the cabinet, which almost toppled over.

“Wait, damn it!” I yelled, and the banging ceased. “My phone,” I whispered to the waiter, whose forehead was sweaty. Poor guy. This had been a nightmare for him. He handed me the phone, and I had to wipe it on my pants before stuffing it in my pocket. “Thank you so much. Don’t tell anyone about this.” I slipped my hand into my pocket, then handed him a nice amount of cash. The look on his face changed to happy in an instant. “Thanks, ma’am,” he said. I offered him a small smile, then headed for the door. When I unlocked and opened it, I shot the guard a glare. “Don’t interrupt me like that. Ever.” “Sorry, ma’am,” the guard said, his gaze trained on the ground. “I needed to make sure you were safe. It’s been a while and...” “Really? Okay, then. Let’s go.” This had gone better than I’d expected.

Chapter 6

“UM, MARIANTA SENT YOU a gift,” Meg said after she brought a small box to my room. “Her second-in-command delivered it. It’s definitely not an explosive or a weapon of any kind, but if you want me to analyze it first in case...” “No, it’s okay. Put it over there.” I nodded toward the nightstand. “Are you sure? It’s some kind of a cake. If someone slipped poison in it...” “It’s fine.” I waved my hand, then focused back on my phone. My men had been unsuccessful in finding anything so far, but I didn’t want them to go too far away, so maybe Marianta’s men had had more luck. Meg placed the box on the nightstand, then turned toward me. “Why don’t you just inform the assassins about the Ezzatis? The deal’s been broken, and it looks like James wants to hurt you. What if the divorce is his way of forcing you to give him his freedom so he can kill you? Just because some men killed ours and got his family out of that house, and just because he claims he’s not afraid and has protection, doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth. He wants your head, and he knows you still care about him, so he believes you’ll cave to his demands.” I shook my head. “I won’t do that. Someone took him and they might be controlling him. They have his family. He’d do anything for them.” I couldn’t accept the idea that I had been wrong about him from the beginning. “But what if we had one or two Ezzati traitors among us who’d been lying low for years, huh? He might’ve planned all of this with them, then killed them when he no longer needed them so he’d cover his tracks and make sure they didn’t talk. Why would everything in that house be so damn clean otherwise? They even spilled bleach over every blood puddle. I went there, and the place was a mess, and yet... Nothing. No clue as to who might’ve done it. Hell, maybe James started the whole thing if he knew someone would be coming for him. One of the guards was killed very close to his room. Why would anyone keep him alive and let him make demands to you? It makes no sense. It’s got to be him. What if

he’s behind everything?” A frown creased my brow. “No. There’s no way.” “But it had to be an inside job, and maybe the stalker was just a fabrication so you’d do exactly what they needed you to do to help him escape. They couldn’t have saved him immediately, because that would take a lot of planning and effort if it was just a small group of them... Plus, they would’ve needed to get in with each other and not raise suspicion. Think about it. Someone could’ve found a way to get into my computers. Our people come to the tech room all the time, and it’s possible someone knew my s, so that was why I couldn’t find any specific hacks.” “That’s just...” I wanted to see what Marianta had sent me, so I didn’t feel like discussing theories with Meg right now. “The stalker hasn’t ed you after James escaped, but James has. Come on. Put the two and two together. He’s setting you up. He probably can’t fight off the assassins, so he’s counting on your feelings for him. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure he can have someone pretend they’re threatening him so you’d relent. He wants that contract annulled, and once that’s done, he can go after you and make you pay for what you did to his family. He’s an Ezzati. His father’s blood runs through his veins. He’d want revenge.” What if she was right? But I knew James wasn’t indifferent to me, and yeah, maybe one part of him hated me for hurting him and pushing him away, but he couldn’t have faked everything when we’d been together. His eyes hadn’t lied. “James cares about me too. Things might be strained between us right now, but that doesn’t mean he was waiting for that to happen. The stalker started tormenting me while we were happy together. I don’t think James was planning anything.” “Okay, let’s pretend he didn’t know, but once they told him, he might’ve changed his mind. You can’t know what’s going on in his head.” She crossed her arms. “So what, then? I should just announce he broke our deal and let the assassins have him. Yeah, that’s just great. And what if it turns out he’s innocent?” “I told you already that they can bring him to you alive.”

“And then everyone would expect me to kill him for violating our deal. Imagine what impact that might have on my other deals. The fewer people know about this, the better. I’ll get him on my own.” I eyed her with suspicion. Why did she keep insisting that I send the assassins after James? I trusted her, but maybe... I groaned. Her concerns were probably valid, though. It was just me who refused to consider something like that. “I’ll think about it, but first, try to locate him. Okay?” “Yeah.” She strolled for the door. “I’ll let you know if there’s any news.” “Thanks.” I waited for her to close the door, then snatched the box she’d brought and placed it on my lap. Once I opened it, I dug my fingers into the white cake with pink frosting, searching for a hidden message, because surely Marianta wouldn’t have just sent me a dessert for no good reason. Finally, my hand closed over a piece of paper and I pulled it out. God, we were communicating as if we were in the Middle Ages or something. I unfolded the note, my pulse speeding up. Marianta had done it. Her men had spotted James but hadn’t made a move because she wanted to know what I wanted to do first. She’d included the address where he was and a few details about the house, but she didn’t know how long he’d stay there. There were about ten men with him, but they didn’t have any symbols on them that could identify them. The only way to figure out who they were and who they were working for was to capture one of them. I wasn’t about to send Marianta’s men to try to do that for me. No, I wanted to do it myself, but I had to hurry, because they might not stay there, especially if they thought someone was sneaking around or watching them. I jumped to my feet and raced for the door. As soon as I reached the tech room, I poked my head inside. “Gather a special team. I think I know where James is,” I said to Meg. “Quick.” Her eyebrows shot up, but her fingers were already moving over the keyboard. “Doing it. How did you...?” “I don’t have time to explain.” It had better not be a trap. The address Marianta had given me was just outside the city, and I wondered if James had been used as bait or if Meg had been right and the Ezzatis had been trying to return. Marianta’s note hadn’t mentioned anything about James’ mother and sisters, so it was still possible he was doing someone else’s bidding, or at least I wanted to

believe that. I rushed to the weapons room to get ready. After putting on a bulletproof vest under my jacket, I grabbed my guns and a few knives. When I was done, I sprinted for the garage where my men were gathered. I got into the first car and gave the address to the driver, and then we were on the move. As I chewed on the inside of my cheek, my stomach was doing nervous flips. What if James had really turned against me? It was impossible to get that damn thought out of my head during the whole ride.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE,” the driver said. “Good.” My mouth was like sandpaper, so I licked my lips. “Park over there. We don’t want to be spotted. We’ll have to go on foot.” It was dark, so I hoped that would work to our advantage and that our enemy wouldn’t see us coming, but we also didn’t know what we were going up against. I had no time to think about potential traitors among the men who were with me, but once we were out of the car, I let them go first because I didn’t trust them at my back. This way I could keep an eye on them. They seemed to prefer it that way too, because if they wanted to protect me, it would be easier for them to do it with me staying a little behind. The street in front of us was narrow and calm. The windows of the houses that were sprinkled throughout this area were completely dark. Nothing seemed to move, and the only sounds were occasional barks, chirps, and the rustling of leaves in the breeze. As we got closer, my heart was thudding loudly in my chest and I gripped my gun, but that didn’t make me feel any better. My men rushed forward, hiding behind one of the low walls. When I ed them, I realized we had a direct view of our target. A truck was parked next to a one-story house, and men dressed in black were carrying boxes. If I wasn’t wrong, they were planning to leave soon. My men looked at me, waiting for my signal, but I indicated for them to stay where they were as I took another peek above the wall. My heart skipped a beat. James. He’d walked out onto the porch and was looking around, so I quickly ducked down, my breath getting stuck in my chest. The men around him weren’t even paying attention to him, and he definitely wasn’t tied up or anything. Actually, if my eyes weren’t fooling me, he had a holster with a gun. I closed my eyes for a moment, unsure what to think. He wasn’t a prisoner, was he? He was calm. But his family wasn’t here, or maybe they were inside and waiting for the men to get all the boxes out first. Taking a deep breath, I risked another peek. No one was looking my way, and one of the men stopped and started talking to James, who pointed at the truck and then at the house. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the man nodded. Oh God. James was the one in charge here, wasn’t he? If he was a

prisoner or forced to do this, would anyone really let him tell these men what to do? I didn’t think so. Shit. I ground my teeth together. My men gave me expectant looks, and I could tell they were impatient to get moving, because if we waited any longer, we might be too late. “I want him alive,” I whispered. “His family too.” My men nodded, and then we attacked. Sounds of gunfire and shouts filled the air, and as I rushed toward the house with my men, James’s gaze briefly lifted toward me. He had his gun out, but instead of firing, he turned on his heel and broke into a run. I wanted to rush after him, but a man got in my way, and I had to throw myself to the ground to avoid the bullets coming my way. I rolled over on the ground and fired at him, getting him in the stomach. Pushing myself up onto my feet, I tried to spot James, but I couldn’t see him. While my men fought our enemy, I made my way toward the back of the house. The noise of engines pierced the air. Fuck. I raced toward the noise, my gun raised, but two cars were already speeding away into the darkness. James was in one of them for sure. There hadn’t been any cars when Marianta’s men had been here or she would’ve told me about them. We’d arrived too late to be able to plan our attack properly. I let out a growl of frustration. “Ma’am?” one of my men said behind my back, and I turned around. He was holding his hand over his bleeding arm. “No sign of the Ezzatis, but we captured one of the men. He’s wounded, but he’ll live.” “Good.” I intended to find out who the hell was with James.

Chapter 7

“HE’S NOT TALKING,” one of my men said as I was on my way to the tech room. The enemy we’d captured was really good at withstanding our interrogation techniques, or maybe he was just that loyal to his boss or very afraid of what might happen to him if he opened his mouth. “Keep trying.” I needed to find out who was “helping” James and what they really wanted. When I got to the tech room, Meg didn’t look away from her computer. “Anything?” I asked, and she jerked back with a yelp. “Geez, Arianna. When did you get here?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I snapped a photo of the guy you captured and I’ve been running it through our systems to see if we can get a match somewhere.” “How long have you been doing that?” I took a seat next to her as she grabbed her cup of coffee and took a gulp. She let out a noise of frustration when she put it down. “I don’t know.” She glanced at the time in the corner of the screen, blinking at it in confusion. “What? It’s been... Oh. A lot longer than I thought, actually, but whatever. We need to find out something about this guy. If he’s been seen with any of the Ezzatis or if he shows up on any of the footage we’ve collected over the years, I’ll find him. I mean, my computer will.” “Maybe you should take a break.” “Break? No. Not now. But are you sure you still want to give James the benefit of the doubt? He could’ve stayed and let you get him, but he ran away. You said it looked like he was in charge, so clearly he isn’t being held against his will. It would be in your best interest to deal with him swiftly and without risking too much. Your deal...” I lifted my finger to shush her. “His family wasn’t there. He might not have had

a choice because he knew that if he stayed, they’d be in danger. Whatever those people who were with him want, they need him for some reason, and that might not be the case with his family. So if they thought they lost him, they’d kill his mother and sisters.” Meg gave me a look as if she thought I was delusional, but she didn’t say anything. We were sitting there for a few moments in silence, and then she let out a gasp. “I’ve got him!” I leaned forward, but in the sea of information that was on the screen, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to look. “Who is he?” “Gideon Zavers,” she said, her brow furrowing. “He’s with the Santanos cartel.” “Shit.” “What do they have with the Ezzatis?” Meg’s gaze met mine. “I’m not sure, but Marianta told me they might be thinking about expanding into this area.” “Okay, but how does James fit into that?” “I have no idea. Any other info?” “Um, not really. Just got his ID and pics of him with the Santanos’ boss Alberto. He was Alberto’s guard a few times, I guess.” A loud beep startled us both. “What the fuck was that?” “Another message... from James,” she said, clicking on the alert. This time it wasn’t a video, just text. He told me my time to annul our marriage and our deal was running out, and that it had gotten shorter because I’d attacked him. He wanted me to sign and deliver a hard copy as proof that our deal was over to the address he indicated. There was also a threat included. If I didn’t comply, I was going to pay. “Is that an attachment of some kind?” I pointed at the small icon at the end of the message.

“Yeah.” Meg opened it, and a bunch of photos popped up all over the screen. Bodies and blood. That was all I could see. “Oh God.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Is that...?” I recognized the severed head of a man. “One of our suppliers.” Gritting my teeth, I slammed my fist against the desk. Fuck! This was not supposed to be happening. “James told them about our suppliers. That’s why they’re helping him! He gave them information about you in exchange for his freedom. Now they can go after everyone and cut us off. Do you think the Santanos want to be our only supplier or do they want to make sure our business collapses so they can take over?” “I’m not sure he had to tell them anything. They could’ve gotten that information without James, but if they can take out anyone, then why just not do it without all the drama?” I bit down on my lip. “James!” she exclaimed. “What?” I gave her a perplexed look. “James was with them, and they probably didn’t reveal themselves as the Santanos since they don’t have any symbols on their clothes. They want to make it look like you were behind it and issued the order, which James fulfilled.” I blinked at her. “They’re trying to weaken you, and James is helping them with that to get his freedom. If he kills in your name, you’d make enemies and not him and the Santanos, so they can remove some of their competition in the process too as a bonus. They probably expected you wouldn’t divorce James just like that and they were right. Who do you think will still want to work with us if we off our partners for no good reason?” “But if I tell everyone the truth...” “They know you care about him, and they might also think your partners won’t believe your excuses or they’ll feel you’re too weak since you let this happen in

the first place. The Santanos might be testing the waters to see what you’re willing to do and what not.” I ran my hand over my face. “This is getting complicated. If I could just talk to James...” “You can’t allow them to keep doing this. We have to do something. Forget about your feelings for James for a moment and think about...” I got to my feet, unable to sit still. If the Santanos wanted to make this look like James was the one leading everything, then they had to let him walk freely and pretend he was the boss. And if I was right and Meg was wrong, they probably held his family somewhere and were forcing him to do their bidding. There might be a way for me to use this situation to my advantage. “If anyone calls or asks anything about this, tell them I was just dealing with a traitor, and that I’m busy, so I’ll explain everything later.” “Are you sure that’s a good idea? If the Santanos go after another one of our suppliers, then we’ll have a problem and no one will believe us, especially if you don’t declare a war against the Santanos and James. They’ll think you’re breaching deals.” “I doubt the Santanos can go after anyone else so quickly, and I have an idea.” I turned toward her. “I need a secure phone line.” She pushed herself to her feet and padded over to one of the shelves. After grabbing a box, she opened it and pulled out a brand new phone. “Here.” She tossed it to me and I caught it. “Are you sure no one can hack into it or listen in?” “It’s a new one, and I think it would take them at least an hour if they were super skillful, so... Well, unless they’re listening in on the person you’re talking to. Then there’s nothing I can do.” “Okay, I can risk that.” “What are you going to do? Do you think the Santanos are the ones who are spying on you? I’m going to check everyone who works for us and who might’ve come in with them. We were always worried about our closest

enemies but didn’t think someone could betray us for some cartel so far away from here. It would explain why their hackers are so good, because I’ve heard of them. I just didn’t think...” “Maybe. Check everyone. I need to make a call.” I flashed her a quick smile and rushed for the door. Just because the Santanos were making their presence more obvious now didn’t mean someone else still wasn’t spying on me and watching my every move, since we hadn’t exactly found the traitors yet, so I had to go somewhere I was sure no one would be able to overhear me. I strode down the hallway and to the elevator. Once I was out of our compound, I ed a few guards on my way and went straight into the garden. I indicated for the guards to stay at a distance, and when I was in the middle, between the house and the fence, far away from everyone, I dialed Marianta’s number. “Arianna?” her voice sounded on the other end of the line. “What happened with...?” “Listen, I don’t have time right now. There’s something important I need you to do for me. Are you sure the line is secure and that there are no potential spies around you?” “Give me a moment.” Something rustled, and a door closed somewhere. “It’s safe. Tell me.” “The Santanos are with James and they’re playing some kind of a game. James gave me a location where I’m supposed to deliver something to them. I have a message for James, and I need someone to get it to him. They’re expecting something else or maybe not, but someone will be checking that place for sure. If one of your men could deliver a message there and if you can send someone to scout that area, that would be perfect.” Marianta hesitated. “I can try, but they won’t be as careless as before. You almost got them once and they won’t be staying anywhere near that place, except maybe for one or two guys.” “I know, but I need that message to get to him, and they’ll deliver it if they realize it’s important.” “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. What’s the message?”

“I want to negotiate, and I want to see James first. It’s the only way I’ll sign anything.” “Why do you think they’ll let him do that if he’s their prisoner like you believe?” “They think I won’t kill him, and they’re right.” “Even after what he did? I heard what happened with your supplier. James was there. Word travels fast.” “Great,” I muttered, then sighed. “Yeah, they’re trying to make it look like I ordered him to do it. But they have the rest of the Ezzatis, and James won’t let anything happen to his family, so they don’t have to worry about him. And if they really want me to divorce him, they’ll send him to talk to me. If I wanted him dead, I would’ve already called the assassins and announced to everyone that he broke the deal, but I haven’t done it, so...” “Maybe you should. This is bad for business, and James might not be on your side anymore.” “That’s why I need to talk to him. I need to know the truth before I make a decision.” “It’s dangerous. They could kill you. Or your husband could. Maybe they knew you’d react this way and that you’d want to talk to him in person. It’s still questionable why the divorce would matter if they’re not doing it for James. What do they gain from it? Aside from reestablishing him as an Ezzati, which would be a whole lot easier if you were dead and he wasn’t involved in your death.” “I wish I knew.” “Okay. I’ll take care of it.” “Thanks,” I said. “There’s no guarantee they’ll agree. You know that, right?” “I do.” I ended the call, wondering if my plan would work, but if I could get to talk to James, I was sure I’d be able to see the truth in his eyes. And no, I wasn’t

ready to give up on him just yet.

Chapter 8

“THEY REFUSED,” MEG said quietly, and I kicked out at one of the boxes that was near the desk with the computers. It didn’t surprise me that much that the Santanos didn’t want to talk, but I’d been hoping they might want to negotiate, because that would mean that there was something they wanted from me. “Did they say anything else?” I asked. “That you have until tonight to comply with their request or you’ll regret it.” Marianta hadn’t called me, which meant her men hadn’t been able to track down the Santanos either. The main problem was that their group here was small and they weren’t exactly well known in this area, so it wasn’t easy to find them. I didn’t think their boss Alberto was anywhere near, though. He was probably waiting for their plan to be completed before he showed up. “I’ve got an idea,” Meg said. “Why don’t you spread the word about the Santanos’ presence in the city? You can tell everyone James was kidnapped and isn’t doing this for you. You captured their guy anyway, and it doesn’t matter that he refuses to talk. No one likes new guys, so everyone will be on the lookout and they might even tell you where they are if they’re staying just outside the city.” “Yeah, and that might get James killed because everyone will assume I want him dead!” “So you’re just going to give in to their demands?” She scratched her arm, shifting in her chair to look at me. “That’s crazy.” “I didn’t say I was going to do that.” “Okay. Then what are you going to do? You’ve got to do something, so either you can tell everyone about the Santanos or you can call the assassins to get James.”

“Any options that don’t end up with my husband getting killed, whether intentionally or not?” “Maybe it would be for the best if he was dead. He’s your weakness and everyone knows it.” I cocked my head at her, because that sentence sounded way too similar to what a certain mysterious person had been telling me. “Really?” Her hand was covering her bracelet as her eyes met mine. “Yeah. If he was dead, you wouldn’t have to think about any of this or worry about it. You could attack the Santanos and defeat them.” A camera feed popped up on the screen, and the image showed my room from an odd angle. What the fuck? Meg rushed to press some kind of a button, and the image vanished. A nervous smile curved her lips. “What was that?” I couldn’t hide the undertone in my voice. “Nothing.” She squeezed her bracelet again. “An old photo of a test of...” I raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” “Doesn’t matter. What’s more important is that you have to make a decision and act fast. I don’t know why you’re so scared of announcing that the deal has been broken and that James is your enemy again. The assassins don’t have to kill him if you’re afraid for his life, and he’s careful enough not to get caught in the crossfire.” I stared at her, unsure what was going on. She was acting weird, and I was sure that feed wasn’t some old footage because my hairbrush was just where I’d left it. But which part of what she was telling me was a lie? Oh shit. What if she was the one behind the whole thing? Except that didn’t make any sense. Why would that damn feed pop up just now? She’d never let something like that slip if she was actually a mole—and no, I still didn’t believe she was. “So? Have you made up your mind?” Her lips spread into a soft smile, but her shoulders were rigid. If she wasn’t my stalker, then the Santanos or someone had forced her to do this,

but how and why? Why would anyone want me to spread the word that the Santanos had kidnapped James or that he’d broken our deal? They could’ve done that themselves since he was with them anyway. A headache was starting to press on my temple. And now Meg... Although, if I revealed that the Santanos had taken James in front of my nose and that I hadn’t been able to stop them, the neighboring families and gangs might get ideas to expand into my territory. Calling the assassins and letting James live after I got him back would have the same effect because then everyone would know I had a weakness they could try to exploit if they got their hands on him. I could see how that could benefit the Santanos, since it was just a matter of time before everyone figured out they were up to something in this area. This was one of those moments when I really hated my life, but I wasn’t sure why the Santanos were playing these games if they wanted to take over eventually. If I lost parts of my territory because of all the drama, how would that benefit them? Unless it was all for someone else... My stalker. And that person sure as hell wasn’t Meg, but maybe they wanted me to believe it had been her all along. Should I play their game or not? “That feed that was on the screen,” I said. “I know it was live.” “No, you’re wrong,” she said, but her voice quivered a little. “Come on. Stop it.” I decided to see where this would go if I played along. For now. “I’m not an idiot. Are you spying on me?” “No. Of course not. Why would I?” “Oh, I don’t know. Why would you?” I took a step toward her, my hand hovering near my gun, but I wasn’t going to shoot my best friend. She didn’t know that, though, so she jerked back. “I... I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “Then show me that image again.” The corners of my lips tilted up. She bit down on her lip, glancing at her computer. Something was blinking in the corner of the screen. Was the real stalker watching this? How the hell had they

gotten to Meg? What had they threatened her with? Because it had to be something. “Meg?” She clapped her hands. “You finally figured it out.” “What? That you’re my stalker?” I fought the urge to laugh out loud. “Yeah. It was me.” Her finger was hooked into her bracelet, which she was twisting and tugging. She was definitely lying, but someone had to be watching. How the hell was that happening? “You? How? Why? It doesn’t make sense.” “You fell in love with an Ezzati. That’s unacceptable. He’s clouding your judgment. Just look at yourself. You’re letting a bunch of idiots do whatever they want, and I bet you aren’t even brave enough to...” Yeah, this didn’t sound like her at all. Even though she might’ve gotten suspicious of James after what had happened, she wouldn’t be saying the same as my stalker. I grabbed my gun and pointed it at her, because I supposed that was what the stalker expected me to do. She slowly got to her feet, taking a step back, her arms spread, her eyes just a little too wide. The door behind my back opened, and I glanced over my shoulder at Felipe, who flinched when he saw us. “What’s going on?” he asked. Well, yeah, I’d been wondering the same damn thing. The stalker wanted Meg out of the picture, and they’d threatened her with something big enough that she was willing to risk her life for it. But without Meg, who could I turn to for my tech needs? The man lingering at the door with a confused expression on his face was the answer. But was he the one working with the stalker or did they just want me to believe that? I was getting so tired of this, but maybe I was getting closer to some answers. “Call the guards,” I said to Felipe. “I want them to arrest her.”

