Page 119 of Nails

Riley looked up, ready to give the person a piece of her mind.But the moment she looked into the person’s cold and dark eyes, she froze.

“Chen,” she whispered, her voice caught in her throat.

His face was calm.But his eyes seemed like he was almost amused.“I knew there was something different about you,” he said in a low voice.

She tried to pull back.“What are you—?”

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pinch to her neck.Her hand flew up, clutching the spot.Her vision blurred, and she stumbled back a few steps.Her free hand reached for the wall next to her as she felt her body begin to sway.

When she turned, Ronan, Chen’s right-hand guy, stood there.He was so close that she could smell his pungent cologne.He held a syringe in one hand.

“You son of a—” Her words slurred, her mouth feeling sluggish.

The edges of her vision darkened.Her legs gave out, and she reached out, grabbing at the air or anything to keep herself standing.But her body wasn’t listening.It was floating and numb.

No.It can’t end like this.

Her body collapsed into Chen’s arms like a rag doll.

Everything slowed.Her breaths.Her thoughts.Her heart.

Chen’s voice reached her again, barely more than a whisper in her ear.“You have no idea how many men are lining up to own you.And every second you breathe, the bidding war climbs.”

And then, darkness began to swallow her whole.

But just before the black abyss claimed her, one final thought drifted through her hazy mind.

Nails…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Nails stood at the edge of the conference table in the temporary command center.His shoulders were rigid, and his jaw clenched tight.The building was an old operations hub lent to them by the Hong Kong police.The room was filled with tension.Monitors lined one wall, cables tangled along the floors, and agents swarmed like bees, phones pressed to ears and fingers flying across keyboards.Nails’ team stood behind him, each one tight-lipped and ready to kill.It was all hands on deck, and everyone was doing whatever they could to get a lead on Riley’s whereabouts.

They had arrived back in Hong Kong two hours ago.He hadn’t spoken much since they landed.After reuniting Anna with her family, the team was getting ready to board a plane to head home when Derek called with the news that Riley was missing.Nails had nearly torn the jet door off its hinges.Riley was missing.And not just missing, she had been taken by Chen Pham.

The name made Nails’ blood run ice-cold.Chen was a nightmare cloaked in luxury.He was untouchable, ruthless, and deeply embedded in one of the most depraved trafficking syndicates in the Eastern Hemisphere.And he had Riley in his grasp.

A monitor crackled behind them, displaying grainy CCTV footage.Nails watched the moment Chen stepped into Riley’s path like he owned the world.Her face lifted, puzzled, seconds before Ronan appeared from behind and jabbed a syringe into her neck.Her body seized and went limp, then they dragged her off like she was nothing.Nails turned away, his fists clenched, jaw aching from the pressure of his grinding teeth.

“She didn’t even have a chance to fight him,” he muttered.

“Hey,” Bear’s voice came from his left, low and solid.“We’re going to get her back.”

Nails didn’t answer.He couldn't.His chest was too tight.

At the table sat Russell and Ryan.Nails knew they felt guilty.“She texted us saying she was going back to grab her things,” Ryan said, scrubbing a hand over his face.“We figured she just got held up.But when she didn’t show, we backtracked and found this.”

He pushed Riley’s phone across the table, along with an evidence bag containing a syringe.Nails stared down at it, rage bubbling like acid in his gut.He wanted to hit something.He wanted to find Chen and tear him apart piece by piece.

Agents murmured across the room as the video call screen flickered on.Derek’s grim face appeared beside Secretary Boles’ stone-cold expression.“We’re doing everything we can,” Boles said.“Interpol’s involved.Chinese Intelligence.Everyone is pulling weight on this.”

Nails barely heard them.He was in his head, replaying the way Riley smiled at him right before he and the team left.The feel of the soft brush of her fingers on his neck.Her laugh.Her bravery.The way she tried to carry the burden herself so no one else had to.

Suddenly, the doors to the room swung open, and agents dragged in a man who looked like he’d been chewed up and spit out.

When Nails looked closer, he saw it was Adam.His lip was split, his eye swollen shut, and his shirt torn.He was shackled, but Nails didn’t care.The second he laid eyes on him, he lunged.

“You son of a—”