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“It’s clear something happened to you, Evie, something that makes you think you can’t trust me?—”

“Cut the psychoanalysis. Just open the door. Let’s get this over with.”

I unlock the door and climb from the car. She immediately throws her door open and runs for the exit, grabbing the handle and turning it violently. It rattles in the frame as she tries to force it open. Turning to me, she shakes her head.

“I was right, then. This is a prison.”

I approach her, my hands at my sides. This is starting to feel wrong. I’ve come too far, though, and if I let her free, The Vultures will be free to do whatever they want to her. I could call Rafe, have him watch her instead. But this feels like my responsibility.

“It won’t be forever,” I say, going to the wall and swiping another pad. A door in the floor clicks and then slides open, revealing a clean, lit staircase. “This is my panic room, more of an underground apartment, really. It has everything you need.”

“What if I made you drag me down there?” she says. “How would that fit with your nice-guy act? Oh, wait, but you’re not a nice guy. I remember what you said. ‘You’re lucky you caught me in my thirties. Or your brains would be splattered all over this wall…’ That’s what you told Mason. Who are you, then, Dom?”

I shake my head. “You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

She carefully lays her cat down, then marches right up to me. “How many women have you brought here? What sick stuff do you do to them?”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“Let me go.”

“Not happening – not yet. This is for your own good.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” she mutters.

I sigh. “Have it your way.”

She gasps when I lift her off her feet, cradling her to my chest again, my hand greedily sinking into her suppleness as I carry her down the stairs, her cat trailing after us.

When she throws her arms around me, I grunt in surprise. She snaps, “I just don’t want to you to drop me.” As she clings on, I can almost trick myself into believing it’s because she wants to.

Placing her down, I stand at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m going to call my contact and find out what’s going on. If you won’t tell me, he will. I’ll get some food for the cat, too.”

“His name is Meatball,” she says as I turn away.

“I’m going to keep you and Meatball safe.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

“If you cared about what I wanted, you’d let me go. And you wouldn’t even think about calling your friend and prying into my past. It’s none of your business.”

I walk up the stairs. “I’d never hurt you, Evie. I’m on your side.”

“Why don’t I believe you, huh?” she says with a hand on her hip.

Back in the garage, I close the trapdoor and move my car so it’s covering the exit.

I close my eyes, take a moment, a breath. She can pretend I’m the bad guy, but if I hadn’t been there earlier, those monsterswould’ve taken her. Or she would’ve fought them and that jackass – Mason– would’ve used that knife on her.

Opening my eyes, I call Rafe. It’s time for answers.

CHAPTER 4

EVIE

This must be the most luxurious prison anybody has ever been confined to. It’s a five-room apartment with faux-windows which show scenic nature scenes on a loop, snowy mountains dissolving into desert, and then tropical jungle. The lights are warm and feel like sunlight, and there are plenty of plants to give the space an alive feel.