Felipe’s eyebrows shot up, but then he shouted for the guards. Meg was unsuccessfully trying to hide the desperate look on her face. The guards stormed inside. “Take her to one of our special cells,” I said. “With cameras.” “Yes, ma’am.” Meg didn’t resist as they grabbed her arms and shoved her toward the door. I moved out of their way, and once they were gone, Felipe entered the room and closed the door. “Can I know what that was all about?” he asked. “I need you to do something for me.” I couldn’t let something mysteriously happen to Meg while I wasn’t around. “Make sure everything in Meg’s cell is recorded, and if there’s even one minute of footage missing or if anyone goes into her cell, I want to know about it. I’ll review the footage myself too, with the help of my friend Marianta. Meg was stalking me and tried to manipulate me, and I think someone might be working with her, because she couldn’t have done that on her own, so...” “You want to find out who might try to help her.” “Exactly.” I offered him a smile. “Oh, I thought I was never going to be free, but I am now.” Let the piece of shit who was doing this think they’d won. “Why didn’t you say something? I could’ve figured it out it was her. All those constant searches and checks you did... It wasn’t just about upping security, was it?” “No, I thought I could trust her, but... I should’ve trusted you.” I placed my hand on his shoulder, and a smile quirked his lips. “I’ll fix whatever damage she’s done. I’m sure her computer is well-protected, but I can probably get in to see what she was doing.” “I’m sure you can. And you can also make sure no one can hack into our system, right?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, a little too enthusiastically, but that wasn’t a sign that he was a traitor, and yet... I wasn’t going to trust him. At least now, the stalker should be careful if they didn’t want me to find out that Meg was innocent. Felipe was in Meg’s chair in a second. “I never thought she’d be capable of something like that. Was she doing it for someone? What was her deal?” “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. The only thing that matters is that I’ll be able to deal with her soon.” He clicked on a few things. “I’m in.” Well, that was quick. “She hadn’t changed some of her s. I don’t think she realized I memorized them while we were working together.” Huh, yeah. Of course. How convenient. “Great. You figure out what she was up to. I have something to do.” “Do what? Do you need me to do something for you? Make sure your phone is secure or something?” You wish. “Maybe later. I need some fresh air. All this... It’s a lot to take in.” “Yeah, I understand.” He gave me a small smile. I smiled back, then turned on my heel and strode for the door. Oh, I knew exactly what I was going to do about the Santanos’ request. Nothing. My stalker clearly wanted me to choose one of the options Meg had offered, and maybe the Santanos didn’t even care about the whole thing and were just doing the stalker’s bidding for some reason. Since making almost any move was a risk anyway, just waiting and seeing what would happen seemed like the best choice. I hoped I was right about that, because if I wasn’t, everything could go to hell.

Chapter 9

“WEREN’T WE SUPPOSED to get a delivery today?” Felipe gave me a questioning look as soon as I entered the tech room. Since my stalker clearly wanted me to believe I’d caught them, I’d decided to let them think they had fooled me. But I had a plan for dealing with the Santanos too. “I canceled it.” Actually, I’d called all my business partners to tell them to lie low and pause some of the deliveries because I didn’t want the Santanos to attack them and repeat what they’d done with one of my suppliers. I hadn’t told them about the Santanos, though, but invented an issue with the cops. The cops were always a threat, so everyone bought that. “Why?” Felipe tilted his head. “Why are you asking? You can just delete my whole schedule.” I gave him a small smile. “Alright.” His face grew serious as he focused on his computer. He was definitely acting suspiciously, so I had to be very careful around him. There was just one good thing about this whole mess with Meg—even if my stalker was still watching me, they couldn’t make a move if they didn’t want me to find out the truth. “Have you talked to Meg?” he suddenly asked. “Not yet.” “You should. She might have some important information. If you don’t want to do it yourself, I can send...” “No. I told you no one’s allowed to go anywhere near her, unless it’s to bring her food. Understood?” I held his gaze. “Yeah. I just thought it might help if...” “No. I’ll deal with her eventually. Anything new from the Santanos?” I hadn’t signed the divorce papers or annulled my and James’ contract like they wanted

me to, so I was sure they were planning an attack, but I didn’t think they’d be able to do it immediately. After all, there wasn’t that many of them here. I was still super confused about their plans or what connection they had to the stalker, because I didn’t think Alberto Santano was behind all of this. No. This felt personal, but I didn’t have the faintest idea as to who it could be. “Not yet. No one has seen them. They’re planning something.” “I’m sure they are.” “Why didn’t you send the assassins after James, if I may ask?” “And why would I do that?” “He’s a threat to you, and we could use some help.” “Maybe I’ll do it, but not yet.” I started for the door. “Do you still have feelings for him?” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Maybe. What does it matter?” “It doesn’t. Just wondering what you’re going to do about him. If we have to capture him alive, it’s going to be more difficult and require more planning. Once we locate our enemy, it’s better if I have all the info so I can work on the best approach to our target.” So the only thing the stalker cared about was whether I still had feelings for James. How weird. “ me immediately if there’s any news or messages for me. I’m going out.” Felipe nodded, and I headed into the hallway, surprised that he didn’t protest or try to convince me it was too dangerous to go out. I’d have to be very, very careful.

MARIANTA WAS WAITING for me in her little garden, hidden among the trees. Her guards were outside the door, and I’d managed to ditch mine at one of the clubs. I was sure they’d be looking for me, but I didn’t want to worry about that. “You look great,” she said, her bright red lips spreading into a smile. “Is there a party somewhere?” “I was at one.” I glanced down at my black cocktail dress and silver high heels— those damn things had slowed me down, but at least I was here now. Luckily, the alleys I’d taken had been calm, so I hadn’t had to use my gun, which was in my black purse that I was clutching to myself. “Ah, you ditched your guards again.” She grinned. “Still hiding from the mystery person?” “Yep. You texted me that you had some news?” I hadn’t wanted to risk talking to her over the phone about it because Felipe was now in charge of all the networks and connections my phones made, so it was better not to use any of them. “Yes. But I don’t understand why you won’t get rid of those who might be spying on you and bring in someone you can trust. There won’t always be time for us to meet, and it’s risky for you to sneak around when the Santanos could be gunning for you.” “I know. I plan to take care of that, but my new tech guy Felipe is probably working with the stalker, and I want them to think their plan worked so I can see what they’re going to do.” “Are you sure this isn’t the work of some long-forgotten Ezzati relative? Someone’s trying to drive you crazy, cut you off from everyone, and force you to make all the wrong decisions that would benefit your husband.” “Yeah. I think I would know if there was someone.” My family had been monitoring the Ezzatis for decades. Surely, it would be very hard for anyone to under the radar. “I hope you’re right. Now, about the info I obtained... Your husband and some

men, probably the Santanos’, have been spotted here.” “Where?” “Not exactly sure, but James went to one of the bars his family used to frequent. And one of my spies saw him about four blocks north from here. If you came here alone, you should let my men escort you back. It’s not safe.” “So there’s no way to tell where they’re hiding?” She shook her head. “My men tried to follow your husband, but he managed to escape them every time.” “Was he alone?” It would be easier to track down a group of people, but it looked like the Santanos didn’t believe James needed a lot of protection, which was weird, or maybe they assumed he was skilled enough to be able to escape any dangerous situations. It worried me that they were so sure he wouldn’t escape and go off on his own. “There were two guys with him. Have you considered the possibility that he’s ed the Santanos for good? Or that he’s maybe trying to reestablish the Ezzati family? I don’t think anyone would let their captive walk around like that. Two men are nothing. And he hasn’t even tried to you.” “If they’re keeping his family somewhere, he’s going to do whatever they want him to.” “I understand, but you have to be prepared. In case he’s not the man you knew anymore.” “Thanks for the advice. I’ll be careful. I have to go back now. If you find out where he is, just text me the location coordinates and don’t say anything else. I’ll figure it out. And yeah, if I could borrow your men to escort me back to the club, that would be wonderful.” “I can do that.” “Thanks. I wish Hugo were here. He’d help me figure this all out. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m doing. It feels like too much.” Hugo had been my dad’s right-hand man who had raised me after my family was killed, and

Marianta was his wife’s cousin, which was one of the reasons why I trusted her with all of this. “Yeah.” Her lips spread into a solemn smile. “He was a smart man. He would’ve known what to do. And yes, there are days when I want to abandon everything and run away to some nice sandy beach and forget this life, but I’m sure I’d be bored after five days, so...” She laughed. “Maybe.” I wasn’t even sure I knew what a normal life was like because mine had never been that way. After I left Marianta, her guards escorted me back to the club. No one tried to attack me, so that was good, but I didn’t like that James might be nearby and that he hadn’t even tried to get in with me. Or maybe he had, but he hadn’t been successful. Or he didn’t want to risk it with his family’s lives on the line, but if I called the assassins about our broken deal, then his family would be in danger too, so wouldn’t it be better for him to talk to me? “Ma’am!” one of my guards gasped out when he saw me, rushing toward me. I was standing near the door, in a darker corner that I thought was safe. The music was loud and people were dancing and singing not too far away from me. I had my gun out, keeping it hidden behind my purse, but no one looked like a threat. The thought of seeing James... It was both thrilling and scary. Why did I always feel like that around him lately? Maybe because I wasn’t sure if he was my enemy or not. “Finally,” I said to the guard, who had his phone out, probably to alert the rest that he’d found me, and I slipped my gun back into my purse. “I’m sorry, ma’am. There were so many people and... you should’ve...” I cut him a glare so he’d stop talking before he could say anything else. It wasn’t his fault I’d ditched them, but I didn’t want my stalker to find out I’d gone somewhere. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” The guard briefly bowed his head. “Good. Let’s get out of here.” I made my way for the door. The rest of the guards were just outside, so we all strode to the car. The parking lot was quiet, but a thud sounding from somewhere across from us made us pause. One of the guards

stepped in front of me, and I pressed myself closer to one of the cars. Maybe it was nothing. A stray cat or someone random in one of the cars. We waited for a few moments, listening carefully. One of my guards signaled for us to keep moving, but then a loud bang and a shout pierced the air. Gunfire erupted as men wearing black jumped up from behind the cars. I dove for the ground. My guards ran for cover as they pulled out their guns, but one of them got hit in the shoulder. I grabbed my gun from my purse, then moved around the car. My guards were returning fire, and I glanced toward my car, which was just down the parking lot, away from our attackers. If I could reach it, then I could get away. “Go to the car!” I yelled to the closest of the guards. We couldn’t stay here, because, even if we could hold off our attackers, the cops would be here before we could defeat them. I peeked above the car I was hiding behind and fired at one of the attackers, but then a familiar face caught my eye. James. His gaze shifted to me, and for a second, we were both frozen on the spot as bullets ricocheted not too far away from us, but my guards and the attackers were targeting each other at the moment. James pointed his gun at me and fired. A gasp escaped my lips as the bullet shattered the window of the car next to me, and I quickly crouched down. Shit. My heart was in overdrive, and I needed to collect my thoughts. Getting out of here. That was the only thing that mattered. Whether James had intended to shoot me or not was something I’d think about later, when I was safe. Right now, I had to get to the car. Taking a deep breath, I peered around the car, and when I was sure no one was looking my way—James must have been forced to withdraw or hide because I couldn’t see him anymore—I raced toward my car, keeping my head low. I glanced over my shoulder at my guards, and one of them mouthed for me to keep going. They’d find a way to follow me once I was safe, so they didn’t need me to worry about them. I got to the car, glad that I still had my purse with me. As I fumbled with it to get the key while holding my gun, the attackers spotted me, but my guards got in their way, so no one could aim at me, not even James. I was hoping nothing would happen to him, although maybe I shouldn’t care. When I finally fished out the key, I unlocked the door, jumped into the car, and

got it running. As I stepped on the gas pedal, the wails of police sirens sounded in the distance. In the rearview mirror, I could see James running in the opposite direction. The attackers were dispersing. We’d survived one attack, but I didn’t know what would happen next time.

Chapter 10

I WAS SITTING ON MY bed, unable to stop thinking about what had happened tonight. Had James been trying to kill me or had he just fired in my direction because the Santanos had expected him to do it? Had he been trying to prove himself to them? Or had he really turned against me? He’d missed, but did that mean anything or was I deluding myself because I couldn’t stand the thought of him wanting to hurt me? I sighed. Maybe they only wanted to scare me and make me believe that they were serious about their threats. The attackers had focused more on my guards than on me, or maybe they’d expected James to go after me. I’d thought my stalker didn’t want me dead, but now I wasn’t so sure anymore. What if the Santanos and my stalker had some kind of a deal and the Santanos had decided to break it? What if James really wanted me dead? I let myself fall on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. Where was James now? What was he thinking? Had he intended to hit the window and not me? What the fuck was going on? I was so sick and tired of knowing nothing. Grabbing one of the pillows next to me, I wrapped my arms around it and closed my eyes. I wished I was holding James instead so I could run my hand through his soft hair and let his warmth seep into me, because I was feeling so damn cold and so damn alone. Meg was still in my dungeon, a potential traitor was just down the hallway, I had no clue what my enemies really wanted, and my husband... My husband might’ve stopped caring about me, or he’d been pretending to care the whole time he’d been with me. Just because there hadn’t been any connections between the Ezzatis and Santanos didn’t mean they hadn’t struck some kind of a secret deal that only James knew about. Maybe everything had been carefully planned to make me suffer. I groaned into the pillow. My and Marianta’s men were out there looking for James and the Santanos, and I hoped they’d find them.

“TARREN WANTS TO SEE you. He’s in town,” Felipe said, and I flinched. Tarren was my main for acquiring weapons, and if he was here, then that meant he was a potential target for the Santanos and James. Fuck. Did everything have to go wrong these days? “Why? What does he want?” First, I had to make sure this wasn’t fake news, since Felipe was the one who’d told me about it. “He says he wants to talk about recent events.” I closed my eyes for a moment. Right. The guy everyone thought I’d had killed was probably the main reason of Tarren’s visit. “Did he say anything else?” “Nope. Just left a number for you to call to tell him when and where he can meet with you.” “Okay. Give me the number.” I could easily Tarren was really the one who was calling and convince him to meet me somewhere in public, with lots of people and exists. Since Felipe knew Tarren was here, I assumed my stalker was aware of it too, which meant the Santanos would try to get to him. If more of my associates got killed by my husband, I was sure that wasn’t going to go over well with anyone and it would cause me a great deal of trouble, so I had to stop it from happening. Tarren was a careful man, so I didn’t think I had to worry too much. “Can I give you some advice?” Felipe asked after handing me a piece of paper where he’d scribbled down the number. “Sure.” “Invite Tarren here. It’s not safe for you to go anywhere, especially after that attack. We still haven’t found those men. The Ezzati has connections and there might be a few of his family’s ers left who would love to...” “James is still a Monti.” “On paper, yeah, but...”

“No. I don’t want to talk about that right now.” As I glanced down at the piece of paper in my hand, I knew I had to come up with a really good plan for this, and I’d need Marianta’s help too. She was the only person I could trust right now.

IT HADN’T BEEN EASY to schedule a meeting with Tarren without too many people finding out about it, and since I couldn’t trust Felipe, I had to keep it secret from him too. In the end, I’d decided to talk to Tarren at one of the most popular and crowded clubs in the city, which yeah, was a total nightmare for my guards, but it would be difficult for my enemies to find me in there or get to me. I didn’t think anyone would shoot up the whole club, because then they wouldn’t just have to deal with those who didn’t want them in the city but with the cops too. I’d taken Marianta’s guards with me instead of mine, and I’d snuck out of my house, hopefully without being seen, but I couldn’t guarantee there hadn’t been a camera somewhere that had caught me. Still, so far, nothing bad had happened, and my conversation with Tarren had been satisfactory, which was great, because I couldn’t lose him right now with a potential war coming. Marianta’s guards completely surrounded me as we were making our way toward the exit, but that wasn’t easy, because people were everywhere, dancing and enjoying themselves. The music was so good that I wanted to them, but, unfortunately, having fun wasn’t on my schedule. The guard in front of me stopped, and I assumed he was trying to find the best way to the exit, but then he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the guards, his phone in his hand. He leaned toward the one next to him and yelled something into his ear, but I couldn’t hear what it was. The only word I caught was enemy, but maybe I’d misheard. More of Marianta’s guards were waiting outside, since I couldn’t have taken them all with me—that would’ve drawn way too much attention—and there had to be someone monitoring the area for our enemy anyway. James. They were looking out for James. Why did I have such a hard time itting this to myself? My husband had switched sides. He’d been playing me. There was no way he would’ve truly fallen in love with me, was there? I was always going to be Arianna Monti. The girl whose only purpose had been to avenge her family. Wherever I went and whatever I did, it wasn’t going to change that fact, and those who I cared about were always going to want something from me. I’d thought that James was different and that we truly had something. But what if I’d just been fooling myself and seeing things that

weren’t there because I hated feeling so lonely all the time and because I wanted nothing more than for someone to want me for me and not for my last name? I blinked to pull myself out of my depressing thoughts, wishing I could get a drink at the bar. But no, I couldn’t even get a goddamn drink at a club because someone might try to kill me, so I had to wait to get home, where my enemy had also taken a stronghold... “Ma’am,” one of the guards leaned toward me, “the enemy has been spotted outside.” Shit. “Are they in here?” He shook his head. “It looked like they were just ing by, but our guys are checking the area. It might be a good idea to stay in here until we’re sure it’s safe.” “Okay.” Just as I said it, the guard who still had his phone out frowned and looked up with alerted eyes. “One has gotten inside. There might be another one who used the back exit.” A spy or someone must have spotted Tarren or me. “Did Tarren get out?” “Yes, ma’am.” “Good,” I said. “You three.” I pointed at the guards. “Find my enemy. You stay with me. I’ll be at the bar.” “But ma’am...” I lifted my finger. “We’ll be easily spotted if we’re together like this anyway. A guy and a girl at the bar won’t be so suspicious. They’re expecting me in the VIP area, and it’s easier to hide behind the bar or run through the Staff Only door.” The guards nodded, and I caught the one who’d stayed with me by the arm and we headed for the bar. If someone wanted to kill me, they’d have to try their damn best, because I wasn’t going to go down easy. I settled at the bar as my guard ordered us drinks, and I kept my head down,

making sure no one could see my face. The air was hot and stuffy, but I didn’t want to take off my jacket because I didn’t want my holster to show. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I spotted a familiar face, but when I risked taking a better look, he wasn’t there. Only when someone’s arm brushed my side did I realize that my guard was no longer next to me.

Chapter 11

I HAD MY GUN OUT BEFORE I even knew what I was doing. Pointing it at the person who leaned on the bar next to me, I lifted my gaze up. A pair of dark, dark eyes was staring back at me, but so was the gun aimed at my stomach. James’ lips spread into a smile when he spotted my weapon. I quickly glanced around us, but I didn’t think anyone was with him here at the moment. If there had been someone else with him, they must’ve taken care of my guard, who I couldn’t see anywhere. Since our guns were hidden behind the bar and between us, no one could tell we had them out, so no one panicked, although the bartender gave us a curious look, but he’d moved on because he had drinks to serve. “James,” I said, giving him a brief smile. “What are you doing here?” “Isn’t it obvious?” He lowered his gaze to his gun. “If you’re going to shoot me, do it.” I leaned toward him, shifting my gun a little so I had better aim. If he pulled the trigger, I was going to do the same, even if it took my last breath to do it. He pressed his lips together, his gaze scanning our surroundings. If he fired a shot, there would be chaos, and he’d never get to the exit in time. Not to mention my—okay, Marianta’s—guards would be looking for him. They couldn’t have all been overpowered by the Santanos’ men. “We need to talk,” I said. “Just you and me.” He was hesitating, probably because if something happened to me here, everyone would know he was the one responsible, and the assassins would come after him and his family—yeah, I didn’t believe the story that he wasn’t worried about that. And if there was even a tiny little chance that he wasn’t doing any of this willingly or that there had been a misunderstanding, I wanted to know about it before we ended up killing each other.

