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“Shall we?” he asks and I open my eyes as he gestures to the same restaurant where he crashed my date with Mason. I roll my eyes.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Closing the door of the truck, he wraps an arm around my waist as he shrugs and flashes me a grin that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “It seemed fitting.”

“Mm-hmm,” I hum, studying him as we walk into the lobby and he talks to the hostess. She grabs a couple menus and motions for us to follow her through the busy dining room. Stopping by a table in the back, not far from the one Mason and I shared on the night Noah barged in on us, she turns to us and smiles while waiting for us to sit down. After we’re seated across from each other, she sets a menu down in front of each of us and fills our water glasses before leaving. I slip my jacket off and prop my elbows up on the table as I meet his gaze.

His brow arches as it falls down my body. “You should put that jacket back on.”

“Bite me,” I argue, shaking my head and he grins.

“All in good time, babe.” He’s flirting again and saying all the right things but there’s just something off about him and I can’t put my finger on it. Just when I’m about to ask, the waiter approaches our table.

“Good evening, folks. I’m Julio and I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Can I get you started with some wine or appetizers?”

I order a glass of wine and some kind of potato appetizer on the menu and Julio turns to Noah, who just orders a whiskey. My eyes widen.

“Uh, what the hell is up with you tonight?” I ask as soon as Julio walks away and Noah sighs, shaking his head.

“Nothing.”

My eyes narrow. “Liar.”

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “It’s about the run I went on today.”

“Okay,” I prompt with a frown as he shifts in his seat as stress etches itself onto his face. Where the hell is my arrogant, playful man?

“She was Biche’s girlfriend… or captive… shit, I don’t know what to call her.”

I suck in a breath. “What?”

“I know, baby,” he answers with a nod. Julio stops by with our drinks and as soon as he sets Noah’s whiskey down in front of him, he drinks half of it. Julio’s surprised gaze flicks to mine and I grimace.

“Maybe just keep those coming, okay?”

He nods, understanding dawning on his face. “Ah, one of those days, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He nods in agreement before leaving us again and Noah runs his hand through his hair again. I reach across the table and grab his other hand.

“Tell me what happened.”

He sighs. “When I went outside, everyone was waiting for me at the end of the driveway. They told me that Sammy, that’s her name, had first reached out for help a while back but when they tried to get her, she’d disappeared.”

“You think he found out about the plan?” I ask and he shrugs.

“Honestly, I have no idea but we rushed over there today to free her and she told us that she’d met Biche four years ago and they dated for a month before he convinced her to move in with him and that’s when he went from sweet guy to total psycho.”

I nod.

“He didn’t allow her out very much and if he did, she had to take guards with her, cut her off from her family, and didn’t even allow her to have a phone. She walked into their relationship willingly but then she became a prisoner.”

“That’s awful,” I whisper, imagining being in that hell for four years and I shudder. Noah sucks in a breath.

“That’s not even the worst part. He also convinced her to get plastic surgery by playing off her insecurities and saying he wanted her to feel as beautiful as he thought she was.”

I shake my head as tears sting my eyes, my heart aching for this woman I’ve never met.