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"Oh, my God! Don't tell them!" Gabby slapped his forearm. "I'll disown you as my dad."

"Too late. It's out there. You're stuck with me."

"I'm not stuck with you."

"You are." Damn, he liked saying that. "But—" He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Instinctively, he pulled it out, as he always did. The Harts always took calls from each other, no matter what was happening. He frowned when he saw the name. "It's Eliana." He answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Are Gabby and Sofia with you?"

Alarm shot through him at her tone. "Gabby is. Why?" He gestured to Gabby to get up and pointed to his truck. Her eyes widened, and together, they ran toward his truck, ice cream forgotten.

"He's found her. He landed in Seattle a few hours ago. I just called Sofia, but she's not answering her phone. I texted her the code that he'd found her, and she didn't respond. She has to respond. That's our plan. If she's not responding, either she doesn't have her phone on her, or she can't text back."

Fear shot through him. "Fuck. We're on the way. Send the cops."

"On it." She hung up.

"The cops? Why?" Gabby was already in the front seat, fastening her seat belt.

Keegan held up his hand to ask for a moment, then called the security team he'd left in front of the store.

They didn't answer.

Swearing, he called Brody. "Get people to Sofia's house now!"

"Keegan! What's going on?" Gabby's face paled. "Did he find her? Is my mom in trouble?" The look of stark terror on her face was like a stab to his gut.

"I gotta go, Brody. Get people there now." He hung up and focused on the teenager beside him. "We're going to get to her in time, Gabby."

"He's found her?" Tears filled her eyes. "Hurry! Please hurry!"

He stopped trying to reassure her and hit the gas.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Sofia froze, paralyzed by the sight of the man who had haunted her for so long.

Sitting there.

On her bed.

In her room.

Wearing a custom suit, polished shoes, and a watch that cost more than the building they were in. Money. Connections. Power. All the things that controlled her life before, he still had.

He didn't smile. "Imagine my surprise when one of my investigators told me that you were alive and sleeping with Keegan Hart."

She fought to think, to think clearly, not to panic. The last time she'd seen him, she'd been scared, young, and vulnerable. But she'd had fifteen years to become the woman who was ready for this moment.

"You didn't die," he said. "I suspected as much when they didn't find either of your bodies and a chunk of my money was gone. But you were hard to find. So very difficult."

His eyes were dark and cold. His voice hard and uncaring. His tone smug and arrogant.

How had she worried that Keegan might be like him? That she wouldn't be able to trust her judgment that Keegan was safe? Now that she was in front of the man who had haunted her for so long, it was so obvious to her what a monster he was. She'd never make that mistake again.

The realization was such a relief. She could trust herself. She could trust how she felt about Keegan.

"You're smiling? You think it's funny that you faked your death and hid from me?" He rose to his feet, slow and menacing. But he wasn't as big as she remembered. Not as tall. Not as muscled.