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“She’s never even touched me! Even when she held me prisoner in Menlo Park, she only ever fucking Skyped me. I can’t let her keep Hannah. It’s me she wants!”
I stood in front of her so she couldn’t pace and plan. “She can’t have you.”
“Of course she can! I have to get my sister out!”
“You’re not in the right frame of mind to make decisions.”
She looked at me as if I had three very annoying heads. “So what? There’s only one decision to make—to save my sister! I’ll do whatever Li Na wants—anything to get my sister back.”
She tried to maneuver around me, but I grabbed her shoulders. “You’re not thinking this through. If Li Na wanted you, she could have taken you in the first place. But she didn’t do that. She went after Hannah because it would hurt you. Because it would bind you to her.”
I watched her warily, trying to ascertain whether she could understand, given her highly agitated state. “She has you exactly where she wants you—finally. I don’t care what she promises you. She’s not going to let Hannah go. She’ll take you, and then she’ll make sure that some guard’s holding a knife to Hannah’s neck the entire time you do her bidding.”
Lauren shook her head. “I won’t go to Li Na until they give Hannah to you. Once that’s done, leave and take her with you.”
“They aren’t going to give Hannah to me.” I fought the urge to shout. “They’ll keep you both, and then Li Na will kill your sister when it suits her. And when she finally gets her hands on the international cash cow that is Paragon and has it up and running—once she’s used you up—she’ll kill you too. And I won’t let that happen.”
“This isn’t about you. This is about my sister, who’s the only family I have left, who’s in trouble because of me!”
“You made me a promise to never put yourself in harm’s way again.”
“This isn’t about me either. It’s about what she’s going to do to my poor sister—”
I squeezed her shoulders. “This isn’t your fault. And I’m not going to lose you, babe. Not now. Not ever. We’ll find a way to get Hannah back, I promise. But it’s not going to be trading your life for hers. You’re staying here with me.”
Her eyes went wild with fury. “No, I’m not. This isn’t your choice. It’s not some power game we’re playing in the bedroom!”
“You’re right. It’s not.” My voice had a sharp edge. “T
his is life or death.”
I grabbed my phone. My eyes never left Lauren’s face as I made the call. “Timmy, I need you watching the perimeter. My brothers are landing at SFO this afternoon, and our attorneys are on their way. We need to go on lockdown. Assemble the team. No one else gets in or out of here. Got it?”
I hung up and nodded at Lauren. “Did you hear that? Lockdown. You’re going nowhere unless I give you express permission.”
Lauren looked stricken. And as if she might punch me. “You can’t do this.”
I crossed my arms against my chest. “Watch me.”
