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One of them has their hand around my mouth, the other has his hand around Harlow’s. They drag us away from the shop to the back of the SUV, somehow opening up the back hatch of the car to toss us inside.
I hear the doors open and close, and then the SUV takes off. Again. I’m being taken again, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more helpless in all my life. Harlow hasn’t said a single word. It surprises me, not a scream, not a peep.
Shifting my gaze over to her, I take her in. I’m expecting her to appear as terrified as I feel. But she doesn’t look scared at all. In fact, she appears to be almost relaxed. She sits up and leans against the side of the seat, then a man reaches back and wraps his fingers around hers.
“Why are you here?” she asks softly.
He hums but doesn’t speak immediately. I am watching this, almost as if I’m watching a scene in a movie or a play. I am mesmerized by their slight movements. The way his fingers touch hers, the way she leans her head against his arm slightly.
They’re lovers.
“It was time. I couldn’t let you marry him. I know he killed your sister.”
I stay silent. I don’t want to be here, and at the same time, I want to tell them to just let me go, because obviously, this isn’t for me. None of it. I want to go home. I regret asking Harlow to go out to celebrate her wedding. I regret everything.
The man talking to Harlow, holding her hand, flicks his attention to me. “And this is his whore. So, it will be a fun little thing, taking justice out on Hendrick Hamilton’s bitch.”
My eyes widen.
What the hell?
What the absolute hell?
Why me?
“He won’t care,” I state. “He is getting married, and he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
That’s when Harlow makes a tsking sound. “Now we both know that isn’t true. That building is owned by his father. You can’t tell me he doesn’t care.”
“He doesn’t,” I whisper. “The building, my store, it’s funded with hush money. He doesn’t care. Nobody does.”
The man lets out a laugh. “Okay. Let’s see, then.”
That’s ominous. I don’t like the sound of it at all. Not at all, and I don’t know if I’m going to survive another kidnapping. Not my body, but my soul. I don’t think I can do it. Then I think about the baby. I have to do it. I don’t have a choice. I have to do this and survive it at the same time.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
HENDRICK
I shouldn’t go to her place, but I decide to anyway. Mainly because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to completely stay away from her. One last night. One last stolen moment. Over and over again until the day I die. That is my reality. Because I fucking love her, plain and simple.
Cheating or not, someone else’s kid or not, it hasn’t changed the way I feel about her. However, even if she fucked someone else, I wouldn’t call that cheating, considering we never declared each other as exclusive.
Taking her key out of my pocket, I use it to open the door. I don’t even know if she realizes I have this key, but I don’t give much of a fuck either. When I step into her place, I know instantly that she isn’t home.
There is something that is just so Allison. I can tell when she enters a room or when she is no longer inside of one. And she is no longer inside of this apartment. Not anywhere. I don’t even have to walk into her bedroom. I know irrevocably that she is not here.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I find her icon in the tracking app and search for her. It shows me that she’s at her store, a store I don’t miss the fact the family owns. I probably wouldn’t even know about said store had I not read my mother’s notes on her.
Flicking my gaze to the time on my phone, I frown. It’s well past midnight. No way in fuck would she still be there at this time of night. Allison likes clubs and partying. I would expect to see her out maybe, but not at her store working. A store that isn’t even open to the public yet.
Something feels off, wrong.
But I can’t tell anyone about it. At least not yet. My brothers are busy on a completely different mission, and they are the only people I trust right now. I don’t even know if I wholly trust my father.
Leaving the apartment, I lock up behind me, then head straight down to my car. I speed the few blocks to her storefront, pull up to the sidewalk, throw the door open and climb out of the front seat. I’m only a few steps from the door when I see her phone on the concrete sidewalk.
