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Evangeline starts to cry, and I wrap my arms around her like a human cage.

The man kneels down and presses the gun to Hassie’s head, eyes locked on me.

I hold my breath.

“You come with me, or she dies.”

An overstretched smile fills the man’s face as he looks at Evangeline. “Maybe I should kill her too.” I recoil at his words, nausea gripping my stomach.

“Fuck you,” I fling out. This man will die if he touches her. “I’ll go with you—just don’t hurt her.”

“Get rid of her then.” The man nods, moving his finger off the trigger. But he still keeps the gun aimed at Hassie.

I crouch down and set Evangeline on her bare feet. “Run to the Coop. Hide there. Don’t come out until you hear your dad.”

Her lower lip juts out. “I don’t want to go.”

“Yes, you do.” I force a wobbly smile. “You have to tell Uncle Cole my secret, okay?” I lean in and whisper in her ear. When I pull back, I make my voice harder, meaner than I’ve ever spoken to Evangeline. “Go. Now. Run.”

Her dark blue eyes flick once to the man, then Evangeline turns and races down the hallway that leads to the cooperage. I wait until I hear her small footsteps fade to nothing, then I rise to standing.

I’m so sorry, Cole.

He’s done everything to protect me, but I have to protect Hassie and Evangeline. It’s the only way to save them.

The man approaches. His eyes slide lecherously over my body. “Mr. Please is going to like you.” He lifts the gun, falling into line behind me. “Move.”

Shaking uncontrollably, I walk toward the door, stepping outside into the darkness, where I make out the silhouette of a long black car idling in the parking lot. A limo.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t you worry about that.” The man’s voice is sharp in my ear, and I feel a sharp prick on the back of my neck.

“Oh,” I moan. My veins instantly feel hot with whatever he gave me. All time and movement and thought slowing, blurring the edges of my consciousness.

The back door of the limo opens.

Numbly, I try to run, try to fight, but my arms and legs lack the strength to pull it off. As I reach desperately for purchase, for anything to hold on to, there’s a whisper in the blackness around me.

“Hello, Lady Lawless.”

And then, my eyes roll back, darkness floats in, and I’m falling.

Further and further away from Cole.

43 Cole

With tense shoulders, I check the rearview mirror of my truck for any signs of red and blue lights.

“Relax.” War shifts in the passenger seat beside me. We’re idling on the shoulder of the road, a few feet from where the highway begins staking out the last distribution route out of Tempest. The glow of his cell phone lights up his face as he checks a text from his bartender. “Craddock’s cruiser is trolling Main Street right now. No one’s coming.”

Maybe not, but it still does nothing for my rampaging nerves. My heart’s been wrenched tight in my chest, ever since I left Delilah at the ranch tonight. Knowing I might be walking into something that could put me away for years.

The only thing keeping me together right now is the thought of Delilah, safe on the ranch.

“Delilah,” Warren says like he knows where my mind has gone. “She knows about this?”

“She does.”