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I woke Lina up, chose the right moment to hail a cab, and sneak past Ethan while he was busy checking the surveillance feeds. And the most gut-wrenching part of it all? I switched off my phone.

Alaric will be home. He’ll see that Lina and I are missing and call. And if he calls...I know myself. I’ll answer. I’ll fold.

But I can’t gamblemy daughter’s life on the hope that someone else can save her because only Julian can do so.

“Mommy? I want to go home.”

Lina’s voice is small,barely a whisper. She tugs at my dress like she’s afraid that time is going too slowly and we’ll be stuck here.

The way she says home, though, makes Alaric’s house sound like it’s ours. Like it’s not just a word...and it almost shatters my resolve.

I press a kiss to her curls and whisper back, “We’ll be home soon, baby. I promise.”

That calms her for a moment. She curls tighter into my lap, her little fingers gripping my blouse like I’m her anchor in a storm.

We’re seated in one of those high-end rooftop restaurants with a panoramic view of the city. It has sleek floors, soft lights, and silverware that probably cost more than our entire apartment.

To my right,is a gorgeous couple dressed like a perfume ad, lost in each other like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

To my left,a solitary man in a crisp suit, a lawyer, if I would have to guess. He’s sipping a glass of the complimentary wine and scrolling through documents on his tablet.

And seated right in front of me is Julian, all dressed up in a tailored navy suit and with his hair slicked back with enough gel to cement a brick wall. There’s a charming smile on his face and a gleam in his eye, but I see through it.

He cleans up well, I’ll give him that. But the stench underneath? No amount of cologne can hide it.

This man might’ve charmed me once, but now I’m just here to get what I need and leave.

“Do you want to get anything? The chef here is one of my best friends, and he makes some of the best food in the city. I promiseyou it’ll be worth it, peaches,” Julian says with mirth, swirling his wine while he gives me a once-over.

I don’t share the same sentiment.

“I’m not hungry,” I say flatly.

His smile falters, just a flicker, before he sets his glass down and steeples his fingers together like we’re negotiating a business deal.

I don’t waste time. “You said you’d do anything for us. Did you mean it?”

Julian lets out a dry chuckle. “Goddess, peaches. At least let me buy you dinner before you throw the test questions at me.”

“This isn’t a date.” I’m already losing patience. “It’s not even a truce. It’s a transaction.”

He hums, leaning back in his chair. “Always so dramatic. I remember when you used to laugh more, you know. You were pretty when you did that.”

Lina shifts in my lap again, clearly uncomfortable. Her eyes flick to Julian, then back down. She knows she doesn’t like him. Children always have a sense of this. They sense danger before adults even smell smoke.

“Come on, I bet she’s hungry. Lina, right?” He leans in with a forced smile. “Kids your age like chicken nuggets, huh? What if we order a hundred of them? Would you like that, kiddo?”

Lina doesn’t answer. Instead, she lifts her head, looks him dead in the eye, and says, “Alaric said only he gets to buy me treats. And feed me and Mommy, too.”

She says it so innocently, so matter-of-factly, that I almost choke on a laugh.

Julian?He stiffens. The smirk on his face drops like a stage curtain, and something bitter flickers in his eyes.

His jaw clenches. His question is directed at me. “You’re staying with my uncle?”

The way he says uncle like it’s an abomination, like it’s poison on his tongue, pisses me off.

I tilt my head, suddenly too tired to sugarcoat it. “Why? You gonna get jealous and drug me again?”