“Why? I don’t think there’s anything to say. Except if you changed your mind about our divorce.” His eyes searched mine. “I was willing to offer you a divorce and your freedom in exchange for an honest conversation, but you refused. If you want it so badly, then I don’t see how talking to me could hurt.” The Santanos weren’t here now to dissuade him or stop him—if they’d been the ones to reject my offer to talk instead of him. He pursed his lips, glancing around us again. “Fine. If you want to talk, do it. Quickly.” “Not here. In there.” I nodded toward the Staff Only door. The bartenders were busy anyway, and I didn’t think anyone would notice if we slipped in there. I didn’t want anyone to interrupt us. “But we’ll have to leave our guns here.” I couldn’t see any other weapons on him. My knife was hidden in my boot, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it. For a moment, I thought he was going to refuse, but then he nodded and we both lowered our guns at the same time. The ornaments on the bar had created small niches, so we hid our weapons there, and when I was sure no one was paying any special attention to us, I got to my feet and headed for the Staff Only room. We slipped inside. The room wasn’t as small as I’d expected, and we went farther away from the door, behind the shelves and boxes with drinks. The light was very dim, and once James and I were face to face, I didn’t know where to start. Deep inside, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and kiss him senseless, but that wasn’t an option now. He seemed to be at a loss for words too, because he didn’t say anything. I’d almost say he was nervous, but maybe that was wishful thinking on my part—anything to make it look like he still cared. “How’s your family?” I asked, and he blinked, his brow furrowing. “Fine,” he said curtly. “But I don’t think that’s what you wanted to talk about.” “No, it’s not. Are you wearing a wire? Is anyone listening to us or recording this?” I didn’t want anyone to overhear us, and I didn’t think anyone had bugged the club since they couldn’t have known I’d be coming here. “Of course not. It’s just us. As you wanted.”

“Why don’t you tell me what the fuck is going on then? What are you doing with the Santanos?” I crossed my arms. “What does it look like? Freeing myself from you.” He glared at me. My eyebrows shot up. “So you found a way to hire the Santanos to help you get your freedom back?” He averted his gaze. “Maybe. What does it matter? Give me what I want, and this all ends.” “And if I don’t, then what? Are we going to go to war? A few Santanos with you aren’t going to scare me.” “But you are scared, aren’t you?” The corners of his lips tilted up. “You can’t even go out. And it’s only going to get worse. More men will come, and then you’ll have no choice.” “Maybe I’ll just let you kill me. Then you’ll be free, but of course, my money will still be financing every assassin and bounty hunter out there who’ll be willing to go for your head. Tell me, how did you get in with the Santanos? Are you the person who has been stalking me? Were you the one who was threatening your own life so I’d send you away to your family? Because damn, that was well played. I should’ve sent you somewhere else, but I guess you would’ve found another way eventually.” It was impossible to hide the bitterness in my voice. His lips parted in surprise, but he quickly wiped every emotion off his face. “You sent me away because you never truly wanted me. You revealed your true face. I don’t know what is it that you want to make me believe now.” I snorted. “Seriously? You forced me to push you away and manipulated me, and now you want to make it look like it was all my fault? Yeah, no. That’s not how this is going to go. Look, I can understand that you want your freedom and that you found a way to get it, but stop fucking lying to me and just it this has been your plan all along.” He scratched the back of his head, moving away from me, but as if he thought it was a bad idea to turn his back to me, he stopped. “You’re trying to trick me again. But you know what? I won’t let you play my feelings for you against me.”

“Your feelings for me?” I gave him an incredulous look, because if I didn’t know what was going on before, now I was even less sure. “Really? If you had any, you wouldn’t be doing any of this to me. You want a divorce? Fine, but fucking tell me that! Don’t spy on me and give me some stupid...” “You’re lying to get yourself out of this mess. So predictable.” “If that was true, then I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’d just tell everyone you broke our deal.” I flashed him a smile. “Try getting to me while you and your family are on the run from the assassins.” “Go ahead. Do it. But are you sure you’re willing to risk your business deals falling through? I know you’re working with some of my father’s old associates, and they agreed only because you made me a part of your family. If that goes away...” “What?” I scowled. “That’s not true.” Who the hell had told him that lie? I supposed it had been the Santanos, but why? “Oh, really? Then why haven’t you sent the assassins already? I let out a frustrated groan. “You know how I really feel about you. Everyone does. But hey, if you never really loved me, then maybe we should have an amicable divorce. It’s going to cost you, though. I want to know how the hell you’ve been spying on me, the names of everyone working with you... and you better tell me why you forced Meg to confess she’s been stalking me. Yeah, that’s right. I figured that one out. What did you do to her to scare her that much that she wouldn’t even tell me anything and is willing to risk her own life? I get that you want to make me pay for what I did to you and your family, but Meg’s innocent. It’s me you’re after.” He was looking at me as if he couldn’t understand a word I was saying, and maybe he couldn’t. “You’ve been planning your escape for a long time, haven’t you?” I asked. “When did it start? Before we even got together? Did someone help you? Were you working with them behind my back?” A frown creased his brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t twist this into something that never was.”

“That’s what you’re doing. I won’t sign anything if you keep lying to me, so if you want your freedom, start telling me the truth. How did you get in with the Santanos and when did that happen?” He was quiet, his eyes narrowed at me. “One of your guards approached me.” “Who?” “I won’t tell you that. Maybe after our deal is annulled.” “And how can I be sure you and the Santanos will stop attacking me if I give you what you want? You could just kill me then, and you didn’t offer to negotiate or sign another deal, so it’s better for me to wait or launch my own attack. If you want revenge...” “Yeah, I wanted revenge. But now I want this to be over, and I want to be free of you,” he bit out, the vein in his neck pulsing. “My family’s safety is what matters to me the most.” “Your family was safe with me.” “Oh, yeah. Perfectly safe.” He curled his lip. “That was exactly why your very trustworthy guard approached me with plans of escape only a few hours after you left. If your guards are willing to turn so easily against you, what stops them from killing my family or me one day, huh?” “Hang on a minute. One of my guards approached you while you were with your family?” I so desperately wanted this to be true, because that would mean that he at least wasn’t my stalker, and that maybe some of the talk about his feelings for me was true. But I wasn’t sure if this was a trick of some kind, although I didn’t see the point if it was. “Yeah. He was working with the Santanos.” “And you gladly accepted? Just like that? If you believe I’m always trying to trick you, why didn’t you think it was a test and tell me about it?” He let out a laugh. “The guard offered me proof he was telling the truth, and the deal I made with the Santanos is none of your business. You tossed me out of your house like trash and only came to see me to use me for sex, so I don’t know

what you were expecting me to do.” “I had to do it because someone threatened me, and they forbade me from telling you anything. They said they’d kill you, and they had all the information about me and about what I was doing. I tried to figure out who they were, but it was impossible. And you just confirmed I had a traitor among my guards, which means that if the Satanos are behind this whole mess, then that guard could’ve fulfilled their threat and I wouldn’t have had time to figure them out and stop them.” “Stop making shit up.” “I’m not. Haven’t the Santanos told you? Why don’t you ask them if you’re such good friends? Why are they helping you anyway? What’s in it for them? Why do they care so much about your divorce that they’re willing to risk their men for it?” “I made a deal with them and that’s none of your concern. I owe them a favor.” “A favor?” I let out a laugh. “Seriously? Just ask yourself if there’s really something you can offer them. I bet they didn’t even tell you.” I was just guessing this, because there was something really fishy about this whole thing, and yeah, judging by the bewildered expression on James’ face, he didn’t know anything about my stalker. “I think someone’s playing us. Both of us. They turned you against me so they could pull this off, but I’m not sure what they really want.” The Santanos must have filled his head with lies, and yeah, what I’d done had hurt him, so he was all too eager to believe it, but I could tell he had doubts. He shook his head. “I don’t believe a word you say.” “Oh, come on. If you aren’t lying, then you have to be asking yourself what their goal here is. Are they really planning to let me live? Even after their men died for you? It doesn’t make sense. They say they’re doing this only for you, don’t they? For some mysterious favor? And they probably told you not to talk to me, right? Because they know we’d figure this shit out if that happened. What if they’re just using you? Are you sure they’d care if I sent assassins after you? I know you’re smart enough to find a way to test them and confirm your doubts about them, and I’m sure you have them.”

He was quiet for a while. “I’m not asking you to believe me. I’m sorry about how things have gone between us, but I had no choice. All I want is for you to question everything you’ve been told and consider it carefully, because the Santanos are pitting us against each other, and I don’t know why. I need your help. I need to know who has betrayed me.” “I don’t know anything about that.” “Who sent your messages to me?” He shook his head. “Some guy. I don’t know his name.” “Is there anything at all that might help us figure out what’s really going on? Because if we do what they want us to, I’m afraid we might both end up dead.” I took a few steps forward and was only inches away from him, willing him to believe me. He bit down on his lip, and then something beeped, making us both jerk back. A groan escaped his throat. “I have to go. They want me at our meeting spot.” He pulled out what looked like a pager. “They’re probably wondering what’s taking me so long.” “Okay. How about this? I’ll give you whatever you want if you help me take these people, or whoever it is that is doing this, down once and for all? What do you say?” My gaze was intent on his. “I don’t know. How can I trust you?” “Look into my eyes. I had to push you away to protect you. I would’ve never intentionally hurt you.” I reached out toward him, and he didn’t move or shove my hand away when I placed it on his cheek. “We can sign a deal, but I’m sure the Santanos will try to stop you from doing that.” His breath seemed to catch as he leaned his head, his lips hovering over mine. “I...” I pressed my finger over his lips. “We’ll talk some other time. It might be better for you to tell them you haven’t seen me, but I’ll leave that decision to you. We

need to find a way to see each other without them knowing. I can sneak out and meet you somewhere. Give me a place and time, and I promise I’ll be there. But it has to be somewhere I’ll feel safe, because even though I want to trust you too, I just...” “The Sweet Devotion club,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “In the back. Wednesday night. I’ll convince them I don’t need their protection. You should wear a disguise.” I creased my brow. “Isn’t that the place where people go for sex?” He nodded. “Is that a problem? No one will be suspicious if I go there.” I wanted to ask if he’d been there already, but I supposed I could do that the next time. At least he believed me, even if he didn’t want to it it. I was sure of it. And no, I didn’t think he was playing me. “Okay.” Unable to help myself, I closed the distance between us. His lips were warm against mine, and he was the one who deepened our kiss, his tongue brushing mine. For a moment, everything was as if none of this shit with the stalker and the Santanos had happened. When we broke apart, his gaze lingered on me, and then he started for the door. When he was gone, I sank down against one of the shelves, hoping that I wasn’t the idiot who’d fallen for yet another lie she desperately wanted to believe.

Chapter 12

I GLANCED BEHIND ME to make sure no one was following me, but I couldn’t see anyone. The blonde wig and a ton of makeup I was wearing were itchy, but I couldn’t take them off. My heart was thudding loudly in my chest as I entered the club. The front of the club that looked just like any other was brimming with people, and I elbowed my way through them to get to the back. The guards at the door eyed me carefully, but they let me through. As soon as I entered a dim hallway bathed in red light, I thought I’d stepped into a different world. It would be really awkward if I ran into one of my guards here, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Most doors I ed were closed and marked as locked, which meant they were occupied. I kept going until I reached a large room where people were supposed to meet and find their partner or partners. The atmosphere in here was almost the same as in the regular part of the club, except there was a lot more kissing going on and more clothes missing. I took a deep breath, trying to spot James, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. What if he’d changed his mind? What if the Santanos had played their part well and convinced him of things that weren’t true? If they had footage of me from my house, then they could’ve pieced up any story together, and even come up with a video of me saying things that I’d never said. Shit. What if this whole thing was a trap? Now they’d know exactly where I was and they could shoot up the place. But they could’ve killed me already if they’d wanted to, especially if they were the ones stalking me and if their spies were in my house. It would’ve been way easier to have one or two of them get me somewhere alone, kill me, and get out of my house before anyone realized what had happened. No, James had been genuinely confused, and I didn’t believe that the idea of having assassins come after his family and him was the only reason why he wouldn’t want to kill me. My heart skipped a beat when I spotted him in one of the corners. He took a step back from the girl who was obviously trying to kiss him. Ugh. I strode toward

them, and the girl backed off as soon as she saw me, giving me a cold once-over. James’ brow furrowed as I stopped in front of him, but then recognition flashed in his eyes. He leaned toward me, but then seemed to think better of it and pulled back. “Let’s go somewhere more private, shall we?” I took a look around. Even though no one was observing us, I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible before anyone spotted us and reported seeing James with a mysterious woman to the Santanos. “I’ll get us a room,” he said, and headed toward the guy who was sitting at a desk near the door and who was in charge of renting the rooms. I lingered near the door, observing. There weren’t any familiar faces in sight, but there were so many people that I couldn’t be sure no one would recognize me, even with the wig. When James placed his hand on my arm, I jumped a little, and then we made our way into the hallway. “There was only one room left.” He checked the number on the key that he was holding, and I followed him to the door to our room. After he quickly unlocked the door, he pushed it open for me. I hurried inside, then stopped in the middle of the room, frozen on the spot. My jaw went slack as I turned around. It looked like the only room left was actually a kinky room, full of all kinds of BDSM toys and a really awesome double bed with black covers. I hadn’t even noticed James was now standing next to me because I was still completely distracted by the setup of the room. “I swear this wasn’t on purpose,” he said, the corners of his lips quirking up. What again were we supposed to be doing here? Oh, yeah, talk. Not about sex, unfortunately. I tore my gaze away from the ropes and chains on the desk and focused on James. “I believe you,” he finally said. “About the Santanos. They’re playing us.” “That’s great. But how did you figure it out?” I was really happy to hear this, but I needed to make sure that it was real and not some game. “I told them I wanted to go on my own and that I no longer needed their help.”

His face grew serious. “And that I wanted to take my family somewhere safe.” “I guess they didn’t like that idea.” “No, they were adamant that we have to proceed with our initial plan and couldn’t tell me why it was important to them. They just tried to convince me they were right. I decided it was best to agree because they were getting nervous.” His jaw was set as he ground his teeth. “Then I caught them saying something I didn’t like.” “And?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I overheard something...” His eyes darkened. “They moved my family to another location and they don’t intend to tell me about it. They’re keeping my family hostage so they could get what they want if I disagree. I won’t let them do that. They don’t know I heard them, and I’m pretending everything’s okay. I believe they let me come in here only because they thought I’d get suspicious if they refused and because they might hope I’m moving on from you. It looks like me doing that doesn’t pose a threat to their plans, and I guess they think it’s better to keep me happy rather than reveal their true intentions.” “Did you hear where your family is?” If there was something James wouldn’t let anyone mess with, it was his family. The Santanos hadn’t been careful enough, and this time, I was sure he wasn’t lying about that. “No.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That’s what worries me. I’ll have to go back to them and pretend I know nothing so I can get more information out of them.” I caught his hand in mine. “You can do this. We’ll get your family back. I promise. But you’ll have to help me too. About my stalker... Did they mention anything?” He shook his head. “They haven’t talked about any of that or about you, but I’ll try to find out something.” His fingers brushed mine. “So you’re saying someone has been watching you... us... and then they said they’d kill me if...” “Yeah. I searched everything for cameras, but we never found anything. There are traitors among my men, and I don’t know who they are, so it’s possible they hid the cameras and bugs while we were searching and placed them back later,

or they simply reported what they saw and heard. That person somehow knew exactly when you left and they called you my weakness, but I’m not sure what they want.” “Can’t any of your tech guys help you? Or are they all traitors? You mentioned Meg...?” “I don’t know. Meg confessed that she was stalking me, but she kept doing this thing that she does when she’s nervous and lying, so I don’t think she’s the one, especially because it doesn’t make sense she’d just confess or that suspicious photos would pop out of nowhere. Someone threatened her, but she won’t tell me anything and I can’t talk to her in that damn house. Felipe’s acting suspiciously, but since none of my men really have any connections to the Santanos that I know of, it’s hard to figure out who the traitor is, especially when they’re working with a tech person who can cover up their tracks easily. It’s either someone who’s better than Meg or someone who has access to my computers. If I just reveal all this to my men, I’m sure the spies or traitors, who might’ve been forced to work for the Santanos or whoever, could under the radar, and then I’d solve nothing. I’d just make everyone more jumpy and make myself look incompetent, which I guess I am, because this is just...” I waved my hands. “Sounds to me like you’re doing the best you can.” He gave me a small smile. “I’m trying, but it’s driving me crazy. Those people turned you into my enemy and almost succeeded, and I still don’t know who I can trust.” “I’ll help you, but we have to be careful.” “I know, and I have an idea. I’ve been trying to play their game and pretend they’re getting what they want. But I really need to talk to Meg, and I can’t do that. So, I was thinking that maybe you could do something about it.” A frown creased his brow. “How?” “The Santanos still think you hate me and that you’re supposed to scare me into releasing you from our contract, right?” He nodded.

“Do you think you can get them to attack my house?” “Maybe. Why?” “I need you to grab Meg and pretend you killed her. I know. It’s complicated and risky, but I could take her outside for execution because she’s a traitor, and then you could attack and take her. If you send the Santanos to attack the other part of the house, I’d tell everyone to go fight them and defend the house, so I could leave Meg behind for you to get her, if you can come alone for her. Then you have to free her and tell her to run somewhere safe. We could pretend you killed her so that no one goes after her. She’d have to hide and find a way to get in with us, but if anyone can track down your family and figure this out, it’s her. And she might know something, but she needs to be somewhere safe and have a computer that hasn’t been hacked by the enemy.” James was quiet for a few moments. “That might work. Alberto Santano calls his men and me regularly, and they’re supposed to pretend they’re following my orders, so I can convince them to attack before he calls and before they get to tell him about it. Even if they him in the middle of it, I don’t think he’d be able to change our plans or stop us. If they bring in my family, then...” “I understand. If they threaten you, abort the plan. We’ll figure something out, and I can postpone Meg’s fake execution.” “God, I can’t believe I fell for their lies. But I was so mad at you, and they told me they’d save my family and me from you because you no longer cared about me. All they asked for was a favor, and they told me I needed to free myself from you. I thought they needed me to be an Ezzati again so they could take your business partners from you and that you didn’t send assassins after me because of that. But it was all a lie. I snuck into one of their rooms when they weren’t looking, and I saw the names of all your business partners. There wasn’t anyone I knew of. I’m surprised you haven’t sent anyone after me because there’s no reason for you to...” “No reason? There are plenty of reasons.” I looked deep into his eyes. “My feelings for you haven’t changed.” He lifted my hand and nuzzled it. “Neither have mine, even after everything. I hated myself for still thinking about you and wishing to be with you. I’ll never forgive them for separating me from you. We could’ve killed each other.”

“Yeah, except they knew we wouldn’t. They knew how I felt about you, or they wouldn’t have used you to threaten me, and even if you’d stopped caring for me, you wouldn’t want to risk having assassins after you. So what the hell do these people want if they don’t want us dead? I don’t get it. Do you think there’s someone who actually needs you to be an Ezzati again?” “No, I don’t.” “Then I’m still confused.” But I was so, so glad James and I were no longer enemies. “Me too.”

Chapter 13

“WHAT IF THE SANTANOS are working with someone else? They might not want anything from us, but someone else might,” I said. “Know anyone like that? Your father’s old associates or...?” “I don’t know anyone who’d care.” James shrugged. “I’m going to involve Marianta a little more in this. I trust her, but I need to be careful about her men too because we don’t know who the Santanos can reach.” “That’s a good idea. You can’t do it alone.” “I know. So...” I splayed my fingers against his chest. “Do you forgive me for sending you away?” “I wish you could’ve told me, but... there’s nothing to forgive.” He wound his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. I grinned, unable to contain my joy, and captured his lips with mine. The warmth of his body against mine was enough to soothe any stiffness in my muscles. “I’ve missed you so much. I wish you didn’t have to go back to the Santanos. It’s dangerous.” “Don’t worry about me.” He placed his hands on the sides of my face, his eyes boring into mine. “I can handle the Santanos. They’re not as good as they think.” “How much time do we have before they come for you?” The Santanos would definitely come looking for him if they thought he’d been gone too long, and I didn’t want to risk them catching me here, because then all of our plans would fall through. “At least half an hour. They put a tracker on me so they know exactly where I am. It shouldn’t look suspicious to them.” “A tracker?” I frowned, stepping away from him because the room was getting way too hot when I was close to him. “Are you sure they can’t listen in on us?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s just a regular tracker that they stuck in my pocket when they thought I wouldn’t notice.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small black round object. I hoped he was right about them not being able to listen. When I found myself in front of the desk, I reached out toward one of the padded cuffs, but then pulled my hand back. “Do you think they clean these?” I pointed at the cuffs, then slid my wig off. “Yeah, they do it after every use. That’s why it’s so hard to get a room here and why it’s so expensive.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know all that?” A smile spread across his lips. “My father and my brothers used to come here often, and my father brought me here once, but I wasn’t interested in spending an hour with a random woman like he was, so I explored the place until he was done. I saw the way they clean the rooms. It’s very meticulous.” “Ah, is it?” Heat was spreading through my body, my voice getting huskier. “Since we’re already here... why don’t we have some fun? The Santanos aren’t likely to interrupt us just yet, and if you leave too quickly, it might look suspicious.” I strolled toward the wall with toys, swaying my hips, and snatched one of the riding crops. Turning around to face James, I slapped the crop lightly against my palm. His gaze was transfixed to me, his lips parted, his erection pushing against his pants. Just seeing him like that sent a rush through me. I strode toward him with a small smile on my face. “What do you say?” I asked, running my tongue over my upper lip. “I like that idea.” He watched me as I circled around him. “Good. Then why don’t you take off your clothes?” I didn’t have to say it twice. Grabbing the hem of his shirt, he pulled it over his head, revealing his toned chest. After unbuckling his belt, he kicked off his shoes and pulled his pants down. When he was just in his tight black boxers, which looked so perfect on him, he lifted his gaze to mine.

