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He’d taken me in broad public, and no one saw a thing. He was good, and I was utterly helpless.

I was choking on the air around me, the panic overwhelming all senses. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked, my voice coming out like a squeaky, frightened bird.

To my surprise, he laughed. “If I wanted you dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Killing you wouldn't get me what I want.”

A strange relief washed over me, only to be immediately followed by a deeper fear. Not death, then. But what? Torture? Ransom? Information? Leverage against my brothers? Whatever he wanted, the fact remained that I had been kidnapped by a dangerous stranger who knew far too much about my family.

“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt.

He didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the road. I tried to memorize our route, but he made so many turns. Sometimes, I felt as though he was trying to confuse me on purpose.

“Listen,” I said, trying to find another way out. “If you could just tell me what I want, maybe you’d realize it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Be this way?” he growled, his blue eyes piercing straight at me.

“M…maybe it can be resolved without you kidnapping me.”

“You really don’t know your brothers, do you?” he said, rather loudly. I shrank back in my chair, sensing the rage in his voice and the unspoken accusations I had no idea about. I knew I should remain quiet because I didn’t know how far he could be pushed.

I took the opportunity to study him more carefully. He was younger than I initially thought—mid-thirties, perhaps. He wore a Patek Philipe, which told me he wasn’t a local goon. He was someone with money, resources, and power. Someone like my brothers.

He was an equal, and that made him all the more dangerous. I thought of Dom, who had probably discovered I was missing. He would have called my brothers, would have faced their wrath.

“My brothers will find me,” I said, more to reassure myself than to give a threat.

“I'm counting on it,” he replied cryptically. I hadn’t realized my voice had traveled to him. “Though perhaps not as quickly as you might hope.”

My brothers would mobilize every resource they had to find me. It was just a matter of time.

But how much time? And what would happen to me in the meantime?

We finally reached winding roads lined with trees. The houses grew larger, farther apart, each hidden behind gates and hedges. At, we turned into a gate manned by armed men and drove down a long driveway, finally pulling up to a modern mansion made of glass and stone.

When the car came to a stop, my fear returned full force. There were armed guards everywhere. Running from here seemed near impossible. Not to mention, I was completely isolated. Even if I screamed, the grounds were so large I knew my voice wouldn’t travel to any of the neighbors.

He cut the engine and turned to me. “We're going inside now. Don't try to run—there's nowhere to go, and you'll only make this harder on yourself.”

I glared at him, anger temporarily overcoming fear. Of course I knew that, but I didn’t want him to think so.

He exited the car and came to my side, opening the door for me. When I didn’t move, he leaned down and gripped my arm, pulling me out to him. His grip didn’t hurt, exactly, but it was firm enough for me to know there was no point fighting it.

He guided me through a door that led directly into the house. Inside, I noticed, it was just like him: cold, expensive, and minimalistic. It looked more like a hotel than a home.

He led me to the living room, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking manicured grounds. “Sit,” he instructed, gesturing to a sleek sofa.

I remained standing, crossing my arms. Small acts of defiance were all I had left. “Tell me why I'm here.”

He studied me for a moment, his blue eyes unreadable. “Interesting. You’re in my house, at my mercy, and still trying to protect your precious brothers?”

I felt a flicker of indignation. I knew what our family did, but my brothers had chosen not to follow in our father’s footsteps. They kept to themselves and played things by the book. In fact, as far as I remember, they never crossed a line.

So what the hell could I be protecting them from?

This whole thing was a mistake.

“My brothers mind their own business,” I said defensively. “If you have some kind of vendetta because you’re jealous—”

He moved suddenly, and the next thing I knew, he stood inches away from my face, glaring down at me. I flinched but stood my ground.

“Mind their own business?” He laughed, the sound harsh and bitter. “Is that what you’re going to do now? If you think you can lie your way out of this, you’re delusional.”

My cheeks burned. “I'm not naive,” I snapped. “I know what my family does, yet have no reason to lie. What would I be lying about anyway?”

“What would you be lying about?” His eyes flashed dangerously. “How about you start by explaining why you were following me today? You and that dog of yours, Dom. You had surveillance on me, didn’t you? Did your brothers put you up to it?”

I stared at him, genuinely confused. “Spy on you? I don't even know who you are!”

“Stop lying,” he screamed. “Did Gastone think he could put you up to it because you aren’t on my radar? Did he think I would hesitate to act because you're a woman?”

My mouth fell open in genuine shock. “I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never spied on anyone in my life!”

“We'll see how long you maintain this act,” he said quietly. “But you won’t win. One way or another, you will tell me everything you know about your brothers' plans for my territory.”

I stood there frozen in shock, my jaw half-hanging as I tried to process this unbelievable situation.

He thought I was spying on him, that my brothers had put me up to it, that somehow they wanted his…

territory? None of it made sense to me, but the one thing I knew from the look on his face was that he believed it.

And that made him all the more dangerous. Especially since I was alone with him, in his house, and no one knew where he’d taken me, let alone who he was.

For that matter, neither did I.

At last, I sank, and dropped my head in my hands, the fatigue overcoming whatever fight I had left in my body.