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“Let me spell this out for you a little more clearly, Isabelle,” Dominic says in my ear and I shudder. Unlike when Diego says my full name, hearing it come out of this man’s mouth makes me want to vomit. “If you do not turn yourself over to me, I will come after everyone you love - Diego, Ali, Logan, Carly, Chance, Alexandria… your baby.”

I gasp, not able to stop myself. Pain blooms in my chest as I think about my sweet baby falling victim to this psychopath, all because of me, and I shake my head.

“We could get started right now, if you like,” he offers and my heart seizes. What the hell does he mean by that? “Diego’s leaving the compound right now and he’s all alone. It would be too fucking easy for me to kill the father of your child.”

“Deal!” I scream out. “I’ll take your deal.”

There was no rational thought behind it, no plan of action beyond saving the life of the man I love so I can’t bring myself to regret it. All of this started because of me, my actions led me to the hell I am in now and I won’t let Diego get hurt because of me. I have to atone for my mistakes and God knows there are a lot of them. It kills me that I won’t be here to build the life I so desperately want with Diego or watch our baby grow but as long as they’re safe and they’re together, I’ll endure whatever Dominic intends to do to me.

“I thought you’d see reason and as a sign of my generosity, I’ll even give you five days to spend with your baby but when that time is up, you will come to me. The day before, I will send instructions to a meeting point and I expect you there at midnight. If you’re late or you don’t show, I will take immediate action.”

I nod, the broken pieces of me that were beginning to knit themselves back together scatter on the ground around me. “I understand.”

“Good,” he answers. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

He hangs up without another word and I pull the phone away from my ear as I stare down at the deck, trying to process what just happened. It’s impossible though. Tears sting my eyes and all of the dreams I’ve let myself buy into over the past three weeks shatter right in front of me. My heart aches and a sob rips itself from my throat as pain rages through my chest.

Oh, God.

What the hell have I done?

Glancing over at the phone, I jump up out of my chair. Diego can’t know about this or he’ll start to connect the dots and it could put him or our baby in danger. With renewed determination, I walk to the edge of the deck and power off the phone before chucking it into the woods. Leaves crunch as it lands somewhere in the distance and I suck in a breath, hoping that will be good enough as I turn back to the envelope. Swiping it off the table, I go back inside and grab the lighter out of the kitchen drawer before going to the sink. As I hold the tiny flame to the edge of the envelope, I hold it over the sink and watch as the fire eats away at the evidence. I release it into the sink and let the rest of it burn before turning on the water to wash all the fragments down the drain. Once it’s all done, I step back and brace my hands on the counter as the room starts to spin around me and my stomach rolls.

“Breathe,” I whisper to myself as I take a couple of deep breaths and my surroundings slowly right themselves again. Diego is going to be back soon and I need to get control of this before he does. All it would take is one look at me right now to tell that I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown and I can’t have that. Whatever I do, I have to protect him.

Walking back out to the deck, I sink into my chair and try to feel the calm I was basking in earlier but it eludes me. My mind is consumed with thoughts of what Dominic is going to do to me once I turn myself over to him and the pain in my chest is only getting worse. Spots flicker in front of me again and everything starts to spin. I grip the table, praying for relief that I’m not all that sure will come. A sharp, piercing pain lances through my belly and I cry out, grabbing my phone off the table as the world whirls around me.

“Please,” I hiss, tears streaming down my face as I try to focus on the screen, looking for Diego’s name. Through the haze, I find it and stab wildly, letting out a sigh when the call goes through. Darkness creeps in around the edges of my vision.

“Hey, baby.” I hear him say as the phone slips out of my hand and everything goes dark.

Chapter Thirty-One

Diego

“Move, motherfucker!” I yell, trying to merge into the lane next to me so I can pass this asshole in the green SUV as I try Izzy again. The call immediately goes to her voice mail and I resist the urge to chuck the thing across the cab of my truck. I’m still five minutes out from the compound, at least, and my mind is spinning. No one could get onto the property to harm her but that is the only small comfort I have right now as I press the gas pedal to the floor. The SUV honks at me as I pass it but I don’t give a shit. Looking back down at my phone, I dial Storm’s number as I struggle to catch my breath.

Please, please tell me that this is all just a bad dream.

“What’s up?”

I release a breath. “I need you to go check on Izzy.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I press harder on the gas, urging my truck to go faster. “I don’t know. She called me but didn’t say anything and then it sounded like the phone fell and now it’s just going to voice mail.”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’ll head over now. How far out are you?”

“Two minutes if no one else gets in my fucking way.”

I hang up without saying good-bye but I’ll apologize for that shit later, once I know my girl is okay. The rest of the way passes in a blur and once I’m on the compound, I turn toward my house and floor it, spitting gravel behind me. It’s not safe to go so fast down these roads but I can’t bring myself to care. Not right now. My only focus is getting to the house and making sure she’s okay.

Fuck.

I can’t lose her.

A familiar agony rips through me and I grab the steering wheel with both hands before jerking at it repeatedly like I can somehow rip it out of the vehicle.