“You’re overdressed,” he said. “Why don’t I...?” “Nuh uh.” I bit down on my lip. “Get those off first.” I pointed with the crop at his boxers. “As you wish.” He hooked his fingers into the waistband and rolled his hips, slowly tugging the boxers down. His thick length sprang into view, and I knew he was as excited about this as I was. “Can I help you undress now?” he asked. “Patience.” “Can you blame me for wanting to see, touch, and kiss every inch of you?” A grin curved his lips, and the images his words created in my mind almost made my knees buckle. “I guess not.” I stopped behind his back and placed my hand on his ass, giving him a hard squeeze that made his breath quicken. Letting go of him, I took a step back and raised the crop, lowering it to his back. He shuddered as I trailed the crop down his skin. When I flicked it across his ass, a gasp escaped his throat. A thrill shot through me as I teased him, and then I brought the crop down, leaving red stripes all over his skin and loving every reaction of his body. Once I came face to face with him, I pressed my lips against his. “Do you like this?” I asked as I tapped the crop against his chest, then moved it lower, brushing it against his cock. “Yeah,” he choked out, his eyes widening as I gently stroked him with the crop. “Oh God, Arianna. What are you doing to me?” I gently slapped his throbbing erection and caressed his thighs, sliding the crop between his legs as his chest rapidly rose and fell. “I want to touch you,” he breathed. “Please. We don’t have much time.” “Hmm. I’ll think about it.” I curled my finger in an invitation and backed toward the bed. “Yeah, okay. Come here.” Laying the crop down next to me, I sat down on the edge of the bed. Our time together was running out, so I wanted to get out of my clothes as soon as possible.

“Let me help you,” he said, but I lifted my hand up to stop him, because even though I’d love that, it was faster if I did it on my own. It would be very easy to forget about time if we got too distracted. That still didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy every single moment, so once I was sitting naked in front of him, I picked up the crop again. His eyes were brimming with lust and ion. “Get down on your knees,” I said, and when he complied, I opened my legs wide for him. His sharp intake of breath only made me wetter. “Show me just how much you missed me.” He pounced on me so fast that I let out a yelp that turned into a laugh. His hands roamed up and down my legs, caressing gently, as he lowered his nose to my center, breathing in as if he couldn’t get enough of my scent. Oh God. He rubbed his nose against me, then gave me a tentative lick. I squirmed as his tongue probed and prodded, slipping in and out, slowly at first, then gaining speed. As he lapped at me, hitting all the right spots, I brought the crop down on his back, a little harder than I’d intended, but that only made him suck more fervently, yet gently enough not to be uncomfortable. My fingers slipped into his hair, tugging lightly, as I threw my head back, my moans growing louder and louder. I pulled him closer to me, and when his tongue swirled over my clit, the pressure inside me intensified so much that I closed my legs around his head, trapping him in place. That didn’t even faze him, and he kept on sucking and licking. I thought I was going to explode from all the fire spreading through my veins. When he tipped me over the edge, I cried out, falling down on the bed. As I gasped for breath, I looked down my body and found him grinning at me with a wicked expression on his face. All I could do was flick my finger at him so he’d get on top of me. “I want... you... inside me.” Delicious tremors were still traveling through me as he positioned himself above my entrance, but as soon as the tip of him brushed against me, a new kind of energy surged through me. He slid himself inside, and I held onto him, wrapping my legs around him. His eyes searched for mine as he started to move, filling and stretching me until I thought we weren’t two bodies but one. I lifted my head and gave him a long kiss, pulling him close to me. His teeth grazed my lip as his thrusts became more

powerful, and I arched my hips toward him. My nails dug into the tender skin of his back as he pounded into me, and I raked them down his back, making him grunt, but I knew it wasn’t from pain, only pleasure. In his eyes, I could see that he was giving me all of him, any doubts or resentfulness long gone. I savored that look, because I was sure it would give me strength when I most needed it. Mine. James was mine, and he’d always be. No one was going to break us apart. No one. A loud moan escaped my throat as he slammed himself into me, and I clenched around him as I felt him pulsating inside me. I pushed my hips toward him again, wanting all of him, and then a wave of pleasure bathed over me, taking my breath away. Every inch of me tingled and throbbed as he shuddered above me, his release following only a moment later. He cried out, collapsing on top of me, and I clung onto him, not willing to let him go. His place was in my arms. Nowhere else. While we tried to catch our breaths, I kept running my fingers through his hair and he planted two soft kisses on my neck before pushing himself up. As soon as his body left me, I thought I was going to feel instantly cold, but that didn’t happen, because he was still a part of me, even if we weren’t touching. He rolled on his side next to me, and we just watched each other for a while. “We have to go.” I hated to ruin this moment, but I had to go back home before Felipe or some other traitor noticed I was gone and started searching for me, and James had to return to the Santanos too. “I know.” He caught my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine. “If our plan works and I free Meg, we should meet here a week later.” “But what if Meg gets scared or someone finds her in the meantime?” “We have to take that risk. Everyone will be watching you closely after the attack, and maybe me too. It’s better to wait until they relax a little. If we play it right, everyone will believe Meg’s dead anyway, and I’m sure she won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

I thought about it for a moment, but yeah, it wouldn’t be easy to sneak out of my house so soon after the attack. Besides, that would be the best time to monitor Felipe and the others’ behavior, since they’d probably have to get in with their boss about the attack. “Yeah, you’re right. We mustn’t rush this. I want to catch everyone who’s working with my enemy, and you need to figure out where your family’s being held.” He briefly closed his eyes and squeezed my hand. “We can do this.” “I know.” Our enemies were going to pay for everything they’d done. I was sure of it.

Chapter 14

FELIPE FLASHED ME A smile as soon as I entered the tech room, and just seeing him so chipper instantly made me nauseated. “I’ve been looking for a good replacement for Meg, and I think I found someone.” “Oh?” I gave him an expectant look. Wow. He wanted to replace Meg so soon. I wondered if he wanted to bring in another traitor—if he was one. “Her name is Valentina Orreson. She’s qualified for the job, has a college education, and I’ve known her for years. I’m sure we wouldn’t have any problems with her since she isn’t associated with any mafia families or gangs.” He shifted in his chair as I came to stand next to him so I could see a photo of a dark-haired woman with dark brown eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her or met her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You might know her, but I don’t. Would she even be willing to work for someone like me?” I eyed him carefully. He kept his eyes on the screen in front of him, so I couldn’t read the expression on his face. “I don’t think working for you would be a problem for her. She’d have to go through our tests and checks first, of course. I haven’t started anything yet because I wanted to get your approval first. But Valentina needs money and a place to stay. She has no family that I know of. She sounds like a perfect candidate.” “Okay. You can start the process, but don’t bring her in until I say so.” That was clearly what he wanted, so I decided to let him do it to see how things would go, but I’d memorize the name and do research on my own. My thoughts flew to James, and I hoped like hell he was fine and that the Santanos hadn’t figured out that he was no longer on their side. “Wonderful,” Felipe said, his fingers already on the keyboard. “Do you need me to do anything else?” “Yeah, actually. I’m going to talk to Meg. Keeping her in the dungeon and doing

nothing makes no sense, and no one has approached her, so I’ll try questioning her one last time.” His head snapped toward me, his eyebrows rising. “Do you want me to call for someone to help you with that?” “Not yet, but I’ll let you know if I do.” I headed for the door, intent on not letting anyone get to Meg before me, so I hurried into the hallway and toward the cell where she was held. The guards at the door greeted me as soon as they saw me. “Open the door,” I said, and they obeyed without hesitation. As I entered inside, Meg looked up at me from the bed in her small cell. Her face was very pale, dark circles were under her eyes, and her lips were chapped. She wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze meeting mine. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I came to offer you a deal. How about you tell me everything about the people you’re working with, because no, I don’t believe you were acting alone, and I might get you out of this cell?” I glanced at the corner of the room where the camera was and wondered if the traitors were freaking out right now because Meg might finally it she’d been forced to lie about her being the stalker. She caught the edge of the old blanket that was on the bed and twisted it between her fingers. “There’s nothing I have to say to you. You can leave. I did what I did, and that’s all.” “Really?” I crossed my arms. “You went through so much trouble to spy on me and manipulate me into doing what you wanted me to, and it was all for... what? Come on, there has to be someone else involved. Who are they?” She focused on a spot on the wall and kept staring at it, not saying a word. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk...” I opened the door and called for the guards. Panic filled her eyes, but she still didn’t say a word. I hated that I had to put her through this, but it was the only way to get her out of the house. If James hadn’t succeeded in convincing the Santanos to attack my house, though, I’d have a huge problem. “Take her outside. To the backyard,” I said.

“Ma’am?” one of the guards asked, his voice laced with surprise. “You heard me. Do it.” I moved away from the door to let them in. They grabbed Meg by the arms. She struggled at first, but then she let them drag her to the door. I followed them as we made our way to the backyard, and a few more men and women gave us curious and surprised looks as we ed them by. Everyone knew Meg had betrayed me, but, unless Felipe had told them something, they had no idea how. If I were really planning to kill Meg, I would probably make a speech about it, just to dissuade anyone from trying anything similar. Once we were outside, the guards pushed Meg down on her knees in the middle of the yard. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time. Hopefully, James was somewhere nearby, waiting to make a move. It was time, so I pocketed my phone and unholstered my gun. As soon as I pointed it at Meg, tears started streaming down her face. “Please,” she sobbed. “Don’t.” “You’re leaving me no choice, unless you want to start talking and...” “I was only trying to do what’s best for you and for everyone. You can’t...” The sound of gunfire pierced the air, and my guards grabbed their weapons, turning toward the sound. Relief spread through me, which was ridiculous, considering how dangerous the situation was. “Ma’am! You should get inside,” one of them said. More of my guards were rushing out, but they weren’t sure if they should come protect me or go in the opposite direction where the attackers were. “I will. You two check what’s going on. I’ll take Meg back with me.” “But...” “Just go! There’s no one here. I can handle her.” I kept my gun pointed at Meg. The guards looked at each other, but then they ran off. “Get up,” I said to Meg. A bullet came out of nowhere and hit one of the pots with flowers. In the distance, behind a tree, I could see James. Pretending I was

looking for a hiding spot, I raced across the yard, leaving Meg there. She just stood there, as if unsure about what to do. She’d better not start running in the wrong direction before James could reveal our plan to her. As I reached the house, I glanced over my shoulder. Meg had broken into a run, but James jumped out in front of her with his gun, then grabbed her and dragged her with him behind the trees. I closed my eyes for a moment and rushed into the house. The gunshots could still be heard, but they were getting less frequent. “Ma’am!” One of my guards came toward me. “Are we under attack? What’s going on?” I asked. “A group of men came. There aren’t many of them, so we didn’t see them, but they’re retreating. Do you want us to go after them?” “Yeah, do it.” I couldn’t exactly tell my men to let an attack on me slide, and I hoped James had planned this well and knew how to lose them. The guard nodded, and I raced for the elevator. As soon as I entered the compound, I spotted Felipe, whose eyes were wide. “Thank God, you’re okay!” he said. “What the hell happened?” “Haven’t you seen anything on the cameras?” “No, I... I’ve been busy. None of the alerts came up, so I assumed... I’m sorry.” Interesting. I’d expected he’d be a problem, but maybe not. But if he was working with the Santanos, maybe they’d alerted him of the attack or he was trying to protect them. Then again, there was always a chance the camera in the yard had been turned the other way. I swore, bringing my hand to my mouth. “Meg! Where is she?” “Wasn’t she with you?” Felipe asked, his brow furrowing. He lifted the tablet he was holding and tapped its screen. “No, I... Someone fired at me, and I completely forgot about her.” I raked my hand through my hair. “Fuck! I can’t believe I let her escape.” Rushing toward Felipe, I leaned over his tablet. “Can you pull up the footage of what happened? I need to know where she is. Maybe the guards got her.”

I kept a close eye on the screen. Felipe’s email inbox was there for a second, but then he quickly closed it and opened another window. It was too late, though, because I’d seen he’d just sent off an email to someone with some kind of a number, maybe a code, in the subject line. He finally pulled up the footage, but since the camera was too far away, James and Meg were tiny figures on the screen. “Fuck! Someone grabbed her!” I growled as I stepped away from him. “Send everyone to look for her.” “Yeah, right away.” He clicked on a few things, but this time when his inbox came up again, it was empty. Great. He’d deleted the proof that he’d ed someone. It had to be the stalker or Alberto Santano, or maybe that was the same person. “I think the Ezzati has her. They were careful to avoid detection. He knows too much about our security and guards. We changed the schedules and everything, but he must’ve figured it out.” “Then we have to fix that,” I said. “I’m going to call Marianta and bring in her men. We need help.” “Um, are you sure that’s the right thing to do? We don’t need unknown people in here, do we?” What? Are you afraid they’re going to realize you’re a traitor or that you’re secretly talking to someone? “Yeah. Like you said, James knows too much, and I want this to be over as soon as possible.” “It might not be necessary. I might be able to track down Meg and the Ezzati.” “Might?” Damn, he could probably just his buddies and have them tell him where Meg was if she was still with the Santanos, but if everything had gone as planned, James had already sent Meg away and made everyone think she was dead. “Sorry, but I can’t count on that. You have to work on our security here, since obviously anyone can attack us when we least expect it.” He licked his lips, and I wondered if he was the one who’d provided the information to the Santanos so they could make the attack happen in the first place. I supposed it depended on who had the clearance to who. If the Santanos who were with James could message Felipe without having to check in with their boss Alberto—since they believed the attack was justified and was

what their boss had already approved—then he’d helped them. And if everything had to go through the boss first, then James had probably improvised, since yeah, I’d told him what I could about our security. It would be kind of funny if Felipe had helped thinking he was doing it for Alberto Santano, but instead, he’d done the wrong thing. “Let me know if there’s any...” Something beeped before I could finish my sentence. Felipe gaped at the screen of his tablet, and I tilted my head at him. “What’s wrong?” “I... um, you have a message. From James.” He scratched the top of his head, and I could almost see the wheels behind his eyes turning. “It’s about Meg. She’s... She’s dead.” “What?” He turned the tablet toward me. James had managed to take a photo of Meg lying on the ground, her eyes closed, and it looked terribly realistic. The message said he’d killed my friend and that he’d kill more if I didn’t give him what he wanted. “You were planning to kill her anyway, right? James didn’t know she was a traitor.” “Yeah,” I said quietly. When I lifted my eyes to Felipe, he actually looked relieved, probably because he believed Meg was dead and unable to tell the truth. Should I arrest him now or wait? I decided to wait and find out just who he was working with and how.

Chapter 15

“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT to let that woman into your home?” Marianta asked as we were sitting in her little garden. Her men were getting ready to go to my house, and I wanted only the best. I’d just finished telling her about Felipe and the woman he wanted to hire. “I don’t know. I might just wait to see what he’ll do, but since we’ve been attacked, we can postpone that. No one would think that’s weird, and not even Felipe could have reasonable arguments for it, especially with your men there.” At least now there was a very legit reason why I’d want to bring in Marianta’s men to increase our security, and no one would question my decision too much. They were supposed to stay with us only until we upped our security and used their expertise to help us with that, and yeah, no one would know what exactly they would be doing, so they could stay as long as I needed them to. “I’ll have my men look into this Valentina person. If Felipe is a traitor, and he wants her with him, that means she’s important for some reason.” Marianta crossed one leg over the other, leaning back. “How do you think Felipe even knows the Santanos, if they are the ones he’s ing?” “I wish I knew. He’s been with me for years, and I don’t think there has ever been anything suspicious about him, but if he’s hacked my systems, we could’ve missed a lot of information. I don’t think he’s been doing this for a long time. That’s why it’s so weird. It had to have happened sometime after I defeated the Desaltis.” “I had my men monitor him when he was visiting his relatives, but nobody saw or caught anything odd. But since he has access to your systems, he doesn’t have to use anything else. Are you sure you don’t want to just arrest him? If you wish, I can tell my men to pretend they found something odd about him. While you investigate, he can be locked up.” “Not yet. I’d prefer it if you could find a way to monitor what he does, and maybe catch some of the messages he sends. If he’s out of the picture, I’m afraid

someone else might step in and they might be more careful. If they believe I suspect nothing, I have a better chance of catching them interacting, especially now that I’ll have your men at my house.” I didn’t know if that was the best option, but I could always change my mind if my plan didn’t work out. She cocked her head. “It wasn’t just you defeating the Desaltis, though. You and James got rather close. Someone might’ve approached Felipe and some of your men a long time ago, but your closeness with an old sworn enemy might’ve pushed them to the other side. So, you might have to look into everyone who might still hold a grudge against your husband’s family. It was one thing to marry him and make him renounce his name, humiliating him in the process, but falling for him...” “I’ll talk to Meg. She might be able to tell me more. I don’t think anyone realized she’s not really dead.” I hadn’t heard any news that someone had found her or even that they’d been looking. My men had gone after the Santanos, but either Felipe had sent them in the wrong direction or it was impossible to find anything, because they’d come back empty handed with no idea as to where to search. At least there was some use for Felipe. He was helping the enemy, and that way, he was helping James too without even knowing it. Just thinking about it made me smile. Oh, I so couldn’t wait for the moment I could confront Felipe and tell him I was aware of what he’d been doing. “That was nicely played.” Her lips pulled into a smile. “There’s one more thing I need.” “Sure. What is it?” “I need your men to wear cameras, but they’d have to be hard to spot. Maybe attached to a button or somewhere no one would usually look. I could take control over the computers from Felipe, but I don’t want to make him too nervous, because he could resort to something even harder to detect than it already is.” “Maybe you should just fire everyone.” Marianta let out a laugh. “Yeah, and have them all the enemy and spill everything they know about

me.” I grinned. “Sure, wonderful idea. Unless you want me to kill them all.” She sighed. “I should’ve just opened a clothes shop like my mother wanted me to. If I ever get myself in a mess like yours...” She whistled. “I don’t even want to think about it.” “If you get in trouble, I hope I’ll be there to help you. Any luck finding James’ family?” I supposed she would’ve already told me if she knew something, but maybe she didn’t want to until she was sure. “Any clues?” “Unfortunately, no. There’s no way of telling where the Santanos took them.” I didn’t like that one little bit, because as long as only the Santanos knew where his mother and sisters were, they could force James to do whatever they wanted him to. “Maybe James has had more luck.” “He might. He’s living with the Santanos. If they trust him, they might let something slip.” “Yeah.” I’d find out once I got to talk to James, and I didn’t even want to consider the possibility that the Santanos had found out he was conspiring with me.

A WHOLE WEEK HAD GONE by, and I was supposed to meet with James at the club tonight. Marianta’s men were doing a good job, but my traitors were lying low, and not even Felipe had done anything suspicious, or maybe no one had been able to detect it. Still, he was a little more jumpy than usual. I wasn’t worried, because I was sure he’d have to the Santanos or whoever soon, as they probably wanted him to report on me. The most important thing was getting to Meg, so I hoped James knew how to find her. I opened the door of my room and peeked outside. The guards were in the hallway, so I headed in the opposite direction. Even though Marianta’s men would probably be able to help me get out of here, I didn’t want anyone to know where I was going. There was no way I was going to put James’ life at risk. Just as I was about to reach the stairway that led out of the compound, I sensed movement behind my back. “Going somewhere?” Felipe asked, and I turned around to face him. “Just upstairs to get some air. Why? Did something happen?” He clutched his tablet. “No. I’m checking the hallway for any suspicious devices. I know we need more protection, but I don’t want those men to plant something under the excuse that they’re helping you.” I tilted my head at him. “Do you think we shouldn’t trust Marianta? Did they do something?” His lips pulled into a forced smile. “They haven’t done anything. Yet.” “Alright. Then keep checking.” I turned toward the door. “It might be better if you just used the elevator. You don’t want to give the guards a scare. They can be quite trigger-happy, especially after the recent attack.” Ugh. I could strangle him. Why had he had to appear here? He was probably looking for new ways to spy on me, and my being here was making him suspicious. I couldn’t let that happen, because if he realized I was going out, he

might have me followed, and he wouldn’t even need my enemy to do that. He could just say he was worried about me and send someone in case something happened, and it wasn’t like I had told him to do or not to do anything. “Are you saying the guards are incompetent?” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “No, I...” “Good. Then go back to your job and let the others handle theirs.” I strode upstairs. Shit. Now I’d have to be super careful and convince everyone I was still in the house when I wasn’t. Once I reached the top and emerged in the hallway, my guards’ gazes fell on me, but they instantly relaxed. I made my way down the hallway, in the opposite direction of the garage, wondering if I should sneak through a window. Avoiding cameras wouldn’t be hard since I knew exactly where they were, but guards... My guards were a problem, because they kept moving. Unpredictably. My stomach did a nervous flip. If I couldn’t get out of the house and I didn’t get to the club in time, James might have to leave and then I’d never get an opportunity to arrange another meeting with him. And if we didn’t get to talk to each other, I wouldn’t be able to find Meg and we’d never... I took a deep breath, pushing the depressing thoughts away. No, this would work out. One of Marianta’s guards appeared at the end of the hallway, all alone, and I got an idea. “Hey.” I waved at him. “Ma’am?” he said as he approached. “I’m going to take a bath upstairs. If anyone’s looking for me, can you please tell them that I don’t want to be disturbed? Not for anything in the world.” I gave him a sweet smile. “Yes.” The guy hadn’t been here for long, so there was no way in hell he knew where my bathrooms were, especially since I had many in this house. I could go in any direction and he wouldn’t be able to tell I’d lied. All I had to do was make sure I didn’t run into anyone else.

