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I stumbled toward my kitchen, quickly grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it with chilled water from my fridge. I moaned when the cool liquid slid over my tongue and down my scratchy throat.
Max might not have wanted to hurt me, but the aftereffects of those drugs were worse than the most wicked hangover of my life.
Despite the nauseating waves of heat that rolled just beneath my skin, my flesh pebbled with an echo of the bone-deep chill that’d settled over me in that basement. I rubbed my arms, hugging myself tight. The back of my neck prickled, and I shot a wary glance around my brightly lit kitchen. I couldn’t shake the fear that’d taken root in my psyche, keeping me on high alert for danger that seemed to have evaporated in the morning sunlight.
Moving with slow caution, I tiptoed around my entire apartment, checking every corner for signs of my assailant.
Not a single one of my belongings was out of place. It was as though Max was a ghost, not the corporeal monster who’d bound me to a chair and asked me insane questions about my father and the Russian Bratva.
I am a monster out of your worst nightmares. A shiver raced over my skin as his snarled words played through my mind.
I took a deep breath and focused on the memory of his face, not when he’d snarled at me, but later, just before he’d let me go. His features had softened, and his eyes had dropped from mine as though he couldn’t bear to look at me.
Or he couldn’t bear my eyes on him.
He’d warned me that he was a monster, but at that moment, he’d been a damaged man tormented by regret. His mad scheme had come to nothing, and his despair had been palpable.
Did he regret kidnapping me? Or was he devastated by the fact that I hadn’t confirmed the awful lies he’d said about my father?
I jolted at the thought of my dad. I won’t hurt you, but I have no problem hurting your father, Max had threatened.
A fresh spike of panic sent me rushing back into the living room, searching for my phone. It lay on my glass coffee table, right beside where I’d slept on my couch.
I barely registered a small swell of relief that Max hadn’t violated the privacy of my bedroom before I snatched up my phone. My jaw dropped when the screen lit up. The Notes app was open, and if I’d been tempted to think last night had been a terrible dream, the confirmation of awful reality was emblazoned on my phone: Your security is shit. Set a passcode. I’m not the only monster out here.
My skin crawled, and my eyes darted around the room once again. I rubbed at the back of my neck, trying to alleviate the maddening prickling warning that I was being watched.
Immediately, I opened my security settings and changed them so that my phone unlocked with a six-digit passcode rather than my thumbprint. The iron band around my chest loosened slightly once it was done; Max wouldn’t be able to break into my texts again. No one would be able to access my private messages.
I hastily exited my settings and opened up my messenger, frantically scrolling through the last four texts to my father.
My mouth twisted in a scowl when I noted a couple of one-word responses accompanied by multiple emojis. Max had been able to hold off my father’s concerns with a few smiley faces. My stomach lurched at the sudden, undeniable knowledge that Max had been able to abduct me without anyone realizing I was missing. How long would it have taken for Daddy to suspect that something was wrong?
My boss probably would’ve reached out to him when I didn’t show up to my internship this morning.
My internship! I checked the time, and a thrill of panic fluttered through me. I was going to be late for work!
I shook my head, immediately rejecting the ridiculousness of my concern. I had far worse things to worry about.
Like my father’s safety. Max’s threat against him rang through my mind like an alarm bell.
My fingers found my dad’s contact details and connected before I could take another breath. It only rang twice before he answered.
“Morning, sweetheart.” His voice was warm with pleasant surprise. Not so much as a tense thread of fear for my safety.
My stomach sank. Max truly had orchestrated the perfect crime. Despite the fact that my father had spent the last ten years being overprotective in the extreme, he’d had no idea that I’d been kidnapped last night. My attempts to keep him at a distance so I could live my own adult life had allowed my captor to easily dismiss my dad’s potential concern.
“Daddy!” I couldn’t help the hitch on his name. “Are you okay?”
