I don’t know how long I walk, my feet ache, my eyelids pull with exhaustion, the straps on my backpack dig into my shoulders. I need a plan.
Step one: call Cam, get in touchwith Phoenix.
Step two: get out of the city. Lucas and Enzo have too much power here.
Resting, I lean against the wall of a rundown brick building. I haven’t paid much attention to where I’ve been going—too focused on just putting some distance between me and Enzo’s place.
I power on the flip phone.
Before I can type in Cam’s number it’s knocked from my hands.
My breath catches as a hand wraps around my throat, pushing me painfully against the wall behind. Amber eyes bore into mine, amusement and satisfaction dancing in them.
Lucas.
He grins at my moment of recognition, tightening his grip, cutting off my air. I claw at his hands, gasping, struggling.
“I knew you’d leave his side eventually, just had to be patient.”
He flattens me against the wall, bracing me with his entire body. Lucas licks the side of my cheek and bile threatens to rise up.
“It was my email, wasn’t it? Did he kick you out?”
A shadow falls over us.
Marcus.
My eyes flick to him briefly but Lucas forces my attention back to him.
“Poor little IsoldeDelaney. So pure and innocent.” Spots dance at the edges of my vision. “You’re not the victim you pretend to be,” he hisses. "Want to know the funny part? I recognized you from five years ago."
All I can do is squeak as he continues to cut off my airway.
"Before I created my empire, I was more of a… customer, shall we say. I've always had specific, eclectic tastes. I was at a gala in Prague this one time, and I saw the most beautiful creature." My heart-rate increases, and not just because of the lack of air. I remember that event. It was just before I took on that case that I went to see Enzo, ready to confess my feelings for him. "I got out before the authorities arrived. But I saw you, my darling Isolde. You were the one taking it all down." He barks out a laugh, his glee evident. "I've been following you ever since."
My mind races to make sense of this information. If he's beenfollowing me since then? Everything I've done has been one step behind.
Then his hand is no longer on my neck and suddenly—air. I can breathe.
Before I can feel any relief Marcus grabs me, slamming a hand over my mouth and lifting me effortlessly into the air.
I bite at his hand, but he remains strong, forcing me into a waiting van. He keeps a hold of me, dragging me down with him into his lap as Lucas slams the door closed and sits opposite us.
I’m jolted as the vehicle begins to move.
My heart races in my chest, so loud I can hear it thudding in my ears—hear the rush of blood as terror claws at my insides.
Fuck fuck fuck.
Marcus’s hand travels up my thigh and I attempt to swat it away but his hold on me turns painful as Lucas lazily pulls out a gun—Enzo’sgun—from my backpack pointing it towards me.
I freeze.
“Good girl,” Marcus whispers in my ear and I whimper.
My mind races, trying to figure a way out of this situation. I could probably surprise one of them… but both? Lucas would have the trigger pulled the second I tried. He wants me dead. He’s already proved that much.
I’m paralyzed by fear. I feel just as helpless now as I did the last time, when I literallycouldn’tmove.
