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What the fuck?!
I don’t stick around to ask questions, I take off running, my sneakers pounding on the grass. We’re in a woodland clearing, nothing but trees around and a dirt track running through the woods. Fuck.
“Get back here!” Chase follows. I hear him behind me, his long legs eating up the space between us quickly. I barely make it twenty feet before he grabs my arm and yanks me around. I scream, swinging wildly, but I’m no match for his bulk and fighting skills. He grabs the wrench from me and tosses it aside. “Nice try,” he growls, sneering.
With no weapon, I use the only thing I have: my hands. I scratch at him wildly, tearing at the skin of his neck. He bellows in pain. “Bitch!”
Then he balls up his fist and punches me in the face.
Owwww.
Pain explodes in my cheekbone, and I would drop to the ground from the force of impact if he weren’t holding me up. “No more fucking surprises,” he says, roughly dragging me back the way we came. “I need you alive for now, but you could spare a few limbs.”
I stagger behind him, barely keeping stride. My ears are ringing, and my head aches, trying to process everything.
I don’t understand.
Chase has never liked me, but he’s loyal to Nero. His oldest friend. A Barretti man.
So why does he want to hurt me? Why would he murder Kyle in cold blood?
Just what is he planning?
Chase drags me past the car, to where an old log cabin is half-hidden in the trees. It has a sagging roof and a boarded-up window in the front. The grass and weeds are overgrown, and when his heavy footsteps land on the porch steps, the wood creaks like it might collapse at any moment.
Inside, it’s just as decrepit. It’s a little, one-bedroom cabin with shabby furniture and a thick layer of dust on everything. I look around, chilled by the scene. We’re in the middle of nowhere here, like something out of a horror movie. I need to think fast.
Chase grabs a wooden chair at the tiny kitchen table and drags it to the center of the room. He throws me down on it, and pulls out a wicked looking switchblade.
I gasp. “It’s OK, I get the message! I’m not going anywhere.”
“Too fucking right,” Chase scowls. He advances, reaching for me—
And slices the tape from my wrists.
Before I can relax, or rub the injured skin, he grabs a length of rope, and ties me to the chair, binding my wrists to each arm and tying my ankles to the wood, too. The ropes cut harshly into my skin, but I try not to show pain as he yanks my bindings even tighter.
“I don’t know what’s going on here,” I say, my voice trembling. “But take a moment. Talk to me. I’m sure we can work it out.”
His laugh is cold.
“Work this out? You really are a piece of work. Is the Princess going to offer to blow me to get out of her predicament?”
I want to gag. “That’s not what I meant. Just… Just untie me, and we can have a conversation.”
Chase scowls. He touches his neck, wincing at the broken skin my nails managed to catch. “The only reason you’re not dead yet is I might need proof the Kovacks have taken you.”
“What?” I blurt. “You’re working for them?”
Chase snorts. “Not in a million years. Because unlike your traitor husband, I don’t break bread with the fucking enemy.”
He’s angry—but not just at me. I watch him, trying to figure this out. Because until I know what’s going on, I can’t find a way out of it.
“So tell me, what are you trying to do?” I urge him, keeping my voice soft. “Maybe I can help?”
“Help?” Chase whirls around, furious. His face is contorted in rage. “You’re the one who’s ruined everything! Nero’s turning his back on his family for you, giving up everything this organization fought for. Everything we bled for!”
I shiver in fear. He’s breathing heavily, wild-eyed. He’s lost control, pacing and ranting like a madman.
