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“Genevra is fine,” the man assures me softly. “It has to be this way.”
That is all he says before I’m carried out of the house and shoved into the back of the Porsche Cayenne. I’m about to hurry out to the other side when I hear a bark. I turn, and I’m startled to see my dogs in the back. They’re sitting there as if a stranger hadn’t just kidnapped me.
The door I was about to use as an escape hatch swings open, and Stacy jumps in while Pavel climbs behind the wheel. Davey is in the front passenger seat, and Hazel-eyes is on the other side of me.
“Move,” the man orders, and Pavel spins off, zooming us out the driveway, leaving my chance of freedom on my front steps.
Escape plan number three—complete failure! I can see the big red “failure” stamp hit the story of my fucking life. I can hear my father now: It’s because you don’t think things through. You act on your emotions. You can’t see clearly with a head of steam.
Fuck you, daddy, dearest. This time I did think through, only I was fucking betrayed. Trust no one. If you make plans, always have a plan B that no one else knows about because most enemies are those we trust the most. No shit! Plan B, Isabella, always have a goddamn plan B.
I look around the car to where Davey is sitting chatting to Pavel like they’ve been best buddies their whole life, and Stacy is talking to Hazel-eyes in fucking Russian! When the hell did Stacy, who barely uses the English language correctly, learn to speak such perfect Russian?
Wait, I’m forgetting something here—when the fuck did Stacy meet Hazel-eyes? A chill creeps up my spine. Were they planning on kidnapping me all along? I see flashes of mine and Stacy’s night at the Velvet Lounge, the night I met him and Andrey. Is that where Stacy met him? Or did she already know him? What the fuck is going on here?
And what about Genevra? She must’ve known with her advice: trust those saving you, or was it helping me? The bitch lulled me into a false sense of liking her. I shake my head, pushing aside thoughts that are not getting me anywhere while trying to quell my panic.
My mind is reeling with a loud roaring in my ears so loud I can hardly hear much that’s going on around me. I’m juiced up on adrenaline from my flight response, fear, and trying hard not to have a full-blown panic attack. If I could find my voice or catch my breath that seems to be trapped in my lungs, I’d lay into Stacy and Davey, the fucking traitors.
A hand lands on my back, and that’s when my fight response kicks in. My instincts and training finally kick in—I really need to learn to jump-start them sooner—
I swing my elbow back, catching Hazel-eyes in the ribs. He grunts, and I use the moment of surprise to shove Stacy away and lunge for the door. My fingers fumble for the handle, heart pounding, but a strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back.
“Let me go!” I scream, thrashing wildly. My dogs, Zeus and Hera, watch the commotion with unnerving calmness as if they’ve been trained to stay out of it. Even my damn dogs are traitors!
“Isabella, calm down,” Hazel-eyes growls in my ear.
His grip tightens as I struggle, and I feel a surge of panic-fueled strength. I twist and kick, managing to land a solid hit on his shin.
“Son of a bitch,” Hazel-eyes hisses.
“Stacy, help me!” I shout, giving her one last chance to redeem herself, but she just watches with a mix of guilt and determination. “ Fucking traitor.”
Hazel-eyes finally manages to pin my arms to my sides, his breath hot and heavy against my ear. “Enough,” he snaps. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Chapter 14
ISABELLA
I go still, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My chest heaves, and I fight back tears of frustration and betrayal, realizing I really am alone—I really can’t trust anyone, not even my dogs. My mind races, searching for another escape plan, but the reality of my situation crashes down on me.
Stacy reaches out, her hand trembling. “Izzy, please, just listen. We’re trying to help you.”
“Help me?” I spit, glaring at her. “Wait! Let me take the knife out of my back first. Then you can continue telling me how you’re helping me by kidnapping me?”
“It’s complicated,” Stacy says.
“It always is,” I mutter, my voice breaking.
I glance at Davey, who avoids my gaze, and Pavel, who keeps his eyes on the road and probably hasn’t blinked at my puny attempt at jumping out of the moving car. And I’m once again betrayed by the people I trusted most—trapped between them and yet another man who sees me as nothing but someone he can control.
Hazel-eyes’ grip loosens slightly, but his presence is still imposing. “When you calm down, Isabella, we’ll explain everything.”
I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. “And, of course, it’s going to make all this better!” I clench my jaw.
“Now, Izzy…” Stacy’s voice is soft and supportive, but I’m not falling for that ever again. “I know this isn’t the way we planned it.”
“We?” I turn and look at her. “As far as I was aware, you only came in on this recently.“ I see her look away, and my gaze narrows suspiciously. “You were in this from the start.” My eyes fall on Davey. So much for my go-to-fixer. Davey and Stacy are going to pay for this.
