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It snaps free, and I push the door open, spilling from the car, wondering if the other driver is okay. My feet are unsteady, and I clutch onto the side of the car, my eyes wide in disbelief, staring at the damage.

My heart is racing, my head is spinning. I squint into the driver’s side of the other car. Suddenly, everything goes dark, and I realize someone has thrown a bag over my head.

A new form of panic hits me as I’m lifted off the ground, kicking and screaming, fighting for my life.

I lash out, clawing at anything I can reach.

A man swears at me.

“Fuck’s sake, bitch, do you want me to fucking punch your lights out?” he snarls in anger.

Another man laughs. “Throw her in the trunk, let’s get out of here.”

“Tell the boss we have her.”

“Let’s go.”

I’m thrown into a hot, small space, and the trunk is slammed shut. I pull the hood off my head, gasping for air, my eyes watering, my lungs still burning from the accident.

The car starts, and I’m trapped, with no idea where I’m going or what is going to happen to me. And all I can think about is him.

I need him.

I need Nestor.

Chapter 23 - Nestor

I tap my fingers in agitation against the keyboard, waiting for the program to refresh. It’s been a long day, filled with frustration.

After the sweet phone call from Lara earlier this afternoon, all I want to do is rush home to see her. I don’t know what it was about the call, but it gave me so much hope.She wants to tell me something.And it’s important enough to be a face-to-face conversation. My heart is telling me that she might say she loves me. Or at least that she wants more from our relationship. It’s what I want to hear.

She sounded so happy on the phone.

I’m daring to hope, daring to allow myself that excitement.

I would have left ages ago, but stupid things keep happening at work. Annoying mess-ups that don’t make sense. And when I look into it, nothing is actually wrong—it’s just the hint of things going wrong.

“What the fuck,” I grumble, leaning back in my office chair and huffing loudly when I realize the truck we thought was stolen just had a weird glitch with the tracking device.

“What is going on today?” Roan sighs, as agitated as I am. “Things keep happening, but we haven’t actually lost anything. It’s annoying.”

“I have no idea….”

Suddenly, my mind fits the pieces together and I understand. “It’s a fucking distraction,” I snap, standing up and knocking my coffee over.

“Fuck,” Roan snarls, immediately knowing I’m right. He stands up too and grabs his jacket as we bolt towards the door, running out of my office to the car.

“We have to check on Ulyana,” I say tensely, my heart hammering like a wild bird in my chest.

She would be the first target. She has always been a target, and if people are looking to distract me, it’s because they have something bigger planned and it’s happening right now.

Roan has the phone out, on speaker, so I can hear, already dialing her number.

Each ring makes me more tense.

I start the car, Roan in the passenger seat next to me.

His jaw is clenched as tightly as mine. The phone is still ringing, over and over again, until finally it goes to voicemail.