“Thank you.” I briefly placed my hand on his arm and strode down the hallway. The bathroom wasn’t anywhere near here, and I pressed myself against the wall to avoid being seen by more guards or any cameras. I waited until they were gone, and then hurried to one of the back exits. Luckily, no one was outside the door when I emerged, but I kept to the walls to evade the cameras. It was dark, but I could still see the shadows of the guards on patrol near the fence. When they were far enough away, I ran for one of the trees that would keep me out of sight of one of the cameras. I rushed from tree to tree, and when I reached the fence, my heart was thudding loudly in my chest. If my guards saw me now, they’d surely mistake me for an intruder and shoot me, because I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near here. I listened for any sounds and glanced around me. No one was nearby, but they’d be coming soon. I found the spot in the fence that was the easiest to climb over—I was really glad we didn’t have an electric one. When I jumped over and hit the ground, my breath left me, but I managed to break into a run. As I was leaving my house behind, I hoped no one would figure out I was gone.

Chapter 16

I STAYED AWAY FROM the streets where I might be spotted. My wig was right where I’d hidden it last time, so I put it on and headed to the club because there wasn’t much time left, and if I was late, I was wasting precious minutes I could spend with James. As I searched for him in the dim room full of people, I couldn’t help but worry that he might not have been able to get here. I didn’t know what I’d do in that case, and the sole thought of it was enough to drive me crazy. My heart skipped a beat when someone wrapped their arms around me from behind, making me yelp, and I nearly elbowed them. “Relax. It’s just me,” James said, his lips brushing my ear. I turned around in his embrace. “Thank God. Let’s get ourselves a room.” “Already got it.” He waved with the key, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We hurried to find our room, and as soon as James locked the door behind us, I wrapped my arms around him, pulled him to me, and gave him a long, hard kiss. When we broke apart, the corners of his lips quirked up. “I’ve missed you too,” he said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to get here, or that you wouldn’t, and I just...” I blurted out. “I’m so glad you’re here.” “Me too.” His smile faded, and I knew he had something important to tell me. “Is everything okay? Our plan with Meg worked, right? She’s fine.” He nodded, and my shoulders sagged in relief. “Where is she? We need to go talk to her.” It shouldn’t be too hard to sneak out of here with all the crowd dancing and having fun, but we’d have to be very careful.

“We will, but not today.” “What? Why?” I didn’t think we had time to waste. “The Santanos are nearby doing some business for their boss. We can’t risk getting caught, especially because it might not be easy to track down Meg. We’ll have to do it some other time when I’m sure they are farther away from us.” My brow furrowed. “Track her down? Are you saying you don’t know where she is? Didn’t you tell her when and where to meet you?” “There was no time, and she didn’t know where to go. I had to fake throwing her body in the river and get back to the Santanos before they realized something was going on. They don’t suspect anything for now, so that’s a good thing, but I haven’t had any luck finding out anything about my family’s whereabouts because they’re very careful and keep all the information under lock and key. I’ll try to get to it, but I’ll need time. I can’t let them know something’s up. They must’ve threatened my family because my sisters are avoiding telling me anything when we talk to each other, and the calls are getting shorter and shorter under some pathetic excuses about security.” He lowered his head, and I leaned my forehead against his. “Marianta’s men are looking for them. We’ll find them.” I rubbed my nose against his. “I wish I could do more, but they’re watching me all the time.” “How are you going to get away next time? If they don’t let you out of their sight, we might have a problem.” “I’ll find a way, as long as they don’t decide to stick around here. They were very pleased with how things have gone at your house, although Alberto warned me I should consult with him first, supposedly because I’m putting his men’s lives at risk and he’d like to be informed.” “What happened with Meg? Did you get to talk to her? I assume you got her to cooperate, but did she manage to tell you anything?” “She was shocked and scared, so we didn’t get to talk much, but she understood what I needed her to do. She said she was going to find some place to stay, and

she was truly relieved you knew she wasn’t guilty. We agreed she’d leave a note with a way for us to reach out to her.” “Did she say anything about who threatened her?” If she’d managed to give him a name, that would be perfect. He shook his head. “There was no time. The Santanos would’ve figured out something was wrong. But they’re definitely communicating with someone who’s working for you because they helped me with our plan for attack, so I didn’t even have to make up a story to explain how I knew.” “Yeah, Felipe. I’m keeping an eye on him, but he’s doing his best not to raise suspicion. We might need him, though, if we want to feed false information to our enemy for some reason. And if he’s gone, then someone else might try to take his place as the main spy, so I’m holding off on that for now.” “Good. Why don’t you take that off?” His gaze settled on my wig. “You don’t like blondes?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re the only real and true thing in my life right now. I’d prefer not to see anything fake on you.” “Aww.” I flashed him a smile. “Now’s probably the wrong time to tell you I had a boob job.” “No, you didn’t.” His lips tilted up. “Are you sure? Why don’t you check?” I winked at him as I took off my wig. He narrowed his eyes at me and laughed, taking a step closer. I barely had time to toss the wig aside before he slipped his hands under my shirt, cupping my breasts through my bra. Heat spread all over my body. “That’s not a proper way to check,” I said. “No? Can you teach me how it’s done, then?” “Sure.” I got hold of his arms and gave him a kiss. “Take off my shirt.”

“Gladly.” He gripped the hem of my shirt, gently tugging it up so the soft fabric caressed my skin. Once my shirt was on the floor, my lips found his again. “Good. Now my bra,” I said, and he came to stand behind me. His lips brushed my shoulder as he undid the clasp, and then trailed a path of hot kisses over my shoulder and neck. As he slid the straps of my bra down, he licked my neck, and then his mouth closed over my earlobe, sucking gently. A moan escaped my throat, and I didn’t even realize when exactly my bra had ed my shirt on the floor. “How do you like this?” he asked, his hands roaming up and down my stomach, then traveling up to my breasts, squeezing and kneading them. “Very much,” I breathed as I leaned into him, his erection already pressing against my ass. “And this?” He lightly pinched my nipples, twirling them between his fingers. My answer came out as a gasp. “Stop.” “Are you sure about that?” he asked, but he let go of me. I turned around and caught his chin, pulling him toward me for a kiss. My tongue parted his lips, slipping inside and searching his. I bit down on his lip, then sucked gently. The desire in his eyes was only igniting me more. “Come,” I said, kicking off my shoes and backing toward the bed. I let myself fall down on it and reached out for him. He climbed on top of me, and our lips collided again. “Why don’t you continue where we left off?” A smile spread across his lips and he lowered himself so he could capture my nipple with his mouth, his tongue tracing circles around my swollen bud. I wound my fingers into his hair as he focused his attention completely on my breasts, pulling and licking, and I arched my back, my core aching for him. “I’m pretty sure these are real,” he said when he lifted his head to look at me, and I burst out laughing. “This too.” He left a path of kisses down my stomach, making me squirm, and slid his tongue over my belly button. “Can I get you out of these?” Hooking his fingers into the waistband of my pants, he tilted his head at me.

I nodded, and he proceeded to unbutton my pants, then pulled them down my legs along with my panties. Spreading my legs open for him, I watched him as he buried his head between my thighs, blowing a hot breath on my center. When his tongue parted my folds, I let out a moan, clutching onto the sheets. The way his tongue danced over my slit and flicked over my clit made every part of me tingle. A finger ed in, pushing in and out, and I closed my eyes for a moment. “Oh God, James.” When I glanced at him, he was looking directly at me, and I had a feeling I could get lost in the depths of his eyes. Another finger slipped in, building pressure inside me to the point where I thought I might spontaneously combust. How the hell did he know exactly what to do to make me feel more alive than ever? A touch in just the right place triggered an orgasm that shook my body like an earthquake, leaving me panting for breath. “Take off your clothes,” I managed to say. When I pushed myself up, he was already naked, and the sight of his lean body aroused me again in an instant. My gaze fell on the chains behind him. “You like those, don’t you?” he asked, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Maybe,” I said. “Do you?” “I don’t know. Shall we find out?” I looked from him to the chains, then back, and a smile popped up on my face. Jumping off the bed, I raced across the room to grab them, which made him laugh. “Lie down on the bed,” I commanded. When he complied, I stepped forward with the chains. Just seeing the anticipation in his eyes and his twitching cock made my insides quiver, and I took his wrist, securing the leather cuff around it, then attaching the chain to the headboard that was made for just such a thing. I repeated the process with his other wrist, and then with his ankles, until he was spread-eagled on the bed and mine for the taking. I stood back to ire his strong body, loving the way his chest rose and fell with excitement. “Now I can do to you whatever I want, however I want.” He let out a soft gasp, and I stepped closer, running my fingers up his leg, over

his thigh, then across his stomach. His muscles tensed and relaxed, his gaze glued to me and filled with adoration. I’d never felt more beautiful in my life. There was no doubt that he trusted me completely. When I got on top of him, I traced my finger down his thick shaft and a shudder shook his body. The tip of him was already leaking, and I squeezed gently, making him hiss. “Whatever you do, don’t come,” I said before I took him into my mouth, my hand finding its way to his balls and massaging lightly. His eyes widened, his lips parting and releasing gasps of pleasure. I swirled my tongue around him, pressing my finger against the tender spot behind his sack. As I increased the speed, I kept looking at him. The chains clanked, as he was unable to stay still. “Arianna, please,” he whispered. “Please what?” I lifted my head just long enough to tell him that. He struggled against the chains, throwing his head back, his hips lifting up. His mouth was open, but he seemed to be unable to form words. It was fascinating to see him so completely lost in the moment and so totally surrendered to my touch and me. “Ari...” he choked out. “Stop. I can’t.” After one more long lick, I decided to give him a break. His chest was rapidly rising and falling with effort, and I knew that he was doing his best not to disobey me. It only made my desire for him stronger. “You okay?” I asked. He gave me a small nod. “Good.” I positioned myself over him, getting hold of his cock and rubbing myself against him. He groaned as I guided him toward my entrance, pushing just the tip inside me, then letting him slip out. Even though teasing him was super fun, my need to feel him inside me refused to be denied any longer, so I slowly slid myself onto him, taking him all in. “Look at me,” I said as I started rocking my hips, and when his eyes found mine,

I smiled, riding him harder and faster. He grunted, his hips lifting toward mine, meeting me stroke for stroke, thrust for thrust. I arched my back, taking him deep inside me, careful not to let him slip out as I moved exactly the way I wanted to. The look of pure bliss on James’ face was something I wasn’t going to forget. I clenched around him, feeling him throb and pulsate. We were so close to the edge, and I looked straight into his eyes, our bodies connected in ways I couldn’t even understand. It was more than just physical, and I didn’t think I’d ever feel about someone like I felt about him. He and I were meant to be, even if the whole world was against us. Never enemies again, just one soul. A ripple of pleasure shot through me, wiping every thought from my mind. Every inch of my body burned with its power. I wasn’t sure if I’d cried out or if it was James, or maybe both of us. His release pulsated inside me, and I barely managed to push myself off him before collapsing. We were both gasping for breath as I settled against his chest, wrapping myself around him like a blanket. When I looked up at him, his eyes were glowing with contentment, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I just might leave you like this,” I said when I had enough strength to push myself up. “You won’t.” His lips pulled up into a smile. “How are you so sure?” I teased. “If you do that, someone else might come and take advantage of me. And I’m only yours.” The certainty in his voice was unmistakable. “Yes, you are.” I lowered my lips to his.

Chapter 17

I SHIFTED FROM FOOT to foot, glancing around the corner to see if James was coming. We’d agreed to meet at a spot not too far away from the club, but hidden enough between the buildings that there was less chance someone would spot us. What worried me most was that James had to go to Sweet Devotion first and then find a way to sneak out without being seen. There might not be that many people at the club since it was only afternoon, and it was also possible the Santanos had their spy—someone James didn’t know about—who was supposed to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t go anywhere. Maybe we should’ve just met at the club again, or I should’ve done this on my own, but James had insisted on accompanying me. He knew the place where Meg had hidden a clue as to how to find her, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find it just going by his description. Besides, if I spent too much time looking for Meg, I could get caught. Neither James nor I had time to waste. This had to be done quickly before anyone suspected anything, and it was crucial for finally figuring out all the spies, moles, and traitors. I didn’t want a single one of them to under the radar. A shadow caught my eye, and as I glanced in its direction, I recognized James immediately. My shoulders relaxed. He was wearing a black hoodie and was striding down the street with his head bowed. Pressing myself against the wall, I waited for him to reach me. “Are you sure no one followed you here?” I whispered once we were face to face in an alley that was littered with trash that had spilled out of an overturned container. Just because no one was in sight at the moment didn’t mean they couldn’t come soon, so we had to be careful and quick. I’d picked a dark red wig this time, because I thought it made me look different enough but not standing out so much as the blonde one. “Yeah.” He placed his hand on my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss that warmed me up from inside.

“Then we should get going.” I took a good look around. When we were sure the coast was clear, I followed James down the alley. “What if someone found Meg’s note? Couldn’t you have just agreed on a safe spot to meet? What if her plans have changed in the meantime?” I asked, unable to stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and it wasn’t all just getting caught. “It’s a really safe spot. I don’t think anyone else knows about it. And if her plans changed, then she could’ve changed the note too, or leave another one.” “I know, but it’s all just...” I shook my head. “How are you sure no one knows about it? How did you find out about it in the first place?” If the hiding spot in question was where the Ezzatis’ men and spies had used to leave messages... I didn’t think Meg and James would take such a risk, though. “It’s a loose brick in the wall of one of the buildings. Meg told me that one night when she was leaving a nearby club, she was tipsy and stumbled. The brick fell out when she hit it, so she quickly put it back before anyone realized.” “How can she be sure they didn’t fix it? Or what if it fell out on its own and someone else found the message?” Yeah, this was more nerve-racking than anything. “She thinks no one saw it, and you have to wiggle it or hit it very hard in a certain spot for it to pop up.” He gave me a small smile. “Relax. It’s going to be fine.” If only I could. We did our best to avoid any people on our way or any places where the Santanos could be lurking. It was a good thing they were trying to keep their presence in this city less obvious, so they couldn’t exactly roam around freely. I just hoped James knew most of their hiding spots, but he’d spent enough time with them, so he probably did. “Over there,” he said, placing his hand on my arm. We slowed down, but there were a few people going about, so we couldn’t risk stopping. I swore under my breath, because when I glanced at the wall, I couldn’t see anything loose. “Did she tell you exactly which one it was?”

“Yeah, I think I know, but we need to be alone.” We circled around one of the buildings down the street, and I prayed no one would be near that damn brick once we got to it again. The last thing we needed was for someone to see us trying to pull a brick out. That would be weird and I was sure everyone would stare. We didn’t need that kind of attention. When we were getting close to our target, there was only one man standing near one of the streetlights. Damn. This wasn’t supposed to be a busy area at all at this time of day, especially since the nightclubs were closed. “Are you sure the Santanos won’t be suspicious you went to Sweet Devotion during the day?” “They shouldn’t be. That club is almost never empty, anyway.” “What are we going to do about that guy?” I whispered as I nodded toward the guy who was pulling out a cigarette while leaning against the streetlight, so it was unlikely he was going to leave. Maybe he was waiting for someone. “I have an idea,” James said. “If I’m right about the brick, it’s very close to the ground, so I’ll pretend I’m tying my shoes, and you try to block that guy’s view. Okay?” “Yeah.” I supposed that could work. As he crouched, the guy looked our way, probably because nothing interesting was happening anyway, except for a car or two ing by. James reached for his shoelaces, and I stood with my back turned to the guy, hopefully hiding James from view. James turned toward the wall, then caught one of the bricks. Now that I looked closer, I could see something was off about it. It didn’t take him long to pry it off and snatch a small piece of paper that was under it. He returned the brick to its place and got up. We hurried away from there, and once we were alone, James pulled out the note. An address was scribbled on it. James and I exchanged a look. “Do you know where that is?” I asked, because the address didn’t look familiar at all. He shook his head. “Great.” I wished I had a phone with me, but I had to leave it behind so no one

could track me down. “Not even a vague idea in what area it might be?” “Nope.” “Shit. We should’ve asked for a map.” I took the note from him. “I guess I’ll have to risk asking someone and hope they’re not a spy.” “Not everyone is a spy, but there’s one more option.” I gave him an expectant look. “There’s a library two blocks away. They have computers and free Wi-Fi.” “Are you sure we have time for that?” I glanced at the watch on my wrist. “We still have to actually get to Meg, talk to her, and get back.” “I know, but we can try. If it takes too long, you can talk to Meg because your men and Felipe might not realize you’re gone, and even if they do, it’ll take them time to find you, but the Santanos will come looking for me and they could figure out what we’re doing. You can always give your men an excuse and they don’t have the right to question you anyway.” “Ok, then let’s go.” The only thing that worried me was if we’d find Meg. What if she wasn’t at that address all of the time? Or maybe it was an abandoned building and she had a plan to escape or a perfect place to hide there. I didn’t want to think about what might happen if someone had gotten to her and forced her to set us up. The handwriting on the note was definitely hers, but if whoever threatened her had found her, she might even be forced to lie to us again. It didn’t take us too long to get to the library, but there were quite a few people. James was keeping his head low, and he stopped behind a notice board that was in front of the entrance. I made my way inside, letting the silky strands of my wig fall over my face. As soon as I spotted a free computer, I rushed toward it and took a seat. I felt someone’s gaze on me just as I brought up the web browser. Lifting my eyes, I looked straight at a dark-haired guy. A sigh of relief escaped me when I realized he was just trying to find himself a computer but all were occupied. I quickly typed the address into the search system, then clicked on the map that showed up.

A frown creased my brow, because the building where we were supposed to go was across the city. Shit. We’d have to find ourselves a taxi, or we’d never get there. I deleted my search history and closed the browser. Making sure no one was paying any special attention to me, I hopped to my feet and strode toward the exit. Now James and I only had to catch a taxi in an area where there weren’t any cameras and find a driver who wasn’t secretly working for our enemy.

Chapter 18

“ARE YOU SURE THIS IS the place?” James asked as we came to a stop in front of a smaller building that was in a terrible condition. The walls were full of graffiti, broken bottles and trash were everywhere around, and the windows were covered with planks that were mostly dangling instead of being in their place. There was an old, dirty police tape on the floor in front of the door. As I took a step closer, I realized there were bullet holes in the wall. What the hell had happened here? I didn’t think the Ezzatis, the Desaltis, or I had had any stash houses or anything in this area. “I don’t know. It’s the right address. I guess we’ll see.” There was no one around, so I drew out my gun and headed toward the door, bits of glass crunching under my shoes. James ed me, and I held my gun up as he tried the door, which surprisingly enough had a knob that seemed whole and maybe even new. Except, I didn’t see why anyone would change the knob and leave everything else in a mess. James nodded at me, pushing the door open with ease, and stepping away so I could aim my gun. Nothing moved in the darkness. Damn, I should’ve brought a flashlight with me. I listened carefully as I lingered at the door, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then James and I stepped inside. The air inside stunk of dampness and mold, and I scrunched my nose, fighting the urge to sneeze. “Meg?” I called, but the room was empty. It seemed like this used to have been a bar of some kind, because there were upturned and broken chairs and tables, and a dusty, empty bar full of bullet holes. My throat constricted. Where was Meg? What if she didn’t know she was supposed to come here now? Or what if she’d been here and given up on waiting for us or if someone had found her? “The door,” James whispered, nodding in its direction, and I inched toward it with my gun pointed at it. “Meg?” I raised my voice, because if she was behind that door, I didn’t want to freak her out or make her think we were the enemy. But what would she be

doing in a place like this? This was no safe house. It was... A thud sounded behind my back, and I spun around. “Hey, guys,” Meg said as she gave us a little wave. She’d come out of an opening in the floor. Well, that was one hell of a good hiding spot. “Sorry. I had to make sure it was really you.” I tucked my gun away. “Oh, Meg.” After crossing the room in a few quick strides, I pulled her into a tight embrace. “I was so worried about you.” “It’s so good to see you,” she said, the corners of her eyes filling with tears. “Let’s go downstairs. It’s safer.” “Okay.” I glanced at James. “We have to hurry too.” “I know. Come on.” Meg waited for us to climb down the narrow stairs, and then she closed the door. We found ourselves in a big room with plain gray walls. At the end of it was a large computer screen, and two desks with chairs. Meg had gotten her hands on a computer somehow. There was another door to our left, but we had no time to explore the place. “How did you know about this?” James asked as he turned around to take a good look. “I have a few friends who usually help me with my equipment.” She grinned and strolled toward her computer. “They helped me get this baby.” She patted her computer as she plopped into her chair. “And they knew about this place. Ever since some debt collectors shot up the bar upstairs, the owner left and hasn’t returned. My friends decided to turn the basement into a hideout in case of an emergency, but in the end, I was the one who needed it. I helped them set it up. It’s a good thing no one wanted to claim this building for themselves.” “What friends?” James cocked his head at her. “Why do they need a hideout?” “Oh, they’re just hackers. Sometimes they piss off the wrong people and...” “It’s fine. We didn’t come here to discuss that,” I said. “What happened? Why did you lie to me?” She let out a sigh, then looked up at me. “I didn’t have a choice. It was so

messed up. I’m glad you never stopped believing in me, even after everything that I had to tell you.” “Who forced you to do it?” I held my breath for her answer, because maybe, just maybe, we could end this. “I don’t know. It’s the same person or people who are stalking you. They hacked into my system and sent me a message.” She pressed her lips into a white line. “What kind of a message?” “Do you my sister, Felicia?” “Yeah, I thought she moved away a few years ago.” I frowned. “Why?” “The stalker sent me photos and videos of her. I haven’t spoken to her in two years to protect her, but he found her somehow. On another continent. And I’m sure those images are real. I saw my nephews with her. They’re all grown up, and...” She took a shuddery breath. “Someone was in one of the videos. A man. I saw his hand and a gun. He was pointing it at my sister and her kids as they were getting out of their car, in front of their house. The stalker said that if I wanted them to live, I had to do exactly as told or that guy would kill them. I couldn’t risk their lives. I just...” “Oh, my God. Was there anything that might help us identify the man?” She shook her head. “I tried everything. I ran that video through all possible searches, but nothing came up, and then the stalker informed me to stop doing that. They set me up to make you believe it had been me all along so they could keep monitoring you. Arianna, I don’t know who they are, but they’re damn good. Whatever trick I tried, it didn’t work. I know I’m good, but they have someone better, or maybe a whole team. Or someone has been watching me and the way I work for years...” “Felipe,” I said. “He’s taken over and I think he’s spying on me.” She blinked at me. “No! He’d never do that. He’s my friend.” “Well, he’s acting very suspiciously, and he’s the only one who was with you long enough to know your s, your codes, the way you work...”

