Run and save yourself. Get to the panic room.

  But I was done running. I needed to incapacitate him if I was going to save my friends. This wasn’t going to be like when Todd had me. I knew my friends were alive, but if I left and saved myself, they would die. He would strangle them if he had to with his bare hands.

  So I took the gun, threw it in the house, closed the door, and then turned to face him. He stumbled back in surprise. “What? You changed your mind?”

  “No, I’m just going to fight.”

  His grin turned evil then. “You think you can fight me? This is happening. You are coming with me.” His right arm reached my wrist, and my automatic response was to pull back. But then I remembered what Roone had showed me. I placed my left hand on his arm and then swung my arm slightly, bringing it around, then pressing down at the pressure point on his wrist. He howled and released me, his other hand hanging limply by his side. I remembered what Roone said about punches, make sure my fist was tight, and hit what I could, a soft tissue preferably and avoiding bone. So I hit him on the face, his nose, with an open palm. And then I punched him in the throat. He coughed and sputtered but still managed to duck from me. He was big. A lot bigger than I was.

  Six feet but he wasn’t solid like Ben. He was pudgy. I kneed him once, and he oofed but he didn’t go down. I went for another knee and he blocked me, catching my knee and making me less stable before he tossed me on my back. My spine felt like it was cracking, but I tucked my chin so that my head wouldn’t crack up. I wanted to howl. This was just like with Todd. He was going to jump on top of me, and then what would I do? I’d be dead. And my friends would be dead, and—

  Stop it. Fight.

  I rolled over, trying to jump back up, and then he climbed on top of me. Every fear receptor in my mind fired. This was the worst possible position I could be in. He put his hands around my neck and started to squeeze.

  “You filthy whore. I will fucking kill you. You think you can run from me? After everything I’ve done for you, how nice I’ve been to you, you are mine.”

  And then my brain triggered. I wasn’t his. I was Ben’s. And Ben was mine. And if I was going to see him again, I was going to have to fight harder than this. I remembered what Roone had taught me. With enough force, I could get anyone’s hands off my neck and get just a little bit of space to breathe. And then from there I knew what to do. I had to dislodge his weight, and I knew how to do that.

  Reaching both arms in front of me, trying desperately to catch a breath, I reached my hands out and plucked back hard, giving no fucks to the scrapes on my elbows. I positioned my hands and yanked back hard, pulling at the juncture of where his thumb held my throat, and I made a little space as he had to re-center his balance. Then I brought my knees to my elbows and bucked him off.

  Holy shit. I knew that had worked in practice training with Roone, but I didn’t know it would work in real life. I shoved to my feet, and he howled. But I was on him. I grabbed him by the ears, picked up his head, and swallowing a sickening dread, I smashed it to the ground. Getting into a better position, I made a fist of my hand and punched.

  He coughed and gurgled, and I ran back toward the car. Erik had left the keys inside it. If I could get Ariel in the car, I could at least get her and Telly the hell out of there. There was no point in crying. No point in letting my emotions wash over me. He’d tried to choke me, but I could cry about that later.

  I’d almost made it to the car. I was so close. Five feet. That’s it. Five more feet. But then he snatched me from behind, and when I fell on the grass, he was on top of me again. Choking me again. ”Why do you insist on running? I love you. I don’t want you to die. But now you have to.”

  My vision started to go gray. I was choking. I had no energy left. And then suddenly, his hands let go and his weight lifted off my body. Was this what dying felt like? My soul releasing from my body?

  I pushed up to a sitting position to find Fenton in front of me, flailing, legs kicking, and there were arms around his throat. Holy shit.

  I forced myself to all fours as my eyes adjusted, oxygen filling my lungs. “Ben, oh God, Ben. Ben, don’t kill him.” My beautiful Viking. His face was all snarling raider.

