LAUREN

“It’s a go, Lauren. The offer is really solid.” Josh tosses the folder onto my desk and stares down at me. “It’s the only way I can see that we can save everything we’ve worked so hard for over the last few years.”

I rub the back of my neck because I never wanted to be in this situation in the first place. “I’ll set a board meeting before we open it up for shareholder voting. The final decision will have to be approved by a majority.”

“They’ll approve it because they’re ruled by money. Not everyone has given their life to this company like we have. Some people just care about the bottom line.”

I smile weakly and know he’s right. “I’ll have Cassie schedule it after I speak with Mr. Forte and his team this afternoon.”

“Do you want me there as backup?”

I laugh softly at his kind gesture, but I’ve never needed backup before. “I’ll handle the people at Cozza. If you can start preparing a report to present to the board, that would be a huge help.”

“I’m on it,” he says as he walks toward the door. “Maybe I’ll finally be able to get some sleep tonight.”

“I think we all will, Josh.”

He smiles back at me before leaving, and guilt floods me. My entire team spent the weekend stressing out and trying to find a way to save the company, while I lay on the beach and fell in love with the enemy.

* * *

Trent: Can you come to the test hangar? There’s an issue.

The text message from Trent has me out of my office, clutching my phone, and headed toward the parking garage within seconds.

Any issue with the engine could not only end the terms of the new deal, but it could bring down the value of Interstellar so dramatically that we’d be prime pickings for a takeover and not a merger.

My hands are shaking as I weave through city traffic and the knot in my gut tightens as the hangar comes into view. I can’t believe there’s an issue with the engine this many days out from the successful and very public unveiling.

My heels click against the painted cement floor as I walk through the empty hangar toward Trent’s office. The wind blows, causing goose bumps to break out across my skin, and I long for the warm ocean breezes of the Caribbean and the ease of life on a remote and desolate island.

“What’s the issue?” I ask as soon as the door swings open.

Trent’s sitting behind his desk with his face hidden by the computer screen. “One second,” he says casually.

I squeeze my phone so tightly, I’m surprised the screen doesn’t shatter into a million pieces. “I rush over here, and now you think I’m going to wait?”

“Calm down, Lulu. I just need a second.” His tongue darts out and sweeps across his lip as he presses a few more buttons on the keyboard. “Sit down for a minute and relax.”

“Relax?” I hover over his desk and glare down at him. “You said there’s an issue, and you expect me to relax?”

If I wouldn’t get fired and be arrested, I’d launch myself over the desk and wrap my hands around his wide neck and choke the life right out of him.

He pushes back from his desk, switching off the monitor before standing. “Let me show you the problem,” he says, motioning toward the hangar with his head.

“I don’t have time for bullshit. Let’s get to it because I have a company to run.” I’m seething with anger, and his carefree attitude is pushing me over the edge as I follow him.

“It’s around back,” he says, motioning for me to follow as I keep a safe distance from him so I don’t wind up in handcuffs. “You look good, Lulu. Different.”

I growl as his eyes flicker up and down my body, ogling me in a way that makes my skin crawl. I give him a shitty smile and stop walking. “Where are you taking me?”

He stops and turns to face me, his eyes still raking over me. “I forgot the papers in my car. We’re going to grab them.”

I grit my teeth together so hard they squeak. “Why didn’t you bring them in here while I drove over here?”

“I was busy getting work done. I have to keep the boss happy.”

I ball my fists at my sides and walk past him, heading toward the same spot he’s parked his car for the last half a dozen years. “Let’s make this quick, and it better be good.”

He jogs to catch up to me as I take long strides across the parking lot. “It’ll be good. I promise.” He smiles smugly.

I stand to the side, leaning against his Tahoe as he opens the back. He reaches inside and pulls out a folder of paperwork and spreads it across the inside. “Look at this,” he says and points to the sheet right in the middle.

I can’t make out the words from where I’m standing, and he backs away, knowing I’m angry. I walk in front of him and pick up the piece of paper, studying it.

It’s nonsense. There’s nothing of value on the paper in my hands. A jumble of emails sent between me and office staff. When I flip it over, I freeze. It’s a word for word transcript of text messages between me and Forte.