“I guess it could’ve been him. I...” “It could’ve been more than just him. Anyone who was in our tech room is a suspect.” “I’m getting help from my friends,” she said, turning toward her computer. “I managed to retrieve some of the files I had at my house, but I don’t have access to all the data we have at your place, so it’s not easy to search for anyone. I might not have figured out who the stalker is, but I managed to do something.” She glanced over her shoulder at James. “I tracked down your family. It took a lot of time and help from others, but...” His face brightened. “Where are they?” She typed something and a map with a red dot appeared on the screen. James and I went closer to take a better look. “Where is that?” James’ brow furrowed. “I don’t recognize the area.” I didn’t either. “About 250 miles north from here,” Meg said. James swore under his breath. “We can get to them,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. “How? They’ll see you coming. With all the spies everywhere...” “It’s not going to be easy, and we’ll need a good plan, but I’ll come up with something.” I focused on my watch. “You should get going. We don’t want the Santanos to realize that you aren’t at the club.” His gaze settled on me, and it was filled with doubt. “And what if we don’t get a chance to see each other again? The Santanos can change their mind or they can refuse to let me out of their sight, and I want to help you save my family.” “James, I have something for you,” Meg said, picking up something I couldn’t see. “It’s a tracker, so I can locate you, but it also has a memory card in it. If the Santanos gave you a phone too, you can slip the memory card inside it and I’ll

be able to hack into it and you.” He took the device from her, eyeing it carefully. It was a small black rectangle. “I have a phone, yeah. I left it at the club. But since they gave it to me, they can monitor everything I do. Are you sure they won’t be able to detect your memory card?” “Yeah,” she said. “It should be invisible to them.” “But if the Santanos have a very good tech team, isn’t that risky? Can’t you just give him another phone or something else? They got into our systems,” I said. “They might figure it out if it’s something bigger than this device,” Meg said. “There’s always a risk with anything, but I made it with the help of my friends, so it should be pretty good, especially because the Santanos won’t expect it or even search for something like that.” “Unless they get suspicious.” I didn’t like this, but what choice did we have? If I lost with James, he wouldn’t be able to alert me if something went wrong or if he needed help. “Alright,” he finally said. “I’ll use it. Let’s hope it works as you expect it to.” “Once it’s installed, a small blue icon will appear on your screen,” Meg said. “When you tap it, a window will open and everything you write in it will be sent to me. It’ll be like our private chat. But keep your messages short because those are easier to hide and decrypt.” He gave her a nod, then turned toward me. “If you need anything, tell Meg to send me a message. I can help you.” I took a step toward him, closing the distance between us, and pressed my lips against his. “I’ll find a way to get your family and then I’m coming for you. Be careful.” His lips spread into a smile, and he took my hand, caressing my fingers. “You too.” I bobbed my head, and then he headed for the door. As I watched him leave, I hoped we’d get to see each other again soon.

“I have something for you too,” Meg said, getting to her feet. She snatched a box from one of the shelves and came to me. When she opened it, she pulled out a phone. “You’ll have to hide it somewhere outside your house and use it at least three yards away from your fence. I’m afraid Felipe could detect it if it’s too close to the house.” “Thanks.” I took the phone. “I can sneak out to text you, but it’s going to be a problem if you need something urgently and I’m not able to check it in time.” Not to mention I was probably going to be anxious and want to check the damn thing all the time, so it was going to be hard to stay put and wait for the right moment. “James can handle himself, and if the Santanos move his family, all you have to do is check your phone once before you decide to send your men to go get them.” “You make it sound so simple.” The corners of my lips turned up. “Well, it’s better than nothing.” “You’re right.” I’d rather have some information, even late, than none. “Oh, and I’m going to give you a thumb drive that you can connect to your computer and I’ll be able to get in and the files, but Felipe will probably detect it, so use it only when he’s not there or if you decide that you no longer want to pretend you don’t know what Felipe’s doing.” “Okay.” I took the tiny device that she offered to me. “I wish I could be of more help, but I prefer that the Santanos keep thinking I’m dead. If that person who threatened my sister...” She shuddered. “You’ve already done enough. Now I have to make sure the people responsible for this terror pay.” “Yeah. By the way, I like your wig.” I slipped the phone into my pocket. “I can lend it to you once this is all over.” “I’ll hold you to that.” She flashed me a smile.

“I have to go. Don’t want Felipe to get suspicious.” “Yeah, you definitely don’t want that.” She pulled me in for a quick hug. “Good luck.” “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

Chapter 19

I WAS ON MY WAY BACK to the spot where I’d hidden my phone and I hoped a group of my men wouldn’t be waiting for me there. If they’d realized I was gone, it would be harder to hide from Felipe and the rest of the traitors that I was up to something. No one seemed to be around except ersby, so I waited for a few minutes until I could get to my phone without being seen. Maybe I’d need this hiding spot again, so I didn’t want anyone to know I was leaving my phone in a very thick and dense bush behind a low wall. Even if someone had snatched my phone, they wouldn’t have been able to unlock it easily, unless they knew what they were doing, but I hoped I wasn’t that unlucky. I wondered how I could get to James’ family without anyone figuring it out. If I took my men in that direction, Felipe or someone could notify them, and if I sent Marianta, a spy would probably realize her men were on the move and would follow them. I intended to consult with her. Maybe she had some better ideas or maybe she knew someone discreet and trustworthy who could do this for us. Once I was sure no one was around, I leaned over the low wall and reached through the leaves. My hand closed over something solid, so I pulled it out, relieved that my phone was still here. I didn’t want to turn it on until I was closer to my house because Felipe might call, and if I didn’t answer, he would search for me and figure out I had snuck out. It took me some time to reach the house, and I worried I might’ve been out too long. When my fence was in sight, I turned on my phone. A message icon flashed on the screen almost instantly and my pulse sped up. I tapped the screen to open it, and my breath got stuck in my chest when I read it. I know what you’re doing. It’s not going to work. Expect to suffer the consequences. The message had been sent from an unknown number. It had to be my stalker, but how did they know what I was doing? Did they know about Meg? About

James? I swallowed hard. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Should I even go back to my house or run? Maybe go to Marianta’s, or back to Meg... But if I did that, I’d be putting them in danger too. I had no idea what exactly the stalker knew. It couldn’t be everything, could it? Felipe might’ve noticed I’d left the house, so he was assuming I was planning something, but why bring the stalker back? Did they know Meg was alive, or did they think this would shock me or make me think I had more enemies? Shit. I wished I could talk to someone, but it was too risky. Slipping the phone into my pocket, I decided to deal with it later. I had to hide the phone Meg had given me, so I pulled it out of my pocket and typed her a quick text about the message I’d received. Hopefully, she’d answer, but I wouldn’t know until I came back to check. Ugh. This was going to drive me crazy. I dug a hole in the dirt, right under the stone column, and stuffed the phone in there, then carefully covered it. The soil was mushy anyway, so it wouldn’t be visible. My men had no reason to go beyond the fence, so I hoped no one would spot it. After I finished wiping my palms on my shirt under my jacket, and when I was sure the guards weren’t around to see me, I climbed over and jumped. Making sure to avoid the cameras, I made my way toward the house. I pulled out my phone—the one where I’d received my stalker’s message—and typed a quick text in reply, telling them I had no idea what they were talking about. But when I pressed the send button, the text didn’t go anywhere, because apparently the number was invalid or it didn’t exist. Great. I strode toward the main door and almost ran into one of my guards, who blinked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time. “Ma’am,” he said, giving me a nod. I gave him a small smile. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” “Yeah.” I hurried inside, hoping he wouldn’t be suspicious. Well, it didn’t matter unless he was working with the Santanos or whoever. I reminded myself that not everyone was a spy, but it was impossible not to look at everyone as a potential enemy. Once I reached the tech room, I took a deep breath and entered. Felipe

probably wouldn’t be surprised that the stalker had resurfaced, but I would be, so I had to play my part right to see if I could figure out how much exactly they knew. “Hey,” Felipe said as he looked up at me. “I thought Marc was never going to find you.” Did that mean Felipe had just sent someone to look for me around the house? I couldn’t be sure. “I needed some time for myself. What’s up?” He didn’t have to know Marc hadn’t found me. “Marianta’s missing. Her men asked for permission to leave to help search for her, and I let them. I’m sorry if I overstepped, but we couldn’t find you, and since we don’t really need those men, I didn’t think it would be a problem. Was I wrong? I can call them back if you want.” He eyed me carefully. “What?” I gaped at him, my heart in overdrive. Was that true? Was Marianta really missing? Had someone kidnapped her? Oh God, what if the stalker’s threat had something to do with this? And now I was without allies here and wasn’t sure if my men would be able to help me even if I started a search for Marianta, since Felipe could send us on the wrong path or into a trap. Shit! “How did that happen?” “I don’t know. She was on her way to some place and never reached her destination.” “Do you have any information or anything that could help us find her? She was always there for me when I needed her, and I have to do something.” “I’ll see what I can find, but it could take a while. Her men have the best chance of finding her since they know exactly where she was going. They’re unlikely to share any info with us.” “Yeah, I get it, but still, see what you can do.” I’d have to go back out sooner than I expected to Meg. If anyone could track down Marianta, it was her, because I was sure Felipe wouldn’t even try. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to stop the world from spinning around me. This was too much. If the stalker knew everything and they’d taken Marianta from me, and if they’d keep taking... I had to believe James and Meg would be safe, but the Santanos

had James, and I had no idea what they were going to do. If they decided to kill him... “We have another problem,” I said when I was sure my voice wouldn’t quiver. Felipe arched his eyebrows. “I got another threatening message.” “What? How?” A fake look of concern appeared on his face. “It looks like Meg’s alive, or she’s been working with someone else, who is now threatening me again. Except, this time I’m not even sure what they want because their message didn’t make any sense.” “Are you saying you got a text from someone?” His brow creased and he turned toward his computer. “I didn’t detect anything unusual.” “Yeah. Are you sure Meg’s dead?” “Um, those photos looked real. Why would E... James and the Santanos let her live?” “I don’t know. Maybe they’re working together against me. But you’re right. It could be someone else, but who? The Santanos?” “I’ll scan our systems, but it would be much easier if you let me bring help. Valentina would do great.” The last thing I was going to do now was give Felipe, the stalker, and my enemies exactly what they wanted. “No, I don’t want any new faces here just yet. We have to deal with this first, and we have to find Marianta.” “I’ll work on that.” He pursed his lips, so I assumed he wasn’t happy about my refusal. Maybe there were some parts of Meg’s security system that Felipe couldn’t quite break through on his own, or maybe they wanted to build something powerful that could enable them to monitor me and each other with even more ease. It was a surprise he didn’t press, which made me worry what would happen next.

If Marianta got hurt, I was going to end all this, even if I had to lock up all of my men to find the ones responsible. Playing them seemed like a better and safer choice, but once certain lines were crossed, I wouldn’t be able to wait any longer. “Okay. If anything comes up, send for me. I’ll be outside. I need some fresh air to clear my head.” The more time I spent outside, the sooner I was going to be able to message Meg. I was sure Felipe and the other traitors would be watching me, but they’d relax when they realized I was just walking around, so I intended to use the opportunity when they got bored of me to get to that phone. A part of me wondered if James had been forced to be a part of Marianta’s kidnapping. If he had, maybe there was a way for him to let her go or at least tell Meg where she was being held. Of course, all of that was possible only if everything we had done hadn’t been discovered. If my stalker and the Santanos knew the truth about Meg and James, then we were all screwed.

Chapter 20

I ENDED UP WAITING for the next day after a whole night of tossing and turning in bed. The guards were moving about too much, and I couldn’t tell them to go look the other way, because then Felipe might notice and I’d be discovered. I wondered if the whole thing was a test for me so I’d panic and reveal what I’d really been doing. My enemy had to suspect something was going on, since I wasn’t making any moves that they might’ve expected me to make. Until I knew more, I had to stay calm, although it was difficult not to fidget or run to the spot where I’d hidden Meg’s phone. I even had to go back inside for lunch, which was frustrating because I wasn’t hungry at all. But I forced myself to eat some rice and vegetables, then went for another walk. The guards were out of my sight, so I made my way across the yard, but an object caught my eye. I turned my head and looked straight into a camera that hadn’t been here yesterday. Fuck. So Felipe had added more cameras, without consulting me, and was probably hoping I wouldn’t notice. If I asked, he’d just say it was for security and that he’d been reeeally sure I’d agree, because why would I object to having more cameras outside the house? I inwardly groaned, then headed in a different direction, my eyes scanning my surroundings for more surprises. There were three more cameras, and they were exactly where I didn’t need them. Fuck. I circled around the house, running into a few guards as I went. It looked like I’d have to cross the fence on the other end, then circle around to get to the phone. There was no other way. But at least the trees and the stone column would block me from view. As soon as the guards walked away, I was unable to wait any longer, so I raced for the fence. Felipe hadn’t thought of putting a camera looking in this direction, probably because I was rarely on this side of the house. He’d see me stroll around, so I didn’t know if he or someone was going to come and check if I was lounging against the wall or if I’d escaped the cameras.

My time was very limited, so I pulled myself over the fence, hopped to the ground, and broke into a run, avoiding the trees. The wind was blowing strongly enough that the movement of leaves and grass masked the noise I was making. When I reached the right spot, I fell down to my knees and started digging. My hands were shaking as my fingers closed around the phone, and I turned it on, holding my breath. There was only one message, and it was from Meg. She wanted me to call her, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. If she wanted me to risk doing that, then it had to be urgent, or she had a lot to tell me, so she thought sending a big number of messages would be even more dangerous. I only hoped the message didn’t mean she was in danger, because she’d sent it yesterday. Making my way away from the house and keeping close to the trees, I dialed the only number that was in the s. It rang two times, and then a click sounded on the other end of the line. “Arianna?” Meg said, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. “It’s me. Are you sure this is a good idea? If anyone figures out...” “I know it’s risky, but I need to tell you everything. I’ll end the call immediately if I think someone might be able to listen in or try to track us down. I’m making our conversation look like any other conversation out there,” she said so fast that she gasped when she was finished. “I got another message from my stalker,” I said while she was catching her breath. “They say they know what I’ve been doing, but I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know what they mean. But Marianta’s missing, and I thought you might be able to locate her.” “Yeah, I know, but listen carefully. Marianta isn’t really missing.” “What?” “James warned me she was going to be attacked, so I got in with her. She thought this was a great opportunity for you to go save James’ family.” “I don’t understand.” I was glad Meg had managed to alert Marianta, but I wasn’t sure what all of this meant.

“Marianta went into hiding, but she’s letting everyone think she’s missing so you can pretend you’re going to rescue her.” “So Marianta isn’t anywhere near the Santanos or anyone else? She’s safe? And James?” If the Santanos assumed he was the one who’d warned Marianta because their mission had failed, James was in trouble, and I had to go get him. Meg didn’t sound nervous, but I wasn’t sure if that meant James was okay or not. “Yeah, she’s far away, at one of her secret hideouts. Don’t worry about her. No one’s going to find her until she comes out. James is in a bit of a complicated situation.” My heart skipped a beat. “Define complicated.” “Alberto came here, and it looks like the Santanos are no longer hiding that what they really want is for James to do as they command and that they’re not helping him. They threatened his family, but for now, they aren’t making any moves. If what James told me is true, they don’t suspect him, but their boss is getting impatient because their plans aren’t going as they wanted. And it’s possible they were looking for the girl James was with at Sweet Devotion to question her about him and about what he might have said, but they couldn’t find her, so they won’t let him out unsupervised anymore.” Shit. If the boss was here, then things were going to get serious. “Oh, and James said that he wants you to save his family and not worry about him. Since Alberto’s with him, there are a whole lot of guards.” I swore under my breath. “Where is he? If there’s a way for me to...” “He’s in an area that’s easy for the Santanos to defend. I can text you the address, but I don’t think it would help. They’d see you coming, and then you wouldn’t be able to save his family because they’d be warned, so they’d move them again. And I’m not sure if I’d be able to find them again.” “Wait, so what’s the plan? I can pretend Marianta’s gone, but the Santanos know they don’t have her.” “Not yet. The Santanos have to be careful because this is not their territory. The

group of men that went after Marianta had limited means of ing their boss. Marianta’s men got them, and she’s sending messages to Alberto pretending to be one of them since their code was simple and their phones easy to hack. It looks like all the separate groups are ing the boss only in case of an emergency or every 12 hours. But you have to act quickly before they realize, because if Alberto orders for Marianta’s head to be sent to you or something, that won’t happen and he’ll know. “I mean, you could fake the whole thing, but if you lie to everyone that the stalker ed you with Marianta’s location, and that you have to go get her if you want her to live, you can gather all of your men, including Felipe. Don’t give him the opportunity to Alberto. Just take him with you immediately and find an excuse so he can’t have his tablet with him. “He won’t know if those orders are really his boss’, but once he realizes where you’re really going—I assume he knows where James’ family is—you’ll have to incapacitate him. So be very careful about who you have in the car with you. And make sure no one else has their phone with them. You can say you think it’s a trap so you don’t want anyone to be able to trace you. That way you can make sure no one finds out about your plan in time to alert the Santanos.” It took me a moment to process all that. “There should be about ten or twelve men with James’ family, and you’ll have to be very quick and swift with your attack because it’s crucial that no one manages to the boss. If you succeed, you’ll have James’ family back and then you can go for him.” “Whoa, that’s a really good plan, actually.” I was impressed. This had a chance to work. “But won’t they be able to monitor me anyway? If they’re watching the streets and highways...” “I can handle that. My friends and I can hack into the traffic cameras and bring them all down.” “Okay, but are you sure that will be enough? Other traitors might be with me too, or they might stay at my house, which could be a problem.” “You’ll have to deal with that, but it’s possible no one other than Felipe really knows what’s going on. They just fulfill orders when they have to. I also think

they want to build a better communication system, but Felipe doesn’t know how to do it on his own. He’d need help.” “That would explain why he wants to bring in a new tech girl.” “Yeah, she might be the one who can complete his program or he might want her to crack my protection software completely so they can hide their own private network on your system. You can’t let them do that.” “If I get James’ family, then the pretenses are over. I’m going to confront Felipe.” “If I can get into your system again, I can probably figure out who’s working with him. He’s monitoring everything, so I don’t think it’ll be that hard, especially because he thinks that soon he’ll have full control.” “I can make sure no one else finds out about Felipe except the men in the car with me. And if they have a weird reaction, I’ll deal with them too.” “Just don’t give them a chance to turn against you.” “I won’t. Can I bring this phone with me? If I rush back to the house with the news, Felipe won’t have time to detect it if it’s off, right?” “Yeah.” “Great. I guess Marianta doesn’t want to engage the Santanos?” “No, she won’t do it. An attack on the boss would raise all the alarms, so if done at the wrong moment, it could mess up your plan to save James’ family. She might be willing to help after you’re done, but it’ll take some time to get in with her, so let me know if you need me to do it.” “Sure.” It felt exhilarating to finally have a plan to deal with the people who’d been tormenting me, and once I had James and his family, nothing would stop me from unleashing all my forces on them. The traitors weren’t going to get away. “I need to end this call. A minute longer, and we could be found out.”

“Okay. Thank you. I’ll be in touch.” The other end of the line went dead, and I immediately turned off my phone. Now I had to get to the house as soon as possible.

Chapter 21

I STRODE TO MY ROOM to get ready. If I wanted to make sure Felipe didn’t my stalker and the Santanos, I couldn’t let him out of my sight, which meant I had to get all my weapons and everything before I gathered my men or told Felipe anything. After I got dressed and picked my favorite guns, I grabbed a few syringes with enough sedative in them to knock out a horse and slipped them into my inner pocket. I’d put on a black jacket that was great for hiding my holster and had a lot of pockets. I was trying to make it look like I was just going out, in case Felipe or another traitor had planted cameras inside my room. Still, even if he alerted the stalker that I was up to something, he wouldn’t know anything about it until I told him, so I was hoping he’d wait. I checked myself in the mirror and headed into the hallway. When I barged into the tech room, Felipe jumped, and I could see him quickly press some buttons while giving me a huge fake smile. “Hey,” he said. “There aren’t any updates, but I might have something tomorrow.” Sure, sure he would. Not. “I need you to come with me.” “Why?” His shoulders went stiff. I made my way toward him, and he swallowed hard, focusing back on the screen to try to hide his reaction. “I know where Marianta is. We’re going to get her.” No matter how satisfying it was to make him squirm, I didn’t have time to waste, so I leaned over his chair and pressed a few buttons to signal to everyone that they should get armed and wait for me in the garage. The distinctive sound echoed through the hallways, and I was glad I could do this easily without giving Felipe a chance to his real boss. I just hoped there wasn’t some kind of a system that automatically sent an alert to my stalker whenever an alarm was sounded in my house.

