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I clutch the phone to my chest, exhaling shakily. I have no idea what I’m walking into.
But I know one thing—Maggie needs me.
And I’m not letting anything happen to her.
The night air is cold when I step out of my apartment, my arms wrapping around myself for warmth. My heart pounds in my chest, the tension thick in my veins as I scan the darkened street.
The town is quiet, as it always is at this hour. The streetlights cast long shadows against the pavement, and the only sound is the distant hum of a car approaching.
Then, headlights swing around the corner. A sleek black sedan slows in front of me, the passenger window rolling down.
Alex.
His dark eyes are locked on mine, his face unreadable as he leans toward the steering wheel. “Get in.”
I don’t waste a second. The moment I slide into the passenger seat, he shifts into gear and pulls away from the curb.
For a few beats, neither of us speaks.
I grip the edges of my sweater, my stomach coiled tight. “Thanks for this,” I say, my voice quieter than I intended.
Alex flicks a glance at me, his expression serious. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I exhale sharply, tapping my fingers against my thigh. “Maggie called me out of nowhere. She sounded scared—really scared. She just kept saying she needed to get out of there.”
His jaw tightens. “The party.”
I nod. “Yeah. It’s that guy…Ryan, the one who came into the café today. He invited her.”
Alex makes a sound—low, almost annoyed. His grip on the steering wheel tightens.
“I don’t like it,” he mutters.
Neither do I.
I glance at my phone, checking for new messages. Nothing from Maggie yet. My stomach twists. “Do you know anything about him?” I ask carefully, watching Alex’s reaction.
He doesn’t answer right away.
His fingers drum once against the wheel. “No. But guys like him? They don’t just show up in places like Camden Hill without a reason.”
A shiver creeps down my spine.
I already know that. I know what it’s like when powerful men move in silence, when they orchestrate things from the shadows.
Men like Mikhail.
And now, my best friend is at a party thrown by someone who sets off every instinct I have.
The road ahead darkens as we move further from the town center, the streetlights growing sparser. We’re heading toward the outskirts, where the wealthier houses sit on wide plots of land, tucked behind trees and iron gates.
The address Maggie sent me isn’t some dingy college house—it’s a mansion.
Something isn’t right.
I glance at Alex again. His jaw is still clenched.
A long driveway stretches ahead, lined with parked cars. Music pulses in the distance, lights spilling out from massive floor-to-ceiling windows.