“You’ve been a busy girl, Lulu.” He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and his shadow covers me, sending a chill down my spine.

I spin on my heel and wave the piece of paper between us. “How did you get this?”

“I have my ways. I did so much for you,” he says and places his hands on my arms, squeezing tighter than usual. “I did all of this for you, and this is how you repay me?”

I take a step back, trying to put space between us and free myself from his hold, but my ass knocks into the bumper, and I know I have nowhere else to go. “Get your hands off me, Trent.”

“I told you you’d always be mine, Lulu.”

I’m just about to scream when his hand covers my mouth.

“Shh, no one can hear you out here, and no one’s coming to save you.” His eyes are cold and distant as he peers down at me.

Alarm bells that were ringing faintly are now blaring so loudly I can’t hear anything else except my own heartbeat as it thumps wildly in my chest.

“Are you going to play nice, or do I have to take you against your will?”

Take me? Where the fuck is he going to take me? “I’ll play nice,” I say against his hand, almost gagging on the taste of his skin against my tongue.

As soon as his hand eases up, I try to run, but he pulls me back until I collide with his chest. I claw at his arms, trying to break free, but he’s too strong. A hand wraps around my neck, squeezing so tightly that my face starts to prickle. “There’s no getting away from me. You’re mine always and forever.”

I don’t stop struggling. Not as the blackness starts to come and my eyes go blurry. I fight with everything I have because I refuse to go out like this. The man I once thought I loved is trying to kill me, and I’m powerless to stop him. He’s too strong for me to fight off.

In my final moments of consciousness, there’s only one person I think about… Antonio.

ANTONIO

“Where is she?” Tara, Lauren’s friend from the restaurant, asks as soon as I walk inside Lauren’s office for our scheduled meeting.

“I don’t know. I was supposed to meet her right now.” I glance down at my watch. I’m not late. One thing I know about Lauren is she’s always on time.

“Something’s not right,” she says, chewing on her fingernail as she paces the carpet in front of Lauren’s desk. “We were meeting for dinner. Cassie hasn’t seen her in hours, but she went looking for her.”

“Wait, what?” Panic seeps into my veins as her words set in. “How long has she been missing?”

“Three hours.” Tara yanks at her hair with the most frightful look. “I thought maybe she was with you, pulling another disappearing act like this weekend.”

Oh God. Dread seizes me. “She wasn’t with me, and I haven’t talked to her in hours.”

Tara walks over to Lauren’s desk and pulls out her purse. “She hasn’t gone far. Her things are here, but no phone. I already called, but she didn’t answer.”

Cassie comes storming into the office. “Trent’s gone too,” she says, hunching over like she’s been running.

“Who’s Trent?”

“Her ex-boyfriend and the head of research and development.”

I stumble back a step.

“He’s been harassing her for months, but Lauren couldn’t bring herself to fire him with the progress he’d made on Mercury.”

All the pieces click together. Lauren’s missing. Trent’s MIA, and they have a checkered past.

“He never quite got over her,” Cassie tells us.

“I’ll shatter him into a million pieces,” I say, trying to control the anger that’s bubbling inside me. “If he hurts her, I’ll end his life with my bare hands.”

“Oh, fuck,” Tara hisses, grasping at her chest as she eases herself into Lauren’s chair.

“I’ll find her. Don’t tell anyone else she’s missing until I can figure out where Trent is. If you tell the cops, I’ll have to follow the law. I can work faster without the constraints of the legal system.”

“I want to help,” Tara says as she pops up from the chair.

“Tara.” I grasp her by the shoulders as she comes to a stop in front of me. “I need you to go to her place and let me know if she shows up.” Tara nods, but her eyes are filling with tears. “I promise I’ll find her.”

“What about me?” Cassie asks with an ashen face.

“Go home at your usual time and stow Lauren’s purse. Lock her office, and if anyone asks, she’s gone to Cozza for a last-minute meeting.”

“Yes, sir.” Cassie covers her face with her hands.

“I will bring her back, ladies. I’ll move heaven and earth to bring Lauren back.”

I don’t care if I have to kill a thousand men, I will find her. Lord help the man who has her. He won’t come out unscathed or die a quick, painless death.