“Marianta? What? But how?” Felipe looked more like himself, probably because he thought he was safe and that I didn’t know about his betrayal. While he was looking at me, I managed to stick the thumb drive Meg had given me into the slot behind my back. “Does it matter? Just come with me.” I started for the door. “Do you want me to check any data? Help you prepare?” “No. I need you with me. How many times do I have to say it before you do it?” I stopped and raised an eyebrow at him. “But I can’t just...” “It’ll be fine. Lock the door and let’s go.” I waved at him. “I’m not sure why I have to go, but I should at least get my tablet.” “No. No electronics of any kind. We can’t let anyone track us down. I need you in case there’s something that needs to be hacked or unlocked.” “I...” “Are you scared or something? Because I could swear you’re stalling right now.” I opened the door. “No, I’m coming.” He reluctantly got to his feet and glanced at his computer, but I didn’t move from the door, so he strode toward me. “Where are we going anyway?” “You’ll see.” I hoped I wouldn’t lose him from my sight while I explained to my men what I needed them to do and made sure no one could my enemy. Their phones and any other electronics would have to go first, before I said anything, and I’d have to be the one to check everyone. This plan had better work.

IT HAD TAKEN SOME TIME to get everyone ready, and Felipe was getting antsy next to me, but once he was in the car with me, there was nothing he could do. He was quiet, his brow creased, as I kept giving directions to the driver. I wondered how long it would take him to realize where we were going or if he even knew where James’ family was. Maybe there was no reason for him to know, but I doubted that, since he was the one who’d be most likely to stop me if I figured out where James’ family was. It would’ve been easy for him to just give me the wrong information and ensure my rescue plan failed. Of course, they hadn’t counted on me figuring him out. Even though we were speeding, it felt as if the car was moving at the slowest pace ever. Sitting next to Felipe was unnerving, because all I wanted to do was point a gun at his face and ask him why he was working for my enemy. My thoughts wandered to James. It was impossible not to worry if he was okay. I had to believe the Santanos wouldn’t hurt him, and that I’d save his family and get to him in time. Felipe’s frown deepened as we were getting closer to our destination, and he was fidgeting way too much. There was no doubt that he knew exactly where James’ family was, but he wasn’t sure if his boss wanted me there or not and he couldn’t anyone. “Are you sure you don’t want me to check we’re going to the right place?” he finally asked. “I know you’re worried about our enemy seeing us coming, but we might be walking into a trap. If we stop for a few minutes to buy a burner phone, I can...” “No.” He bit down on his lip. “Alright. I just thought you might not want to go in blind.” “Oh, but I’m not.” I whipped out my gun and aimed it straight at his face. He gasped, his eyes going wide. The driver glanced at us in the rearview mirror, his brow furrowing, but he kept driving. The man in the enger seat turned to look at us with his eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“Ma’am, do you need...?” he asked. “No. It’s fine. We have to keep going. I’ll tell you when to stop or if I need anything.” Either my men were very good actors or they knew nothing about this, but aside from surprised reactions, they didn’t seem overly worried or nervous. “What are you doing?” Felipe asked, raising his hands up. “Can you please put the gun down? If this is a joke, it’s not funny.” “A joke?” I let out a small laugh. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out you’re working for my enemy? That you betrayed me?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but his hands were shaking. His gaze traveled toward the door, so I wiggled my gun at him. “Nuh uh. Make a move toward that door and I’m going to blow your brains out.” “I’ve no idea what you believe is going on, but I’ve done nothing wrong.” I cocked my head at him. “Really? Setting Meg up is nothing? Letting my enemy hack into my systems is nothing? Spying on me is nothing? Working against me...” “Whoever told you that is lying.” “Right.” As if on cue, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out while keeping my gun trained at Felipe. I glanced down at the text. “Oh, there’s plenty of proof. Every single thing you entered into that computer. It’s all there.” “You knew all along,” he whispered, realization flashing in his eyes. Or maybe it was resignation. “Why? Why did you do it? Who are you working for?” “I had to.” “If someone forced you to betray me, then tell me who. Tell me everything you know about them.”

My phone vibrated again, and I took a quick look at its screen before slipping it in my pocket. “You’ve met with my enemy. Don’t try to deny it. I know when and how. Your encrypted coded messages weren’t so hard to crack, especially when it looks like you borrowed Meg’s code. How rude.” He pressed his lips tightly together, because he had to be aware that there was no way I was going to believe he was innocent in all this. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked. “What? No defense story? No excuses? It’s my gun that’s pointed at your face, so talk. Or I just might go after the people you love too.” My stalker had threatened Meg’s family and she was willing to die to save them, so if the same thing had happened to Felipe, I needed him to tell me, and he’d do that only if I made him believe I’d hurt his family too. A part of me was hoping that my traitors hadn’t had a choice, but Felipe’s silence was deafening. He knew what I was capable of, and yet... “So you’re going to let your family die because of you?” My hand was starting to ache, and the men in the front of the car were giving me glances as if they couldn’t believe I hadn’t pulled the trigger already. “You can’t get to them. They’re safe and protected,” he said with all the certainty in the world. Fuck. My stalker had sent them away somewhere. “Okay, believe that if you want, but why give your own life for that person? Why so much loyalty to them? You’ve been with me for years. Have I ever done something to you? Have I ever hurt you?” “Kill me if you want. One day, you’ll see all of your mistakes.” I reached into my pocket for the syringe with my free hand. “And what mistakes would that be?” He remained quiet, and I snatched the syringe and stabbed him in the arm. His lips parted in surprise, and then he blinked. A few moments later, he slumped forward, and I lowered my gun, gritting my teeth. “Stop the car,” I said. “Park behind those trees.” The men in the cars behind us followed us, and I wondered how many traitors were among them. We were getting close to our target, so I had to incapacitate the traitors and make a quick plan before someone realized we were here. I grabbed my phone and texted

Meg, hoping she’d found out who Felipe had been working with. A few moments later, I got a new text with four names. I leaned forward and showed the screen to my men. “Get these four for me and tie them up. They were working with Felipe. Quickly.” They nodded and got out of the car, and I looked at Felipe’s sleeping form. Shouts and thuds sounded outside, and when I got out of the car, the four traitors were lined up on their knees in the middle of the field with everyone else glaring at them and pointing their guns at their heads. “Which one of you is going to tell me who you’re really working for, huh? The Santanos?” I stopped in front of them. “I don’t know what you...” one of them started to say, and I stepped forward, backhanding him hard enough to split his lip. “Enough,” I growled. “Stop lying. Stop pretending. I’ll know soon enough anyway. And you... I’ll deal with you later.” Pulling out the rest of the syringes, I went over to each one of them and put them to sleep. “Get them in the car and make sure they don’t escape,” I said to my men, because we didn’t have much time. “Our enemy has my husband’s family and we’re going to get them back.”

Chapter 22

ONCE I EXPLAINED THE plan, we all hurried to the cars. At least now all the traitors who were with me should be incapacitated, so I didn’t have to worry about any of them alerting the Santanos or mes my plan. When we were in the vicinity of the house where James’ family was held, we parked our cars and dispersed so we wouldn’t leave our enemy any space for escape. I wasn’t patient enough to remain behind, so I advanced with my men, my gun ready. My pulse sped up as we approached a one-story house with a big backyard full of flowers. I hid behind a tree as a man appeared on the porch and eyed his surroundings. There was nothing about the house to differentiate it from other family homes in this area, except all the windows were closed and covered with thick drapes. I took a deep breath and raised my hand. We rushed at the house, opening fire. The man on the porch didn’t have time to react, and he fell down before he could lift his gun. I raced into the house as my men engaged our enemy. A man jumped at me out of nowhere, and I dived behind a dark brown sofa as bullets rained down on it. When the shots ceased, I pushed myself up, peeking over the sofa, and fired at the man, who ran for cover. He flipped over a table and crouched behind it. Shit. My men were still busy outside, and I wasn’t sure where James’ family was, because I couldn’t see anyone. I had to make sure this man didn’t get the chance to call his boss or do whatever he was supposed to do in case they were under attack. Would they try to kill James’ family? I had no idea, but I hoped they didn’t have such orders. Since the shots were still ringing everywhere, I assumed most if not all of the Santanos were fighting. James’ family had to be locked in one of the rooms. One of my men burst into the room, and our opponent managed to hit him in the shoulder. I used the distraction to fire, but the enemy was too quick and ducked behind the table again. He peeked out a moment later, so I took a shot, narrowly missing. I ran out of bullets, so I tossed the gun and pulled out the other one.

More of my men stormed inside, and one of them caught our enemy, who was forced to back all the way into a corner. Since there were enough of my men here to handle him, I got to my feet and followed the hallway. Two doors were at the end of it, and I inched toward the one to my left, which was open. Pressing myself against the wall, I waited for a few moments, then barged through the door. The room turned out to be empty, so I spun around and headed toward the other door. I kept close to the wall as I tried the knob, ready to jump aside if someone started firing through it. Nothing happened, but the door didn’t open either. It was locked. One of my men was coming toward me. “Have you seen the keys?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Did we get all of them?” “Twelve dead, ma’am.” “Good. What ? Everyone okay?” “A few injured, but they should be fine.” “Alright. Then let’s see what’s behind this door.” I took a few steps back, and he did the same. Aiming at the lock, I pulled the trigger. After the lock was destroyed, it was easy for him to kick in the door, revealing a dark stairway leading down. We looked at each other, and I nodded at him to go first. He switched on the lights, aiming his gun in front of him as we slowly descended. Soft cries sounded, and he jerked back, pointing at the shadows huddled in the corner of a small room. James’ mother looked up at us as she held her daughters close to her, her eyes filled with tears. “Lower your gun,” I said to my guy, who immediately obeyed. I holstered mine, because there was no threat. Since only the stairway led out of this room, I supposed there had been no need for additional guards in here. James’ mother and sisters were still sobbing and didn’t move. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” I said as I took a step toward them. “No! You shouldn’t be here!” James’ mother yelled. “Go away.”

“The men who kidnapped you are dead. There’s nothing to worry about.” “You’re wrong. They’ll kill my son if we leave. We’re not going anywhere.” She glared at me. “As soon as we all come out of here, I’m going to get James, okay? No one knows I’m here, and if we’re quick enough, my men and I can surprise them and save your son, so please, if you want to help him, come with me.” I had to make sure James’ family was safe first, because I didn’t want someone to kidnap them again, and I so didn’t want to have to threaten them into coming with me. She vehemently shook her head. “I told you, we’re not going anywhere. You don’t care about my son. You broke his heart. I don’t believe a word you say. You’re just trying to get us all killed.” Oh boy. “What happened between your son and me is complicated, but it was never my intention to hurt him. He’ll explain everything to you, but first I need to get him, and I can’t do that until you’re safely out of here. James is risking his life for you right now, and the longer he stays with the Santanos, the more danger he’s in. So let’s get out of here.” She didn’t even budge. Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant. “You’ll come with me one way or the other.” I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me from getting to James, not even his own family. “You’ve always wanted to see us suffer.” She curled her lip at me. “You want us out of the picture. Why don’t you pull the trigger yourself instead of playing games with us? Or are you that much of a coward?” I groaned. “If I wanted you dead, I would’ve done it a long time ago. If you really want your son to live, you’ll do as I say.” “Mom? I think she’s telling the truth,” Tina, James’ oldest sister, whispered, but her mother shushed her. “Listen to your daughter. I know you’re scared and that you don’t trust me, but I give you my word that this isn’t a trap. James’ life could be in danger, and I know you don’t want anything to happen to him.”

Her lip quivered, and tears spilled down her cheeks. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for her to have her life threatened and be held in this small basement, and I didn’t know how the Santanos had been treating her and her daughters. There weren’t any visible injuries on them, but I intended to have our doctor check on them once we were at my house. “Tina, can you help your mother and your sisters out of here?” I asked. “Yeah.” She tugged at her mother’s arm, and a few moments later, they all started toward the stairs. I breathed out a sigh of relief and headed up. My men could take James’ family to one of our cars, so I had just enough time to come up with a plan to save James. After getting my phone out, I dialed Meg’s number. “I’ve got them,” I said as soon as she answered. “The kidnappers are all dead. I don’t think they’ve been able to anyone.” “Thank God,” Meg said. “It all looks good here. No unusual activity.” “I need James’ location. Is he still in the same place? Did he you again?” “Yeah, he’s still there, but he hasn’t ed me. There’s no need for him to risk reaching out to me if nothing important is happening.” “I know. Send me the map of that area.” “Okay. Sending it right away.” “Thanks. Have you been able to identify my stalker? Is it Alberto Santano or someone else?” If he was still with James, then this would be a great opportunity to get him and make him pay for everything he’d done. “No. They’ve always hidden their identity and their location. I might be able to narrow it down, but it would take me days or maybe longer. But there are three more traitors at your house. I’ll send you their names.” “Three more?” Fuck. I thought I’d dealt with all of them. “Is that all of them or could there be more? I can call my trustworthy guards to capture them and not let them out of their sight.” “I think this is all of them. Felipe had a list so he could cover for them if needed.

They had to be careful so you wouldn’t figure them out. That’s why they couldn’t be seen talking to each other too often. The Santanos or whoever it is reached out to them separately and each one of the traitors had their own task.” “You’ll tell me and show me all about it later. Now I have to go get my husband.” “Good luck and be careful. Alberto is a dangerous man, and he’ll have a lot of guards with him. I can’t figure out how many there are and James couldn’t tell either because they didn’t let him roam around.” “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. They can’t have a whole army with them or we would know about it already.” I really hoped I was right about that. Army or not, I was willing to do anything to get James back.

BEADS OF SWEAT WERE trickling down my back as I inched toward the building where the Santanos were holed up. Meg hadn’t called or texted, so I assumed that meant nothing had changed. My heart hammered in my chest as we advanced, and I gripped my gun tightly. Everything was so quiet, though. Way too quiet. We burst into the foyer, but it was empty, so we rushed toward the stairway. If Meg’s data was correct, James and the Santanos were supposed to be in a room on the third floor. My bulletproof vest felt as if it weighed a ton on my body, but I did my best to ignore the uneasiness that wanted to overcome me. I followed my men upstairs. Some of them went to inspect the second floor, and the others kept going up with me. We reached a wide hallway with a rich cream carpet that was perfect to muffle the sounds of our footsteps. But something was terribly off about this. Where were the guards? Where was everyone? Were they really that good at hiding or were they waiting to jump us? The first door was open, and the room was empty. One of my men kicked in the next door, but we didn’t find anyone inside either. Shit. Nausea rose at the back of my throat as we made our way to the last door. No one fired a single shot anywhere, which meant the second floor was clear too. Where the hell were they? As my men broke the lock and burst into the last room, I stood back, already sure that there was nothing in there either. They weren’t here. James wasn’t here. A lump formed in my throat. What if the Santanos had found out about what I’d done and they’d decided to take out their anger on James? What if they’d killed him? But surely, they would’ve left his body here for me to find. I hadn’t seen any blood anywhere, so at least that gave me hope. Unless... Unless Meg had been wrong about their location. I strolled into the room as my men lowered their weapons. Everyone was aware that our enemy wasn’t here. Tucking my gun into my holster, I reached for my phone and immediately called Meg. “They’re not here. Did something happen?” I said when she answered. “What?” Surprise echoed in her voice, and then I could hear the distinct sound of

typing. “That’s impossible. His tracker is still working. He should be a few steps away from you.” “He’s not here. The whole building’s empty.” I ground my teeth together. I’d failed. I’d failed James. Oh God. I made my way to the sofa and lifted a pillow that was on it. “They found the tracker and left it on the sofa.” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to stay calm and keep my head clear, but it was impossible. “Can you track them down? Check any cameras or...?” Meg swore. “Maybe. I’ll see what I can do. I’m so sorry. The tracker couldn’t detect movement inside the building, so I assumed...” “It’s not your fault. Just... find him, okay?” My voice cracked. “I will.” I ended the call. James, where the hell are you? I’ll find you. I’ll find you even if it’s the last thing I do.

Chapter 23

I WAS PACING UP AND down the tech room and chewing on my fingernails. There had been no news about James for two days, and I thought I was going to go insane from wondering where he was or what was happening to him. I’d brought Meg back to my house, locked up all the traitors—I had zero patience to deal with them right now, so I’d just left them in their cells—and sent my men to search for the Santanos all over the city. “Is there anything in Felipe’s files that could help us?” I asked. “I’m still sifting through them, but I don’t think it’ll be of a lot of help,” Meg said, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her. “They’ve found out about the tracker and have to know by now that you have James’ family, so I don’t think they’ll use any of their known hideouts or meeting spots.” “But how did they find out?” “There might’ve been a spy who went to check on James’ family or one of the Santanos might’ve had to meet with someone, so when he didn’t show up... Or they randomly decided to check James’ phone, or they took it from him to change something and spotted the tracker. There are plenty of options.” “I know, but I wish it hadn’t happened. The plan was supposed to work, and now... Now I don’t even know what’s going on or if he’s...” “Someone’s trying to send us a message,” she said. “Our firewalls are way better now. Do you want me to let it through? I’ll open it in an isolated space in case it’s a virus or a trojan of some kind.” “Is it from the Santanos?” My heart rate accelerated, and I was standing behind Meg a moment later, grasping her chair to keep myself up. “It looks like it is. A video again.” She glanced at me. “Do you want me to...?” “Play it! Now.” My throat was so tight that I was barely breathing.

“Okay.” Meg pressed the play button. A black window appeared on the screen, and I heard someone’s deep and labored breathing. The image that came up next made me flinch. James was tied to a chair, his face bloody and bruised. Oh God. My fingers clenched in anger. A man wearing a black ski mask came into view, and I had no idea who he was, but I assumed he was one of the Santanos’ men. He smiled into the camera and I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. “Hello, there.” He waved. “We have your husband. If you want him back alive, all you have to do is come at the exact time and place that you can find at the end of this video. Come alone and unarmed. If we see any of your men, or anyone else working for you or for any of your friends, we’ll kill James.” He made his way to James and roughly grabbed him by the hair. James glared at him, baring his teeth. “You won’t get what you want!” “Oh, we’ll see about that.” The man faced the camera again, and the video went dark. The address and time when I was supposed to meet them popped up on the screen. “Where the hell is that?” Meg frowned, then went to consult a map. I slumped into the chair next to hers and sighed. “Can you trace their location? Where did that video come from?” “I’ll try, but if they were careful, they probably sent it from a different location and made it hard to trace. The spot where they want to meet with you is some abandoned factory out of the city. It would be hard to get there without being seen, but there aren’t any traffic cameras nearby. It’s in the middle of nowhere.” “A perfect spot.” If only I knew if they held James there... But what did it matter? I wouldn’t risk his life by launching an attack on the Santanos when they could see me coming. “What do I do?” I ran my hand over my face. “I’ll see what I can find.” Meg’s fingers were almost flying over the keyboard. “I still don’t understand what they want. If I go there, they can just kill both James and me. But if they want us dead, why go through all the trouble? Why not use their moles to kill us here? If they’d surprised us, they could’ve done it.

Hell, even Felipe could’ve done it.” “Maybe there is something they want, but they don’t want to negotiate with you until they have you fully in their grasp because they know you’d never agree.” “And what could that be? The whole thing doesn’t make any sense. Their actions during this whole thing don’t make sense. First they pitted James against me and now, when they realized we found our way to each other despite their lies, they’re using him to get what they want from me. If they were testing my feelings for him, then they could’ve figured that out immediately when I didn’t send assassins after James. Their spies could’ve told them just how much I cared.” Meg shrugged. “You’re not going to do what they ask. Are you? It would be madness to go to them alone. If they have both James and you, they could take over everything that’s yours. This city...” “That’s exactly why I need you to find where they’re keeping James. I’m going to call Marianta and tell her to up her searching efforts too.” I was sure Marianta wouldn’t want my half of the city to fall into the wrong hands, because they’d be coming for her next. Not to mention she was also my friend and wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to me. I doubted the Santanos didn’t mean me harm. “And what if that doesn’t work? There isn’t enough time to...” Meg’s worried gaze found mine. “I don’t know.” I wrung my fingers. “Do you think you could find a way to Alberto Santano? If he wants to negotiate, he can do it over the phone too. Or we can meet in a public place with plenty of witnesses and guards like real businesspeople. Why do they expect me to walk straight into their trap and trust them to let James go?” Unless it was another one of those silly, nonsensical tests to see what I’d do and how rashly I’d react with James’ life at stake, which would make their motive even less clear. “There should be a way to get in touch with him if he wants it. I think I can do that, but the call will probably be reconnected multiple times to hide his location.” “Doesn’t matter. Send for me immediately when you have something.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

I SLAMMED MY HAND AGAINST the door, my palm stinging. No one had been able to locate James, and time was running out. My phone vibrated, so I snatched it off the nightstand. A text with a number flashed on the screen. Meg had found a way to Alberto. I waited a few moments to collect myself, and then I dialed the number. “Hello?” a female voice on the other end of the line said. “Tell Mr. Santano that Arianna Monti wants to speak with him. And remind him that if he refuses, he’ll never get what he wants.” She was quiet for a few moments. “Mr. Santano will call you back if he wishes.” Wonderful. The line went dead. I supposed Alberto wanted to make sure I couldn’t track him down through the call. If he didn’t call back, then I wasn’t sure how he expected me to just show up where he wanted me to. After what seemed like an eternity, my phone rang. “I thought you were too much of a coward to call,” I said. “Arianna Monti. It’s a pleasure to speak to you.” His cheerful tone was grating on my nerves. “A pleasure? I’m sorry I can’t say the same. What fucking game are you playing? Where is my husband?” “I thought the instructions were clear. If you want to see him again, you’ll meet with me as I requested.” “Why don’t you tell me what is it that you want? I might be willing to strike a deal with you. We can talk on neutral ground. I don’t know why you expect me to risk my own life to save my husband’s. Hell, I don’t even know what stops you from killing us both once I get there.” “Ah, but I have no reason to do that. You see, I have something you really want, and you have nothing.” My brow furrowed. “You wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t want something,

so cut the crap.” “You. You in exchange for James. If you’re not willing to make that sacrifice, then that’s on you. If your husband isn’t worth anything to you, don’t show up and let him die. It’s simple.” “And what do you want from me?” “I won’t kill you, if that’s your concern. You have my word.” “Your word means nothing,” I hissed. He was lying, or was he? “You don’t have to believe me. If you love your husband, you’ll do as I ask. If you don’t, I guess you won’t miss him when he’s dead.” He ended the call. Fuck! I threw my phone against the wall and sat down on the bed, burying my head into my hands. Alberto didn’t want to make a deal. He wanted me. But why? If he didn’t want me dead, then what did he want? I had no idea. I just knew that talking wasn’t going to help. If I attacked, the Santanos would see me coming and they’d kill James. There was no way I or anyone could get into that factory unseen, especially in such short time. The field around the factory was huge, with no houses or any people living in close vicinity, so they’d easily spot a car or people coming their way. And who knew what else they had installed to ensure no one would attack them or be able to sneak up on them? It looked like I’d have to trade my life for James’. No, trade my freedom for his. What would Santano gain from that? If he were from around here, maybe I’d understand, but this... He had to be doing it for someone else. Unless he was obsessed with me for some strange reason. Clasping my hands in front of me, I looked up at the ceiling. Was this some kind of a divine punishment for falling in love with the son of a man who had killed my family? I didn’t believe so. My family would’ve wanted me to be happy no matter what, wouldn’t they? If only I could ask them for advice, because I wasn’t sure if the decision I’d made was the right one. I supposed I was going to find out soon enough.