  His gaze met mine, but he didn’t let up. He just kept squeezing until Fenton stopped kicking. Then he shoved him off of him and jumped to his feet, running to me, pulling me in his arms. “Sweetheart, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  Was I hurt? Yeah, I was hurt, all right. I shook my head. “I have some scrapes.”

  Then he shook his head. “No, Livy, you’re bleeding.”

  I glanced down and there was blood on my shirt. “What? It must be his.”

  Ben’s fingers traced over it. “No, that’s… that’s you.” When his fingers pressed, I froze.

  “Ow.”

  “Liv…”

  My vision gray on the edges again, the black coming out to meet it. “What?” What was wrong? Where had I gone wrong? And then suddenly, everything was dark.

  25

  Ben

  I was probably crushing her hand. I knew it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I held on tight to her, afraid to let go, because what if I hadn’t been there? What if I hadn’t gotten there in time? I ran through all the scenarios in my head fifty times at least. Every single one of them ended badly. Horribly. God, what if I’d been too late?

  But you weren’t. So no point in driving yourself crazy.

  It couldn’t be helped though, because even after everything we’d done that day, I’d still failed to protect her. Evan Zolov had been arrested and so had Marcus Van Linsted. True to form, Evan had said nothing, given up no information. He was old school. He would rather die than give up my name. He would just vow to kill me instead. Which was fine. He could vow to kill me all he wanted, as long as Livy was safe. Although a part of me wished to God that Bridge had let me kill him.

  I’d almost killed Fenton. But her huge dark eyes on mine, pleading with me to not become that monster, had stopped me.

  I could never take it if she looked at me with fear. But God, what if I had been too late?

  I blinked away tears and just held her hand, careful not to disturb any of the monitors hooked to her. The nurse had already warned me once when I tried to lean over her and hold her, give her my warmth. The hospital was always so fucking cold.

  “What’s with the water works? Did you find out there’s someone even better looking than you out there?”

  Her voice was like honey on bread to a starving man. I lifted my head and blinked away the tears. “That’s not possible. How dare you even suggest such a thing?”

  “You know, I agree.” She winced as she shifted. “It’s not possible.”

  “Stop moving.” I was afraid she was going to hurt herself.

  “So really, why the water works?”

  “Well, the woman I love got herself stabbed while she was fighting off a stalker, and I almost wasn’t there to protect her. The men I paid to protect her got shot and almost died. One of her new friends almost died, and the other one was just… well, too drunk to do anything.”

  Livy choked out a laugh and then groaned. “How is everyone?”

  “Telly is hung over, so she’s a delight. She’s been demanding to see you. Insists she’s your sister.”

  “She is. Let her in.”

  “Now that you’re awake, I will. And Ariel’s fine. Still groggy. Whatever the hell was in that tranq gun was powerful.”

  She winced. “Fuck, I feel like this is all my fault.”

  “No. Let’s get in the habit of blaming the people who need to be blamed. This was all Fenton. And now he’s going into a deep dark hole for the rest of his life.”

  “How did everything end up this way?”

  “He was obsessed with you.”

  “I know, but I still don’t understand. He was Dex’s boss, for the love of God.”

  “Yeah, the police questioned Dexter. It seems that Fenton threatened Dexter’s job if he didn’t give him access to you. A situation he claimed to have fought, though if you ask me, not hard enough.”

  “Let me guess, now Dex is making himself extra helpful?”

  “Yeah, your ex is happy to make himself available.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s Dex. When he knows he’s in the crosshairs, he’ll look to be your ally.”

  “I doubt that. It was Fenton who sent Dex to your birthday party. And I threatened to send him home in many boxes if he came near you again”

  “Bennett…”

  “What else was I supposed to do? Fenton wanted Dex to map the layout, how to get on the property, all information that he managed to find out.”

  “Jesus.”

  I kissed her knuckles. “But you don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

  “You know, at some point, are we ever going to have a nice, normal life?”

