Page 90 of His Forbidden Alliance

Remington snarled.

“Would you wait?”

Lancelot laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I have a backup plan.”

I glanced toward Lorenzo, and he nodded. They’d known I wouldn’t be willing to wait.

“It’s riskier,” Lancelot admitted.

Remington nodded. “Explain.”

Lancelot brought up another image of the house with a few of the previous lines redrawn.

“It’s too much like what we tried before,” Remington said.

“Yes, but Ivanov got wind of that well beforehand. We just made this up a few minutes ago.”

Remington stood. “Every single one of you better be more alert than you’ve ever been. You see anyone you don’t know, take them out. We can’t hesitate.”

Did that mean… “We’re going? Now?”

“Yes. You made a good point.”

I smiled for the first time since I’d heard Zach lie about us on the phone.

35

ZACH

When the trunk I’d been put in was opened, a man shoved a bag over my head before pulling me from the car and dragging me along with him. I went over some gravel, then down some steps. They tossed me onto a concrete floor, and I heard the clang of bars close behind me.

I rolled myself over, even though I couldn’t see, and I was in no position to fight. I wanted to be facing the door; it was instinct. I heard the men’s footsteps retreat and then nothing. I tried to wiggle my way free from the hood, but I didn’t have any luck, not with my hands tied behind my back. I had to concentrate not to panic. The last thing I needed was anything that would restrict my breathing more. With the hood over my face and my mouth taped shut, it was enough of a struggle.

I had to save my energy. My head was throbbing, and I was banged up and bruised from the way they’d treated me. If I could get my hands free, I’d have a chance. I’d fought through worse, but they’d done a damn good job of tying me up. I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I heard footsteps approaching.

“You never should’ve gotten mixed up with the Theriots. You should’ve left them and my business alone. At least now I get to have some fun with you.”

That cold Russian accent—it had to be Ivanov. I didn’t need to see him. I was going to have to do everything I could to stay sane through this. There was no telling what kind of hell this man was going to put me through.

He ripped the hood off my head, the rough fabric scratching across my cheeks. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust quickly. I had been right; Ivanov was looming over me, holding a bat. He grabbed the edge of the duct tape and ripped it off.

“No one can hear you down here.”

So I was in a basement. I’d guessed right.

“I like hearing my victims scream and beg for mercy.” I decided then that he wouldn’t get that from me.

He swung the bat, and I nearly bit through my lip trying not to scream. The sickening pop I heard must have been my ribs cracking. It hurt like hell, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of my screams.

I curled my body in, trying to protect myself, but Ivanov yanked me off the ground so he could punch my face. I fell over, and he grabbed the bat again. I tried to retreat into myself as he hit me again and again. He wanted me scared, he wanted me begging, but he wouldn’t get that from me. I would endure whatever he did, and I wouldn’t make it good for him. I was going to die with some dignity left.

I didn’t have any illusions of getting away. Rafe would assume I was home or investigating on my own. He sure as fuck wasn’t going to find out I was gone before I was long dead. Maria would have no idea where I was. She might worry when I didn’t check in, but she wouldn’t know what happened to me. No one would. I hadn’t been able to leave any clues. I was going to die here without ever telling Rafe how much I loved him.

At some point, I realized the beating had stopped. I heard Ivanov’s voice, but he wasn’t talking to me.

“There’s no way they’d be here.”

A pause.