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Chapter 1
GABE
I woke up and rolled over, stretching, my limbs loose and relaxed as I pulled Lauren’s warm body closer. Her soft moan brought back memories of last night, when I’d blindfolded her and tied her up.
Among other things.
I grinned against her bare skin as she slept. Lauren Taylor, reigning queen of the biotech industry and, until quite recently, a very uptight virgin, had been letting her wild side out to play lately. I trailed my fingers down her side, wondering if she’d be up for an encore performance this morning.
My phone rang, and I grabbed it, hoping she would sleep awhile longer. On the caller ID, I saw Timmy’s number. I’d thought Lauren’s security guard was asleep in the guesthouse next door. Because he never called to chat, I said, “What’s the matter?”
“Mr. Betts, we’ve had a breach.”
I jumped out of bed. “Is someone here? At the house?”
“No, sir. Not here. I’m afraid it’s worse—it’s Hannah.”
Hannah was Lauren’s younger sister. “What?”
“Someone’s taken her.”
“What?”
“Someone kidnapped her from Lauren’s house. I just got the call.”
Lauren sat up and rubbed her eyes.
I needed to stay calm for her sake. “What about the security guards?”
“They shot the two guards outside. They also shot Wes—he was in the house with Hannah.”
Wesley was Hannah’s bodyguard and boyfriend.
Fuck. “Did anyone make it?”
Lauren’s head whipped around. “What’s going on?”
I motioned for her to hang on.
“Wes is the only guard who made it,” Timmy said. “He’s at the ER right now—I don’t know what his condition is, except it’s bad. But Hannah’s alive, thank God. The security tape shows them leaving with her.”
“Have you talked to the police?”
“They’re at the scene. Do you want me to go too?”
“Sit tight for right now. Call Paragon and let security know what happened. I’ll talk to Lauren and call you back.”
“What happened?”
I sat down and took her hand. “That was Timmy. There was a security breach at your house. Someone broke in and took Hannah. They shot the guards and Wesley, but he’s alive. He’s in the ER.”
Her face went blank, as if the information didn’t compute. “I’m sorry? What?”
I squeezed her hand. “Hannah’s been kidnapped.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it.
“Timmy said the police are at the house—they’ll open an investigation. We have the security tape. I’ll call Agent Marks at the FBI and let him know what’s happened.”
Lauren still looked dazed.
“Babe, do you understand what I said?”
“Is my sister…dead?”
“No,” I said firmly, hoping she’d believe me.
She sat for a minute, staring out into space. Then her gaze focused back on me. “Two of our men are dead, though.”
“Yes.”
“And Wesley…” It seemed as if the news was sinking in.
I reached out to hold her, but she flinched away.
She jumped up, grabbing some clothes. “We killed Li Na’s guards. Now she’s evened the score.”
Li Na Zhao, the Chinese healthcare CEO, had been after Lauren’s technology, her company, and Lauren herself, not necessarily in that order. I knew where Lauren was heading with this line of thought. “Babe, this is not your fault.”
She laughed bitterly, pulling a sweater over her head. “Tell my sister that when she’s crying because Wes got shot—that is, if we ever get to talk to her again.”
“We’re going to get her back. It’s going to be okay.”
“It is not going to be okay!” She hustled past me to the kitchen, shaking her head as I followed close behind. “Hannah warned me—she told me to walk away from Li Na, to let her have the patch—that it wasn’t worth dying for. But I didn’t listen to her, because I never listen to her! And now she’s suffering for it.”
Lauren had recently tricked Li Na by agreeing to partner with her on a version of the patch, Lauren’s game-changing biomedical invention. But with my help, Paragon surreptitiously launched the technology, winning the race to rule the global healthcare market.
Apparently, Li Na didn’t intend to let Lauren enjoy her victory lap.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I fired up the coffeemaker while Lauren paced and cried. “This is my fault. I don’t know what I’ll do if they hurt her—”
“Don’t think like that.”
