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ISLA
Ihold my breath the entire elevator ride thinking Antonio is going to notice I’m gone and stop my escape. But when the doors open in the garage and I see a blacked-out SUV with Bryant leaning against it, I realize I’m actually going to pull this off.
I hurry to the car and allow him to help me in before he climbs in behind me. I’m trapped between him and Kai while Kayden drives and Jaxon rides shotgun.
“Gang’s all here,” Kai quips, and I glare at him.
“We don’t have the time for you two to start bickering,” Kayden snaps, and my eyes widen as I meet the gaze of the oldest Hayes brothers. He’s normally the quiet one, but he’s also the one I’ve spent the least time with. “We need to get out of Chicago before anyone at Frost Industries realizes you’re missing. They’ll shut down the city before we can blink if we’re not careful.”
I’m about to ask why they would care about my disappearance when the car takes off, taking a corner too sharp and sending me flying into Bryant.
After that, I quickly wrap my seat belt around myself and lean back against the seat. Obviously I know Doc works for Frost Industries, and I’m well aware that a lot of what they doisn’t entirely legal, but that doesn’t mean they would care if I disappeared, right?
The drive to the airfield is short, but it feels like an eternity. Every horn, every screech of brakes, and every stop all the way here had my heart jumping clear from my chest because the reality is, if I can’t get out of the city, I might lose not only my father, but my best friend as well. And I’m not so naïve as to think Doc would go along with this plan. No, he’d never put my life in danger like this.
I fiddle with the ring on my finger, the one I used to slip off the moment I left the apartment because I didn’t want anyone to know I had been forced to marry a man twice my age. Now it feels like a tether. Like even from a distance, our souls are connected through the rings we wear to signify our love.
It sounds cheesy as hell, especially because this is Doc we’re talking about. But it just feels right.
I’m ushered onto the private plane, and I take the first seat I see. I’ve never been on a private jet before, but this isn’t exactly the introduction I thought it would be.
The way the Hayes men are looking around, constantly checking our surroundings, is really fucking unnerving, and by the time we take off, I’m a nervous wreck.
The farther I get from Doc, who has quickly become my safe place, the more unsettled I am.
“You okay?” Bryant asks from his seat across from me.
I nod. “Yeah. This is all just a lot, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” His gaze flicks over his brothers. “I know you must be scared, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re not in any danger while we get Bree and Edward back.”
“Why are you doing all this? It feels like a lot of effort to go to for people you don’t really care for.”
He shakes his head. “Our fathers have been friends for many years, Isla. Before your aunt died, they used to see each otherall the time. You probably don’t remember, but when you were little, you used to follow Kai around like a lost puppy.”
“I did not,” I snap.
He chuckles. “You definitely did. He found it so annoying, but anytime your mom would take you away so you weren’t annoying us, he was the first to say you could stay.”
I glance at the man in question, and my lips quirk up into a smile. “And Bree?”
“As much as she’s a pain in all of our asses, we wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to her.”
I roll my eyes but can’t swallow the giggle that climbs up my throat. She is a bit of a menace at times.
“Are you happy, Isla?” he asks.
The smile that creeps across my cheeks feels like the most natural one that’s ever graced my face. “Stupidly.”
“I’m glad. We’ll get you back to Chicago once all this is over.”
I allow my eyes to drift closed and think of the man I have waiting for me when I get home. I’m pretty sure he’s going to tie me to the bed and not let me leave, but I’ll just be happy to be back with him.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
DOC
Panic flares through every inch of my body as I tear our bedroom apart, looking for some kind of clue. But there are none.
