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“I had to make myself look similar to him so the neighbors wouldn’t question me coming and going from your house. Everything I did was to keep you safe, Ali.” He pulls away and stands me up, leaning down and cutting the tape around my ankles.

“Baby,” I whisper when he stands back up, reaching up and brushing my fingers over his cheek. His whole body shudders, and I want to scream. “This is hurting me.”

He looks down at the tape around my wrists and nods. “Of course, Angel. I’m so sorry that I hurt you.”

He cuts the tape and peels it away from my skin, leaning down and pressing kisses against my wrists as my stomach rolls, and I close my eyes. He grabs my hand.

“Let’s go home. Okay?” he asks, and I nod, looking toward the front door. If I can just get outside, I can make a run for it. I’ll scream the whole damn neighborhood down if I have to. He wraps an arm around my shoulders and starts leading me outside. I take a deep breath as I fiddle with my ring, and he glances down.

“What the fuck is that?” he seethes, grabbing it and pulling it up to his face to inspect it. “He was forcing you to marry him?”

I squeeze my eyes closed, and tears slip down my cheeks as I nod. He’ll think I’m crying because I’m scared of Logan but denying my love for him even when my life is in danger is the real reason for my tears.

“Take it off,” he says, trying to grab it, and I yank my hand away, taking a step back as I shake my head. “What are you doing? Take that fucking ring off, Ali.”

“No,” I whisper, backing up again. He reaches out and wraps an arm around my waist before I can get away and pulls me into his body.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going? I want his ring off your finger.”

I shake my head. I don’t care what he does to me – I won’t take Logan’s ring off. “No.”

His eyes narrow, and he studies me for a second before his gaze goes cold, taking on an evil quality that makes me tremble in his arms. Reaching behind his back, he pulls a gun out of his waistband, and I gasp. “You were lying to me the entire time, weren’t you?”

“No. No, I wasn’t,” I gasp, shaking my head as I hold my hands up. He presses the gun against my head and spins me around so my back is to his front as he pushes us toward the front door.

“We’re leaving, and I swear to God, if you try to get away from me, I will shoot you.”

“So much for loving me,” I mutter, my filter completely shut off right now. He presses his cheek to mine, his lips brushing against my ear as the cold barrel of the gun presses into my forehead.

“I do love you, Angel, but I’d rather lose you to death than to that piece of shit. Besides, if you go, I won’t be far behind you, and then we can be together again. Forever.”

My blood runs cold, and my stomach rolls. The only thing worse than hell is forever with him, no matter where that forever is served.

Glancing over at the gun that’s digging into my forehead, I notice that the safety is still on, and his hand is wrapped firmly around the grip. I let out a breath, sending a giant thank you to my dad for teaching me about guns as I elbow him in the ribs and spin away from him, running down the hallway. I can hear him wheezing behind me, and then his boots are slapping against the floor as he follows behind me.

“Don’t make me do this, Ali!” he yells behind me just as I make it into the kitchen and glance behind me. He fires the gun. A burning pain tears through my arm, and I cry out as I spin around to face him. I cover the wound and blood bubbles over my fingers, running down my arm and dripping onto the floor. He creeps into the kitchen, gun trained on me as his gaze flicks down to my arm. I use it to my advantage, charging toward him and tackling him. We fall to the floor, and he quickly rolls on top of me, pointing the gun to my chest.

As I fight him, I imagine my life with Logan. Our wedding, the kids we’ll have, raising them out on the property, and tears sting my eyes as I realize I might lose all that.

No.

That’s not an option.

I can feel myself getting weak, and I know I’m losing a lot of blood. With my last bit of energy, I bring my knee up, slamming it right into his balls. He gasps, and his body jerks, allowing me some leverage on the gun. We struggle for it, fighting for our lives, and it goes off once more. My ears ring, and I feel a heavy pressure on my chest as darkness descends over me.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Logan

Climbing out of the truck, I sigh and slip my keys into my pocket, worrying about my mom. When I got to her house and went around back, it was clear that the lines had been cut. It could have just been some punk messing around but I don’t take chances like that anymore. Whatever it is, it’s a problem for tomorrow. I’m anxious to get back to my girl. Even knowing she’s safe, I still hate being away from her for long.

“Bear?” I ask when I come around the truck and see him sitting in the shadows on the porch. “What the hell?”

The side gate is open, and he comes running to me, whining, and prancing around like something is wrong. I pat his head and creep over to the side gate but stop short, cursing. Just inside the gate are the bodies of our two prospects, one of which I sponsored. Crouching down, I look them over before a gunshot has me shooting to my feet.

I’m thrust back to that night, and it feels like everything is crashing down on me. I can see Fi so perfectly in my mind, kneeling in front of Ian’s car, the fog billowing around us as his headlights shined in my face, preventing me from seeing her face. And then she was gone, slumped over in the dirt like the prospects. I pound my fist into the wooden fence, and my mind jumps to Ali.

Oh, God, Ali.