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At the exit, I lower the tinted window, and the guy lifts the barrier and opens the gates the second he sees me. I give him a quick greeting, then pull into traffic, using every driving skill I have to get home as fast as possible.

I didn’t reply to her video, and I don’t intend to. Not through the phone, anyway. She probably thinks I got pulled into a meeting, which is why she hasn’t heard from me yet.

I’m less than ten minutes away from home now. I’ve finally made it out of London’s hellish traffic, and for once, the weather is actually on my side.

The sun is out, the window is rolled all the way down, and Midnight by Liam Payne is blasting through the speakers.

I can’t wait to get home and hold her close.

In the span of just a few months, my life has changed beyond recognition, and I consider myself the luckiest man alive because Selene wants to be mine.

Mine.

She belongs to me.

The thought is still settling somewhere deep in my chest when a loud sound suddenly cuts through the music and snaps my attention away from my thoughts.

My eyes flick to the rearview mirror.

Two black armored SUVs are approaching at an alarming speed.

It’s not unusual to see vehicles like that—we own several ourselves—but something about this feels wrong.

I keep watching them through the mirror, my grip tightening around the steering wheel as the distance between us shrinks far too quickly.

The SUV behind me comes dangerously close.

I slam my hand onto the button to close the window, but before the glass can rise all the way, a violent impact sends a jolt through the entire car.

My body jerks with the force of it.

I glance back and see the passenger window of the SUV behind me roll down.

A fully masked man leans halfway out, a gun gripped in both hands.

Fuck.

I switch into sport mode and accelerate hard.

I know this area extremely well, and there’s no fucking chance they’ll keep up with me.

The first shot cracks through the air.

Then another.

I change lanes instinctively as the bullets tear through the space around me, but I keep the car under control. None of them hit Ethan’s car.

A brutal right-hand curve is coming up, and after that, I’m barely five hundred meters from home.

I push the car as hard as the road allows, moving slightly left to take the curve wide. The SUVs are already falling significantly behind me.

It seems like I’ve managed to lose them.

Then I turn the wheel right. And another black SUV appears from around the bend.

There’s no time to brake.

No time to swerve.