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“Yeah,” he says, barely breathing heavily. “Don’t move. I’ll be up there in two minutes.”

I was going to wait. I swear I was going to wait.

But then I hear Charli cry out.

“Lucas, no, wait—” Nico calls out from behind me, reaching for my arm. But I’m already around the corner and reaching for the doorknob, fully intent on breaking it down if I need to.

I don’t know why it’s unlocked, but the apartment door swings open.

And I see Charli pushed against the wall, a gun under her chin. My heart drops.

Her head snaps toward me. She’s white as a ghost and her pupils are larger than I’ve ever seen them, her terror obvious.

“Lucas,” she breathes.

At the same time, the guy holding the gun startles and turns it my way.

“What the fuck,” he spits, but he stumbles back a step. “Who the fuck are you?”

It vaguely registers that Alexander is cursing in my ear. But the only thing I can concentrate on is the sheer terror on Charli’s face.

I lift my hands up in a sign of surrender, even as I take a very slow step toward Charli.

“I’m no one,” I try in a soothing voice. “I just heard yelling and wanted to help. Everyone okay in here?”

The guy gapes at me. “Obviously not. Get out of here!”

I take another step closer. “Sorry, man, I can’t do that.”

With one more step, I’m close enough to Charli that I can grab her arm and pull her behind me.

“Wait, Lucas, no⁠—”

“Get out of here,” I hiss at her. Now that she’s behind me, the door is right there. I can block her with my body if she makes a run for it.

“No way,” she whispers furiously.

Stubborn, stubborn woman.

I love her for it.

“No one’s going anywhere,” the guy barks, waving the gun as if to prove he’s still the one in control.

“Alright, let’s everyone just calm down,” comes Nico’s voice from beside me. His hands are up and when I glance at him, I see his gaze dart between the guy with the gun and the girl beside him. She’s clearly panicking, her eyes going wide and her hands twisting in front of her. If we weren’t standing in her way to the door, I’m pretty sure she’d bolt. But all she can do is watch her partner.

Her partner, who’s clearly spiraling.

Now that he has three opponents instead of just one, even with the gun, it looks like he’s realizing he’s lost control of the situation.

His crazy eyes dart to Charli, some fury seeping into them. He points the gun at me because it’s the closest he can get it to Charli.

“This is all your fault,” he spits, his voice high-pitched and insane. “Why did you have to break in here? Everything was going to plan! The deal was about to go through, and we were going to be rich. But now—” He steps closer, the gun shaking in his hand. I pull Charli tighter to my back, making sure she’s completely blocked. “You’re going to stop the deal from going through, aren’t you? You’re going to cost us a shit ton of money. Why did you have to come here?”

The insanity in his eyes mounts, and my body goes cold. He no longer looks like a kid that’s scared he got caught; he looks like someone that’s scared he’s going to lose everything.

Something in him hardens, and the shift to determined only makes him more terrifying.

“I won’t let you expose our plan,” he grits out, his hand tightening on the gun. “I need that money. I can’t let you leave⁠—”