  “Yes. I promise I will make that happen.” Well I’d give it a go, but lately trouble seemed to find me.

  “I’ll believe that about the same moment I believe you and the boys never gossip.”

  I lifted my brow. “You know me too well.”

  She laughed, and it turned into a coughing fit.

  The sound was enough to rattle me. I jumped up and poured some water into a paper cup. “Stop laughing. You’ll pull a stitch or something.”

  “Stop making me laugh.” She glanced around. “Were you and the boys able to get what you needed?”

  “We were. We got everything taken care of and delivered to Downs. So this is almost over.”

  She nodded. “That’s good. Maybe you can finally get some peace, right?”

  There was a knock at the door, and she glanced up. I shook my head. I didn’t know who it was, but I called out. “Come in.”

  The woman that walked through the door, gave us both a wide grin. “Ah, so glad to see you’re not too much worse for wear, Miss Ashong.”

  Olivia sighed. “Agent Kincade. Wow, you really are extremely dedicated to your job.”

  “What can I say? I love to tie up loose ends. Why don’t you tell me, Mr. Covington, how it is that you and the beautiful Miss Ashong are always wrapped in so much mystery?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re just trying to live a peaceful life. It’s not our fault all these things keep happening around us.”

  She laughed. “Oh, sure. Of course, it’s not your fault. So, which one of you wants to give me the excuses this time?”

  Livy laughed. “No excuses. We’re just very, very fortunate that I was able to survive what happened at the house.”

  “Right. And Mr. Covington, where were you when all of this happened at the house?”

  “I was at a poker game at Mr. Edgerton’s. It was only when I came home that I found Liv, and she was fighting for her life like a trooper.”

  Agent Kincade fixated her gaze on Liv. “I have to say, Miss Ashong, you put up one hell of a fight.”

  “Thanks. I’ve taken a couple of self-defense classes. Nothing crazy, of course, but it’s starting to come in handy.”

  “Of course, it is. Oh, Mr. Covington, did you hear there was a break-in at Grimwald Authenticators?”

  I frowned at that. “Um, no. Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

  Nyla lifted a delicately arched brow, her dark eyes saying she trusted me not at all.

  “Well, it’s just worth noting because, thanks to Miss Ashong, we discovered that the bracelet April Van Linsted wore at the Gem Gala turned out to be a fake, but the real one was stolen from Grimwald.”

  I forced my face into an appropriate frown. “Okay. Again, what does that mean to me?”

  “Oh, nothing, I suppose. But I figured you might be curious about that ring of jewel thieves I was after.”

  She was trying to sweat us out, but it wasn’t happening on my watch. “Oh sure. Although I don’t really concern myself with jewel thieves.”

  “Well, I think these might interest you. You’re familiar with Mr. Van Linsted, are you not?”

  “I have a hate-hate relationship with his son. We’re acquainted through business, but we’re not very close. That said, I did feel terrible about what happened to his wife.”

  “Oh right, you did say. Well anyway, I thought you’d find it of interest.”

  “Um, thanks for sharing, I guess.”

  “Oh, you know what else is fascinating?”

  I sighed. “Let me guess, you’re going to share that with us too?”

  She grinned at us. “That other situation Miss Ashong was caught up in, the woman who died in her house, there is evidence showing that the man we caught at Grimwald had been in her house. His fingerprints were all over her skin. He was the one who killed her.”

  I knew what the appropriate reaction should be, so I had to force my face to comply. “How?”

  Livy moaned next to me as she tried to sit up. “That makes no sense.”

  Agent Kincade laughed then. “Oh, you two are a pair. Well, since we’re doing it this way, some of the evidence that we were given anonymously points to the fact that the same gentleman was involved in sex trafficking along with none other than Marcus Van Linsted.”

  So it looked like Interpol had gotten the data East had sent over. “That’s horrible. Who would do such a thing?”

  Her grin was quick. “Well, it seems to be a bunch of rich arseholes.”

