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I don’t know how long it went on—minutes, hours, it all blurred together in a haze of pain. But finally, after what felt like forever, he stopped. The belt hit the floor with a dull thud, and I heard his heavy breathing as he stepped back.

“You’ll return to your condo and wait for my instructions. You will not see Logan York again. And most of all…you’ll remember your place,” he growled. “You’ll never be free of this. Of me. Iownyou.”

Without another word, he turned and walked out.

I lay there for a long time, the silence in the room pressing down on me. My body throbbed with pain, and the tears I’d tried so hard to hold in, they blurred my vision as I sobbed. Everything hurt—my skin, my heart, my hope.

I had thought I could escape. I had thought love would save me.

But as it turned out…love wasn’t enough.

CHAPTER40

LOGAN

Something was wrong. When I looked at my phone after practice, my app showed that Sloane wasn’t at our place—she was at her old condo. The one I kept paying contractors to mess up so she wouldn’t be able to ever move back in.

Why was she there?

Grabbing my bag, I hustled out of the locker room, ignoring the guys calling after me.

Something had happened.

I tried to call her all the way to my truck…and then the entire drive over to her condo.

But she didn’t pick up.

Checking the camera in her necklace, all I could see was dark brown—meaning she’d set it somewhere.

I kept pulling up the app, making sure it said she was still at her building. And every time it confirmed it, my stomach tightened. After everything that had happened—everything she’d told me and the things I’d pieced together—I couldn’t stand the thought of her being there.

By the time I pulled into the lot outside her high-rise, my jaw was clenched so tight it ached. I killed the engine and stalked inside, ignoring the polished lobby and the false sense of security it tried to exude. The elevator loomed in front of me like a challenge. I punched in the code to get up to her penthouse, tapping my foot anxiously as I waited, but the screen blinked red.

Fuck. She’d changed the code.

I stood there for a second, glaring at the keypad, before spinning on my heel and heading for the empty front desk. No one ever manned it. You had to press a buzzer and then someone came from the back. A useful setup for when I’d gone up to her place that first night…and the rat situation, but annoying now.

I pressed the buzzer five times, sighing in relief when an employee—a wiry guy with thick glasses and a wary expression—opened a door and peeked out.

“Hey,” I called, trying to summon up my charm, even though the last thing I felt was charming. “I need to get up to my girlfriend’s place. I forgot the code and she’s not answering her texts.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “She’s probably wrapped up in aReal Housewivesepisode or something. She did this to me the other day too.”

He squinted at me. “You forgot the code?”

“Yep,” I said, trying to keep my tone steady. “I’m usually with her, so I haven’t needed it that much. Guess I learned my lesson.”

He stepped all the way out and stared at me, his eyes widening as he really took me in. Yeah, I guess all my tats and the fact that I was built like a god were probably a little intimidating.

After what felt like the longest wait of my life…he gulped and shook his head. “Can’t let anyone up without clearance. Building policy. Can you try just calling her some more?”

Fuck, he even had a quiver in his voice and everything. Just another reason that Sloane couldn’t stay here anymore. The security was ridiculously bad.

“Right.” I dug into my wallet, pulling out a couple of crisp bills. “How about now?”

His eyes flicked to the cash.

“Sorry, the answer’s still no. I’ll lose my job if anyone finds out.”

I pulled out some more cash. “How about now?” I growled, waving the bills in the air. I pulled out my phone as well, showing him some pictures of Sloane. “These are texts from her. I’m clearly her boyfriend.”