Page 206 of Damián

And I can’t.

I love him too much to be this selfish.

Ugh… it hurts.

Leaving him hurts so much.

But I love Damián so much that I’ll gladly deal with this pain just to make sure he, his family, and his friends are safe. Because even though Rafael and my father are dead, dozens of cartels and corrupt assholes know me now as the man who burned down their stupid empires, and there is no way I will let Damián get caught in the crossfire.

I won’t let his mother, his sister, cute little Carlitos, or the Harknetts get hurt because of me.

Never again. Not after they almost died because of my brother.

I refuse to let my toxic bloodline destroy another family, to hurt and abuse others.

Okay, let’s do this, Ollie. Disappear so they can be safe.

Do it for them…

Do it for him.

I blink away my tears, move my thumb to click Kaleo’s name, and—

SCREEEEECH!

I jump, horrified, as a white van swerves around the corner and cuts off my path on the sidewalk.

The side door slides open, and a huge man wearing a balaclava lunges out, wrapping his arms around my waist, lifting me off the sidewalk, and tossing me into the open space at the back of the van.

I am two seconds away from screaming bloody murder and fighting for my life when a voice I recognize yells at the huge man.

“Freaking hell, bror!” Leif gasps in horror, slamming the door shut as we speed away. “What part of ‘be careful when you kidnap Ollie’ didn’t you get?”

“You can’t carefully kidnap someone.”

“What the hell, Björn?” I smack his arm. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Argh! See, Leif? Now, thanks to you, Ollie knows I’m the kidnapper,” Björn complains, pulling off his balaclava.

“You are the only one in here wearing a balaclava, and you’re covered in tattoos, Björn. Leif didn’t have to use your name for me to know it was you,” I point out, glaring at the giant Viking who is currently grinning at me.

“Surprise!” he cheers.

I look around the van. The entire back area is a wide-open space with no seats. Björn is grinning; next to him is Leif, who is giving me an apologetic wave.

At least one of them has a conscience…

Alexios is in the driver’s seat, completely ignoring us to focus on driving. And sitting directly across from me is Tae, who is holding a syringe filled with clear liquid. He leans forward, aiming the needle right at my thigh.

I flinch, but before Tae can stab me, Leif grabs his wrist.

“Tae…”

“It will only knock him out.”

“Absolutely not. Damián will kill us if something happens to Oliver.”

“Relax. The injection is perfectly safe. Besides, I added a dose of vitamin B12 and magnesium. Have you looked at his skin? He is paler than usual, has shortness of breath, and looks like he’s about to pass out. The man clearly has a deficiency.”