The drive back to my place seemed to take ten times longer than normal, although the clock said otherwise.

I was anxious to get back to Suria, to help her figure a way out of this mess for both her and her sister.

Something that didn’t involve putting her in danger.

By the time I got to the house, I was all but vibrating with tension, and I walked into the house, tossing my keys up and down. “Suria!”

There wasn’t any answer.

That tension inside me took on a different slant as I jogged up the steps to my room. Maybe she was just in the shower, but I wasn’t counting on it. Although I was a little disappointed to find the bed empty and neatly made, the bathroom equally empty and neat, I wasn’t surprised.

I should have left her a note, telling her to wait for me. I’d meant it when I told her I was going to help her out of this, but maybe she hadn’t realized I meant it.

Something told me that trust didn’t exactly come easy for her. Considering the way she’d grown up, the people who’d raised her and surrounded her most of her life, it wasn’t any surprise.

I didn’t waste any time searching the house or even trying to call her.

I already knew where she was.

I’d never hated the commute from my house to LA so much as I sped down the highway, my car eating up the miles as my brain whirled. What was she doing? What if she’d already gone to the police? What if she was in trouble – in danger – right now?

If I’d thought I was boiling with tension earlier, it was nothing compared to the way I felt when I pulled up in front of her place. The car I’d seen her use before was parked in the driveway, but that told me nothing. I’d been the one to drive us to my place last night. She had either called a friend for a ride or used an Uber, so just because that car was here didn’t mean she was.

Please let her be here. Please let her be safe.

I climbed out of the car, phone gripped in my hand, the muscles in my back and neck so tight, I felt like I just might come apart. Taking a deep breath, I willed the tension to drain out. Suria had read my mother like an open book, and she’d learned that from somebody. Maybe her father. Maybe somebody else she lived with. I had no idea. But I didn’t need anybody looking at me and realizing that I had a mix of nerves and fear burning in my gut.

I took one more deep breath and uncurled my fisted hands. After shoving my phone into my pocket, I started for the door.

My knock wasn’t answered initially.

But somebody was home.

I knew it in my gut.

I knocked again.

It took almost five minutes of knocking before somebody finally came to the door.

It was an older man, his hair graying. With shrewd eyes, he looked me up and down before saying, “We are closed today. You will have to come back.”

I bared my teeth at him. “I’m not here for a reading. I want to see Suria.”

If he was surprised by that, he didn’t let it show.

“She isn’t available to visitors.” He went to shut the door, but I shoved my foot into the opening, blocking him.

“I’ll leave when she tells me that,” I replied, bracing a hand against the door.

He tried to shove the door in my face, but his leverage was gone.

Turning his head, he shouted over his shoulder.

I took advantage of his momentary distraction and shoved against the door, putting all my weight into it. It knocked him back, and I moved inside before he could recover.

“Where’s Suria?” I demanded.

“You can’t just barge into people’s houses,” he said, eyes full of anger. “Get out of here before I call the police.”

“You aren’t going to call the police,” I replied, calling his bluff.

His lids flickered, and I knew I was right.

I took a step toward him. “I want to see Suria.”

Voices rose from the back of the house, and a door opened. A new man appeared in the doorway. “Duke, what is going on? You are…you,” the man said, eying me narrowly. “Who are you?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, turning to the other guy, firing away at him. “What are you doing, letting him inside? Get rid of him!”

Duke flung a hand at me. “He forced his way inside, Vano! Says he wants to see Suria and won’t leave until he does.”

“Is that right?” Vano turned to look at me, an unpleasant smile on his face. “And just why do you want to see Suria so badly?”

“That’s between Suria and me.” Cocking a brow at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Where is she?”

Dark, predatory eyes took me in, and I knew I wouldn’t get shit out of him. I wasn’t playing this game either.

“Suria!” I shouted her name without taking my eyes off the men who watched me.

The door opened, and I saw a familiar face, but it didn’t belong to the woman I’d come to find. Her father peeked through, and when he saw me, his lips peeled back from his teeth. “You…” He sneered at me. “What are you doing back here?”

