They haven’t spoken to me once.
I’m not even a person to them. I’m just cargo.
I focus on the dripping water and try not to cry.
Kaz is coming, I remind myself.
He has to be.
A metal door slams somewhere deeper in the building, thebangricocheting through the space like a gunshot. Both guards jolt upright, chairs screeching against concrete.
Footsteps approach fast and furious.
Hinto stalks into the room like a man who has lost something important and intends to make it everyone else’s problem. His shirt is wrinkled now, hair damp, jaw shadowed with stubble. Whatever smooth, charming mask he wears for the public is gone, replaced with pure irritation.
He looks harassed. Frayed.
Behind him, another man carries a ring of keys.
Without a word, the man crouches and unlocks my cuffs. The metal falls away with a heavy clank, and when he hauls me upright, my legs refuse to cooperate. Pins and needles shoot through my calves, and I stumble hard into his chest, crying out in pain.
“Careful,” Hinto snaps, the word cracking like a whip.
The man freezes.
“If she’s harmed and they do something to my daughter to retaliate,” Hinto continues coldly, “I’ll bleed you like a pig at slaughter. Do you understand me?”
My breath catches.
Daughter.
Everything clicks into place with dizzying clarity.
Kaz didn’t charge in blindly.
He took something first.
Someone.
He kidnapped Hinto’s daughter to get me back. The realization steals the air from my lungs, relief pricking the corners of my eyes with tears.
They drag me outside into a lot slick with rainwater and littered with trash, puddles reflecting the gray sky. A dark sedan idles nearby, exhaust curling faintly. I’m shoved into the back seat.
Hinto steps close before the door can shut, his expression twisted with contempt.
“You’re lucky,” he says quietly. “You won the heart of a killer.”
His eyes sweep over me like I’m something fragile and doomed.
“But that means you’ll never be safe.”
The door slams.
The engine revs.
As the car pulls away, a shaky breath leaves me all at once.
Home.