Chapter 24

“HE WOULDN’T WANT YOU to do this,” Meg said, her eyes brimming with tears, after I told her my plan. Well, it wasn’t really much of a plan, since I’d be doing exactly what Alberto wanted me to. “If you have a better idea, I’m all ears, but it can’t include the risk of James ending up dead.” I couldn’t lose him. Most of my life, I’d lived for revenge, and after Desmond Ezzati was dead, it was James who had given me reasons to keep living, even when I thought he was my enemy. Meg let out a strangled cry. “Santano will kill both of you.” “I don’t think he will. He wants me alive for some reason.” “Maybe, but he can kill James or he can capture you both.” “Not if I say I’m going to stab myself with this.” I pulled out a syringe, and her eyes bulged. “Whoa, what is that?” “Poison.” “Like for real?” Her jaw went slack. “Yeah, for real. They don’t want me to bring any weapons, and I guess they have a detector, but this...” I waved the syringe. “They won’t know about it. I can hide it and get to it quickly.” “But what if they think you’re bluffing? Or if you accidentally stab yourself? Will it kill you?” “I can demonstrate what it can do on one of their guys if they want me to. I won’t accidentally stab myself. Look, the cap is really good.” I wanted to show it to Meg, but she jumped back.

“Nope.” She waved her hands. “I believe you. Don’t need to see it up close.” A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “Okay.” I put the syringe in the inner pocket of my jacket. “If you can successfully hide that thing, then you should take weapons too. Maybe that thin, sharp plastic thingy that looks like a shiv that you have? It won’t trigger a metal detector.” “I’ve already thought about that. I’m not going there completely defenseless, but there’s going to be a group of Santanos and only one of me, so... I’m not sure if I’ll get to use any of my weapons. I just want James safe and I’ll do anything to ensure that.” “How are you going to know they’ll uphold their end of the bargain?” “I’ll go alone into the factory, but I need a car to get there, so my driver will stay at a safe distance and wait for James. You’ll be in with them and with me. I’m not ditching my phone either, so when you text me that James is truly safe...” “You’re going to stab the guy next to you with that syringe, steal his gun, and shoot everyone there?” She gave me a hopeful look. “I wish. You’re forgetting about all the trigger-happy guys that are going to be there. Just because their boss might not want me dead, it doesn’t mean they won’t shoot me.” She made a face. “You have an escape plan, right? Should I have everyone ready for an attack? I have a really good tracker that you can hide in your bra.” “Actually, there’s something I prepared. A document that gives James permission to be in charge while I’m gone.” “Are you sure that’s what you want? He’s your husband and I know he has feelings for you, but there was never really an opportunity for him to rule instead of you. Your contract made sure of that. If he gets a taste of power...” “I trust him.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it as if she thought better of it. “Alright. But we’ll be coming for you. After what you did for me, there’s no way I’m going to let some assholes take you.” “Thanks.” I crossed the room and gave her a brief hug. “I’ll need you to keep an eye on James and make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless.” She arched her eyebrows. “Yeah, as if that’s going to be easy. Like with you. I can’t get you to change your mind either, even though I don’t want you to go anywhere.” “I know. Just remind him why I’m doing this. I don’t want him to risk his life. Besides, I need someone to make sure I have something to return to.” It was so weird to talk about this, as if I were going on a trip, especially when there was always a chance things could go wrong and something might happen to me. I didn’t want to think about any of that, but I had to be prepared for everything. “I should’ve seen Felipe was up to something. I shouldn’t have let him work with me and find out too much. If he hadn’t given our enemy access to our systems, none of this would’ve happened.” Meg bowed her head. “It’s not your fault. We all trusted Felipe and the others. We had no reasons to doubt them.” “And we still don’t know if they’re really loyal to the Santanos or if someone threatened them like they did with me. Why aren’t they talking? It’s safe now. No one can listen in on us or spy on us anymore.” “The Santanos, or whoever, have their families. That might be why, but we don’t have enough info yet. Felipe might’ve acted because he wanted to, but I’m not sure about the rest. Somehow, the Santanos knew just who to pick. There are others who would’ve cracked a long time ago. You’ll have to work with James to keep an eye on everyone’s families. We don’t need new moles. If anyone’s family suddenly moves away, make sure you check exactly where they moved to and monitor them.” “Why are you saying all this as if you’re not coming back? Our priority will be to save you and defeat the Santanos, and then we can judge the traitors.” “I’m just telling you to be prepared no matter what. We don’t know what exactly

the Santanos want with me or where they’ll take me. It could be months or...” “No! It’s not going to be that long.” “Of course not, but it’s better to consider all the possibilities.” The truth was, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but I wanted to make this as easy as possible for James. “Call everyone to our conference room. Everyone needs to know what’s going on and what I’m planning to do. I don’t want them to think this is a defeat.” “Then you better tell them it’s all a part of your plan so they don’t get discouraged.” “Don’t worry. I know exactly what to say. It’s not the first time the Montis had to lose a battle to win the war.” “Okay. I’ll alert them.” As she focused on her task, I was already coming up with a speech that would hopefully convince everyone that my husband wouldn’t be acting against them but for them, and that I intended to be back very quickly. There was just one thing that I wasn’t willing to it to them, and that was the fact that my stalker was right. James was my weakness and he might be the end of me, but I didn’t regret any of it.

Chapter 25

AS I STRODE DOWN THE road that led toward the factory, I glanced at the fields that surrounded it. Tall, yellowish grass that danced in the breeze seemed so peaceful, and I took comfort in it. Everything was going to be fine. I just had to play this right. James would be free, and I... I’d find a way out. If Santano wanted me dead, he would’ve taken a different approach, so I was sure there was something else. The wire fence around the factory had a huge warning sign on it. No one was supposed to tres, but apparently, the Santanos didn’t give a damn about that. They must have found a way to power up the factory, because the fence was buzzing with electricity. At first, I couldn’t see anyone as I approached the entrance, but movement here and there told me they were watching. A camera was looking straight at me as I stopped and waited for someone to open the gate. Two armed men in black ran toward me as the gate started to slide open. I took a step forward, lifting my hands up. More men came out of their hiding spots, and one of them held a metal detector. They surrounded me, patting me down for weapons. The syringe in the hidden pocket under my shirt ed undetected, and I was glad they hadn’t assumed there could be something in between my breasts. One of the men had grabbed my phone and was inspecting it. “You better not lose that. I’m going to need it,” I said. “We’ll see.” The guy pocketed my phone. I’d expected they’d take it, but I intended to get it back eventually to Meg. Once they moved out of the way, one of them motioned for me to follow him. I trailed after him toward the old building with gray walls sprinkled with dirt, soot, and rust. We entered a large room that was empty except for three big bright red sofas that were so out of place in here. “Please take a seat,” the man said. “Mr. Santano will be here shortly.” Was he going to offer me drinks next or what? I didn’t know what Alberto pretended he was doing, but this seemed ridiculous. More men filled the room,

lining up near the walls, their weapons ready. This had to be one of those times when everyone was acting nice but was prepared to shoot as soon as their guest did or said something they didn’t approve of. I sat down on one of the sofas, making sure I had a good view of everyone in the room. The guards were far enough away that I knew I could get the syringe out before they even noticed what I was doing. Alberto Santano finally entered the room. He was wearing a dark blue suit, and his black hair was slicked back, his dark brown eyes regarding me with curiosity. My heart skipped a beat when I spotted two bulky men behind him. They were dragging James with them as he struggled, but his wrists and ankles were shackled, his eyes covered with a blindfold. “I was wondering what choice you might make. I’m glad you’ve decided to come,” Alberto said. “And why would that be?” I arched an eyebrow at him. A gasp escaped James’ throat. “Arianna! No!” he shouted as he thrashed against the men holding him. The blindfold slipped off and his eyes full of desperation met mine. “It’s good for me,” Alberto said as he took a seat on the sofa opposite from me. His men were keeping James in the middle of the room, although they were having trouble with that, because, even tied up, he was putting up one hell of a fight. I couldn’t tear my gaze off him. His jaw was swollen, a bruise marring his cheek, but he seemed alright. “I’m here now. Let him go as you promised.” “No, Arianna,” James yelled. “Don’t do this! No.” “It doesn’t look like he wants to leave.” A smile spread across Alberto’s lips. “Let. Him. Go.” I gave him a pointed look, lifting my hand up a little so I could reach the syringe easier. “But I have you now. Maybe I’ll just...” I dipped my hand into my shirt and whipped out the syringe, pointing it at my

neck. “No, you don’t. Not yet.” All the men in the room tensed, their weapons aimed at me, but they were hesitating. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see James had stopped struggling and was staring at me open-mouthed. “What is that?” Alberto shot an annoyed glare at the men who’d searched me. “If you don’t let him go or if any of your men make a single step toward me, I’ll stab myself in the neck with poison that will kill me in seconds. So if you want me, James gets to walk free.” Alberto’s face was serious. “What makes you think I need you alive?” “Oh, please. You didn’t set all this up just to watch me die, and I distinctly you gave me your word you wouldn’t kill me.” He pressed his lips into a white line, and I knew I was right. “Arianna, don’t!” James said. “Please. Just get out of here. Let them have me. I’m not worth it. I’ll gladly give my life for you, but you have to go.” I did my best to ignore him and focused completely on Alberto, who seemed quite unhappy about how things were going. Good. “Don’t make me wait. My hand could slip.” “Arianna, look at me,” James choked out. “Don’t do it. Get out of here. Don’t worry about me.” I couldn’t do as he asked. “I’m sorry, James. It has to be this way.” “Fine. I’ll let him leave. He’s no concern of mine anyway.” Alberto clasped his hands. “Will you put that syringe down now?” “No. Not until James is with my driver, and until I get confirmation that he’s safe.” “You’ve planned everything, haven’t you?” “And what did you expect? That you’re going to get both of us? I don’t think

so.” “Take him to her driver,” Alberto said, waving his hand. “No!” James’ shout of protest was so loud that goose bumps rose on my skin. “James, please,” I said, but my voice wasn’t as strong and sure as I wanted it to be. “Go. That’s an order.” He blinked at me in shock as the men shoved him toward the door. “No,” he whispered. “I won’t. You can’t. It’s not right. They’ll hurt you. You can still change your mind.” I forced myself to look away, and a single tear slid down my cheek. “You really care about him that much,” Alberto said as his men managed to get James through the door. I could still hear him yelling as they led him away. “What does it matter to you?” I curled my lip at him. “You’re right. It doesn’t. It’s just fascinating. Someone like you shouldn’t be brought down so easily because of some guy. Your enemy, at that.” “You know nothing.” “About something as fickle as love? No, I don’t. But at least I won’t put my life and business at risk because of it.” I didn’t say anything. My arm was starting to seriously ache, but I knew I couldn’t put that damn syringe down until James was far away from here and from the Santanos. Alberto indicated for his man to bring me my phone. “Can he get close to you or...?” he asked. “He can toss it onto the sofa next to me from over there.” I nodded toward the other end of the room. “Are you sure that’s safe? If he misses...” “If he misses, then your plan is screwed, so I suggest you tell him to aim really, really good.”

Alberto offered me a fake smile. The guy tossed my phone, which fell on the seat within my grasp. “Good boy.” I flashed him a smile. “Now go back to where you were standing before.” He looked at his boss, who only nodded, and had no choice but to obey. After what seemed like an eternity, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Meg, with a code word that we’d agreed upon before I’d left so I’d know this wasn’t a trick. I wanted her to me only once James was in the car and on the move away from here—I hoped my driver hadn’t untied him, because he would probably try to come back here for me. They had a good head start and my men would be waiting for them a few miles away to safely escort them to my house, so if the Santanos attempted anything, they’d most likely fail. “Satisfied?” Alberto asked. “Yeah, but before I put this thing down, I have some questions. Why were you spying on me and stalking me? What do you want from me? And this time, don’t evade.” “Oh, I wasn’t spying on you. I don’t care about you at all. You’re just means to an end for me.” “What end?” “I’m going to deliver you to someone who really wants you and who has set up all these tests for you that you miserably failed. If anyone asked me, you’d be dead a long time ago. But I got a really sweet offer that I couldn’t refuse, so here we are.” “Who? Who made a deal with you?” “Put the syringe down and I’ll tell you.” I took a deep breath and lowered my arm, letting the syringe slip out of my fingers and fall to the floor. One of the guards closest to me raced to grab it. “Tell me,” I said. “Your aunt.” A wide smile tilted Alberto’s lips.

Chapter 26

I STARED AT HIM FOR a moment, expecting him to start laughing about how he tricked me, but he didn’t say anything else. “My aunt? I don’t have one.” I was pretty sure I’d know if I had an aunt, and no one had ever mentioned her. My whole family was dead, even some distant relatives. “Yeah, you do.” “Then how come I’ve never heard of her?” If the Santanos were trying to convince me I had a living family member, then they were idiots for thinking I’d fall for something like that. “Because your family cut her off long before you were born.” “Suuure. I guess my family did that because she’s always been a crazy, creepy stalker?” Did I even dare to consider this might be true? The actions of my stalker had always been kind of weird, and this would explain why they didn’t want me dead. “No. It was because she fell in love and married the wrong person. One of your family’s enemies. Hmm. I guess you have that in common.” I shook my head. “I don’t believe you.” Even if that was somehow true, why would she do everything to separate me from James if she’d married her enemy too? Unless she’d gotten a crazy idea to get her revenge on my family through me for ostracizing her. “You don’t have to. You’ll meet her soon enough, which reminds me...” He got to his feet. “We have to go.” His men surrounded me and I had to get up. They led me out of the factory and toward a black SUV with tinted windows that was waiting for us. After tying my wrists with a zip tie, they shoved me into the back seat, sandwiching me between two guards. Alberto settled in the enger seat, glancing back at me as the driver started the engine.

“So this woman... My aunt... She’s my father’s sister? What’s her name?” “Yes. Her name is Patricia.” “What did she offer you?” It had to be something good. “Her whole empire.” “Her empire?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “After her husband died, she inherited everything, including his business. You may have heard of her. She goes by the name Avano.” My lips parted in surprise. The Avanos were among very powerful crime families, but their territory bordered the Santanos’, so I’d never really concerned myself with them since it was unlikely our paths would ever cross. How wrong I’d been about that. Shit. But how had I not known my family had been enemies with the Avanos? Surely, someone would’ve mentioned it. I didn’t even think they had a particularly long history. “I know what you’re thinking,” Alberto said. “The Avanos were known under a different name until your family drove them out and they had to start over in a new city, far away from here.” And now my aunt had given it all away to Alberto, and for what? To toy with me? What the hell? Why had she even come back here? How had she convinced or forced Felipe and the others to betray me? How had she gotten to them? How hadn’t we known she was here? My mind was reeling from all the questions. “How about you and I make a deal?” I didn’t think my aunt was sane, and I was sure her intentions toward me weren’t good. Santano was doing all this just to get my aunt’s property and business, so I didn’t think he had any loyalty or real connection to her. He was just working for her. “A deal? And what can you offer me?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “My aunt is a little unhinged, isn’t she?” If she weren’t, she would’ve come to me like a normal person, not hired someone to terrorize me or to try to break James and me apart. What if we had killed each other because of her? I supposed she didn’t think James would do it, because of our deal and the threat of

assassins coming after him, but she’d clearly expected me to kill him. Why would she want that? So she could suddenly show up afterward to console me and offer me advice? Or had she planned something else? I wasn’t even sure what exactly she wanted now. “She’s a peculiar person, yes, but we signed a deal, so what happens with you or her next doesn’t concern me,” he said. “But maybe it should. What if she changes her mind? She seems very resourceful when she wants to get something. I’m sure you have no loyalty to her. How about you help me take her down? If she’s out of the picture, you still get what you want, and there’s no threat someone might try to mess it up. We can add something extra to our deal too. Name your price.” He was quiet for a few long moments. “I’m not interested in making deals with you.” “So you’re that afraid of my aunt? Who would’ve thought?” “Think what you want. I’m only doing what’s in my best interest, and going against your aunt is not it.” Shit. I was hoping he’d be more willing to ensure she didn’t try to get back what was hers, but maybe he knew her well enough, so he didn’t think that was going to happen. But if she was my aunt, maybe I could reason with her. She didn’t know me. Not really. She might’ve spied on me, but she’d never spoken to me. I might be able to convince her to let me go—if she even wanted to keep me with her. But if she was willing to give up everything to get me, then I probably wouldn’t be escaping from her too easily. “Suit yourself. But once this is over, I’m coming for you.” The corners of my lips lifted up. “I’m looking forward to that.” He grinned, and I didn’t like that one little bit, because that meant there was no way I could end this before I got to meet my aunt. At least Meg’s tracker was still on me. I glanced through the window, but I didn’t recognize our surroundings and had no idea where we were going. In the distance, I could see five or six SUVs waiting. It had to be my aunt. I wondered if she’d actually been hiding somewhere far away while others had

been doing her bidding. Maybe I’d finally find out how she’d gotten her clutches into some of my men. When we pulled over, Alberto got out of the car, and his men grabbed me and hauled me to my feet. I was expecting my aunt’s men to open fire and kill Santano to get out of her deal, but nothing happened. Would she just give it all up or did she have something else in mind? There was no way for me to tell. “Patricia, my dear. I have a gift for you,” he said. A gift? Seriously? A woman with long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes stepped forward. She was wearing a white suit and black high heels. I thought that maybe I was going to feel some family connection, despite everything she’d done, but there was nothing. She was a complete stranger to me. “The best gift you could’ve given me.” She met him halfway, and he took her hand and planted a kiss on her knuckles. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “She’s all yours. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.” “Thank you. Bring her to me.” Her brief smile vanished, and she waved at her men, who started toward me. They roughly grasped my arms and dragged me toward her. Alberto inclined his head to her and headed back. My aunt regarded me with her cold eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line. When the Santanos were gone and we were face to face, she lifted her arm and slapped me hard enough to make my cheek sting. “Nice to meet you too, Auntie,” I said, glaring at her. “You’re a disgrace to the Monti name.” “Look who’s talking. I heard some things about you. You haven’t made my family proud.” “You know nothing.” “Then explain it to me. Because I’ve no idea what the fuck you want from me. Why don’t you let me go and we can talk? Get to know each other. We’re family, aren’t we?”

“You were willing to trade your life for that man. Every test I put you through, you failed!” I arched an eyebrow at her. “Maybe you should’ve told me you were testing me so I could prepare.” “Your father would be so disappointed. Falling for an Ezzati. The worst of worst...” “I still don’t understand what your problem is. What I do with my life is none of your business. You’re not a Monti anymore.” “Do you think I got married because I wanted to? Is that what Alberto told you? That’s a story everyone believes, but I never stopped being a Monti. Your father and I made plans to rule the whole country and destroy our enemies once and for all. My love story was fake. If your father hadn’t died, I would’ve ended my husband’s life sooner. I lay low and was waiting for you to grow up so we could continue with those plans. I thought you were finally ready, but when I saw that you really cared about that bastard... I couldn’t believe it.” I blinked at her. Plans of world domination? And my father was a part of it? Was I willing to believe that or not? “How are you going to realize those plans when you handed over everything to Alberto Santano?” She waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, please. He only thinks he has won. I have him exactly where I want him. Like everyone.” The corners of her lips quirked up. “And what are you going to do with me?” I wasn’t going to believe anything she said about my family until she produced some credible proof. “You’ve been without proper guidance for so long,” she said. “I thought Hugo would teach you better. Instead, he protected you too much. But don’t worry, I’m going to show you how things are done and you’re never going to disappoint your family ever again. You’re going to put a bullet in that husband of yours and then we’ll make your father proud. Together. It’s a shame Ezzati isn’t here with us. Things would be so much easier.” Yeah, she was definitely insane. I’d have to find a way to get away from her as soon as possible. How could she ever think I’d kill James? Luckily, he was with

my men now and they’d protect him for me. There was no way my aunt was getting to him. I was going to take her down first. I just had to find the right moment. “Take her,” she said to her men. “And make sure to change her clothes. I don’t want any surprises.” I gritted my teeth. The tracker. Fuck. I was truly going to end up alone with my crazy and dangerous aunt. Still, as long as James was out there, I believed we could defeat her. My aunt wasn’t going to win. But as a man with a syringe in his hand approached me, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that my aunt didn’t exactly plan on convincing me to her by talking to me. “You’re going to feel so much better after treatment,” she said, and I struggled against the men holding me in place, trying to elbow one of them. It was futile, and the syringe pierced the tender skin of my neck. A rush of warmth spread through me, and the world started to tilt and dance around me. Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was the twisted smile on my aunt’s face.

###

Follow Arianna and James’ story in The Vow (The Mafia Proposal, #3). More information:

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