“I’m here to see Suria,” I said. “I’m not leaving until I see her.”

“We can always help you to the door,” Vano offered, his voice silky.

“And I can take a few of you out on the way,” I responded, focusing my gaze on him briefly. “Then when I’m out of here, my next stop will be the police station.”

“But you forced your way in here,” Vano said, spreading his hands wide.

Oh…they didn’t know.

I smiled at him, then slid my gaze to Suria’s father. “You know, you really should find out just what a man wants, what a man knows…” Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to hedge my bets, I added, “Who a man has already told before you go making big decisions.”

“What does that mean?” Duke asked. He glanced over at Suria’s father. “Gabriel, who is this boy? What does he want?”

“He doesn’t know.” I moved a little closer, letting my hands fall to my sides. “Now…go get Suria, or I might just change my mind. I’ll go to the police station now…and I’ll be back for her later.”

Gabriel went to argue, but Vano cut him off. “Get the girl, Gabriel. This boy wants to play his games? Sure, we will let him play his games.” He looked like a snake as he stood there, all menacing, cold eyes.

But I’d be damned if I let him intimidate me. That shit might work on girls who’d been forced to live their entire lives under his thumb, but that wasn’t me.

Taut moments of silence passed before the door finally opened again. Suria appeared in it, and when she saw me, her eyes widened.

“Kian!”

Gabriel gripped her arm so tightly, I could see the bones of his knuckles jutting out against his skin.

I held out a hand toward her, resisting the urge to tear her away from him.

Gabriel hesitated, looking toward Vano.

Vano eyed me, then shrugged.

Gabriel let her go.

“You need to–”

I kissed her before she could even finish the sentence. She wasn’t telling me to leave. I wasn’t leaving her here to fight this alone.

Keeping the kiss short, I reached for her hand. Her eyes misted over as she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Exactly what I said I’d do.” I tugged her in closer before looking over at Vano and her father. “I want you to get Joelle and bring her out here. Do that, and I won’t go to the cops.”

“You will kidnap one of our children, and you tell me you won’t go to the cops?” Vano laughed, the sound sharp and dangerous like a knife’s edge. “You know, you still haven’t said just what it is you will go to the police over.”

“Theft, for one.”

Suria flinched, but I squeezed her arm gently. From the corner of my eye, I saw her father’s face tighten, and I met his gaze with a stare as cold as anybody else’s in the room. “I know how you all work. You used Suria to get to my mother, to steal from her. Suria’s ready to talk to the cops, and I’ve got a friend in the department. They’ll cut her a deal for all the dirt she’ll turn over on you. Or…you can avoid all of that and let Joelle and Suria leave with me now.”

“And what if we don’t let Suria leave?” Vano took a step forward. “Your plan is no good without her.”

“Nah. The plan is plenty good. And if she wants to leave and you stop her, then you’re breaking another law there. But I’m sure Suria is the meek and mild type who’d never dare mention that she was forced to do something against her will…right?”

It might have been funny if the whole situation wasn’t damn near explosive. Just saying meek and mild in the same sentence with Suria’s name was laughable.

But these goons weren’t laughing. And Vano’s face was no longer set in an unreadable, implacable mask. No, he was pissed, his eyes snapping, a faint red flush burning under the olive gold of his skin. “You seem to know our Suria well,” he said, voice remarkably calm.

The door creaked open, and several other men trickled into the room, fanning out around us. The biggest of them leaned in to murmur to Vano. I didn’t hear Vano’s reply, but I could tell by the way the big guy smiled that I wouldn’t have liked what I heard anyway.

The big guy took a step in our direction, and Suria caught my arm, forcing me to back up with her.

“You heard what he said,” Suria told Vano. “You can’t make me stay here if I don’t want to be here. And I will go to the police if you try. You can’t watch me forever.”

Vano’s lids flickered, his mouth going tight.

And the big guy kept coming.

She looked up at me, and her thoughts were stamped so plainly on her features, they might as well have been written in ink on her forehead.

We needed to get the hell out of there.