  I grinned at her. “Well, in that case, it’s a good thing I’m not a rich asshole.”

  Her gaze narrowed at me. “Yeah, good thing. Somehow the cases that the two of you are both involved in are all wrapped up now. Interesting, isn’t it?”

  Livy coughed. “Agent Kincade, while this is all fascinating, I’m sure that it can probably wait. I’m exhausted. Do you mind if I get some rest?”

  “No, of course not. I just thought that you’d be interested to know that we caught the man who kidnapped you, and he was the worst kind of evil. You are lucky to have escaped him, and we are lucky to have found the man that he associated with, whom your boyfriend seems to know.”

  Livy frowned then. “Are you trying to suggest, Agent Kincade, that Ben knows the trafficker who kidnapped me?”

  “No, actually. I’m not suggesting that at all. But do I think that Mr. Covington here is somehow involved? Yes, I do. But I have nothing tying him to the theft at Grimwald and nothing tying him to our friendly neighborhood Albanian. So my interest in you is done for now. I wish we could have met under different circumstances. You seem like a lovely person.”

  “Yeah, if you weren’t constantly harassing me and my family, I would probably think you were lovely too.”

  Nyla Kincade laughed. It was a deep, rich, throaty laugh. Like it was something she should do more often but restrained herself.

  Livy smiled at her. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m really exhausted.”

  “Of course, you are. You’ve been through a lot. And I’m glad to hear you will be back on your feet in no time.”

  “Thank you for your concern and making sure that true evil got put away.”

  She nodded slowly. “Yes, well, that is my job. Have a good day you two. If ever you need me, contact me at Interpol, because somehow, I think I have been working for you and not the other way around.” And with that she left.

  Livy breathed a sigh of relief. “Jesus Christ, did we really pull that off?”

  “It’s almost over, kitten. Almost there, and then we’ll be free. And I think when we’re free, it probably calls for one hell of a vacation.”

  “Well, we’ll have to clear it with my boss first. He’s kind of a ball buster.”

  “Oh, I think I have a cure for your boss. I mean you have a direct line to him. Just flash him your tits and he’ll give you anything you want.”

  She patted her chest and pretended that she was trying to open her gown. “Oh sorry, the gown opens at the back. I guess he’s shit out of luck.”

  “The back view is excellent too. He’ll accept that one.”

  Olivia snorted. “I told you not to make me laugh.”

  I kissed her knuckles again. “I’m sorry. I love you, baby.”

  Her smile was soft. “I love you too. Thank you for saving me.”

  “No, thank you. You just get better and this will all be over soon.”

  Livy

  “You know, you don’t have to help me.”

  Telly rolled her eyes as she kicked her feet up on my bedside table. “Hey, I have an eye for detail, so let’s get these chapters edited and then you can send them off to Forest.

  I rolled my eyes. “And you have nothing to feel guilty for.”

  “Except getting utterly trashed and not being able to help my best friend fight off a psycho. It’s just the kind of thing I’d been practicing for my whole life, kicking a psycho’s ass. But when the time came, I wasn’t able to help. I feel like a failure as a best friend.”

  “You are not a failure.”

  “So the information on the bank accounts that you found prove Marcus Van Linsted had another little special group within the Elite?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. His special group each paid upwards of a million each per year to be part of the sex group. He hired a fixer years ago who procured young women and made them disappear. Prior to Marcus Van Linsted becoming the Director Prime, the women who were invited to the initiation nights were a little bit older, more sophisticated. Escorts, nonetheless, but they definitely knew the score. They looked young, but none of them were minors. After he started his little trafficking ring with the Albanians, they got younger. And then that transitioned into these very special parties. And he used his apparent influence to get back at his detractors. Anyone who spoke up against him, anyone who went after him, their daughters became a target.”

  “Jesus Christ, how did these people even exist?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s real. The kind of stuff that you see in movies like Taken.”