Chapter One
CIARA
Dead.Or as close to it as it gets.
“Shit.”
Of all the times for my phone to lose signal, it chooses now. When I’m potentially seconds away from death.
Wonderful.
I hold the phone over my head hoping to get even one tiny little bar. But of course, it doesn’t work. The No Network sign just stays there as if mocking me, so I shut off the screen and shove it back into my pocket.
At least the screams have stopped, and now I know Ronan is on his way, but there’s nothing he could say that would make me wait for him as screams echo from inside where my best friend is being held hostage.
My heart almost broke listening to him plead with me, but I can’t just stay here while they are doing god knows what to her.
I had expected him to yell, to unleash his rage at my recklessness. I expected a string of curse words mixed with all the ways he was going to punish me for disobeying his orders. But I got nothing of the sort.
Instead, Ronan decided now would be the best time to show his softer side. The one that messes with me the most.
If Mila’s life wasn’t at stake, I would have listened. I would have gladly waited for him to come and play hero.
Our marriage might have started as nothing but a business agreement, but somewhere along the way, feelings became involved, which is not something I ever thought I would admit.
Me? Having feelings for aSullivan?
My father would turn in his grave if he knew.
Then again, my father turned out to be a lying scumbag who sold girls into sex slavery, so I don’t really care what he thinks.
If I make it out of this alive, Ronan can scream and yell at me all he wants. He can even punish me, spank me.
Stop that, Ciara. This is not the time to fantasize about your husband.
I take a deep breath and focus on the job at hand as I remain crouched behind the stack of old crates I hid behind when my phone started buzzing with Ronan’s call. I never made it inside because I was afraid someone might hear me talking.
Peering over the top of the crates at the abandoned warehouse, I’m well aware of how reckless it was to come in here with nothing but the baseball bat I stole from Mila’s apartment, but I can’t afford to wait for Ronan.
He assured me he could be here in twenty minutes and is likely already on his way, but what if Mila doesn’t have twenty minutes?
My stomach churns as tears start to sting my eyes.
This is all my fault. Mila is only in this mess because of me. I’m the one who forced her brother, Max, into digging deeper into the encrypted payments between Ronan’s father and my family because I’m too stubborn to know when to stop.
I thought finding out the truth would show Ronan he can trust me, would show him that maybe he was wrong about my father.
Turns out, I’m the only one who was wrong.
It might be too late for me to save Max, but I refuse to let Mila pay for my mistakes too.
I take a deep breath, my fingers tightening around the handle of the bat, and dart out from behind the crates. I wince as the gravel crunches beneath my sneakers, causing my pulse to spike with fear, but it’s not enough to stop me.
Though as I reach the side door held open with a brick, I pause.
I have no idea what I’m facing in there. For all I know, there could be thirty armed men waiting in the shadows, and all I have to fight them off is a measly baseball bat.
If I have any chance of saving Mila, I need to get a look inside.
