It took everything in me to leave. I snuck out in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, passed out from exhaustion from working the entire day. But it had to be done. They spent all day searching and found nothing. No evidence to use against Gabe. They can’t save me, but I can save them.

So, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I stole one of the burner phones and snuck out into the night. I called Gabe and told him I’d give him everything he wanted. I’d come back to him, but he couldn’t hurt anybody. He promised, and I have to return to ensure that he keeps that promise. He bought me a commercial flight early in the morning, and I got on it.

But, now, I can’t seem to bring myself to get off of it. The whole plane has unloaded, except for me. Still sitting in my seat in the fifth row, I stare at the seatback in front of me. I have to get up. I have to leave. But I know, as soon as I do, my life is over. I’m as good as dead. Right now, I have to worry about saving my friends. Then, I can worry about saving myself. So, I force my body to stand. I force my legs to walk off.

“I’m surprised you had the balls to show up,” Gabe says, grabbing my arm the second I depart from the gate.

On the one hand, I’m shocked that he is here instead of sending one of his men. But, on the other hand, Gabe likes to do things that are important to him in person.

“I keep my promises,” I say, letting him guide me through the airport and out to his waiting car.

I’m surprised to see that he doesn’t have a driver. He tosses me into the passenger seat and then climbs into the driver’s seat, speeding off.

“Good girl,” he says when I behave.

I look out the window instead of having to look at him. I try to remind myself that I’m doing this for them. Not for him. Not for me. No one else deserves to die for my mistake in judging men.

“Look at me.”

I turn my head.

He smirks. “You really will behave now?”

I nod, keeping all the emotion off my face.

“Stop thinking about him. He’s nothing. Think of me.”

“I am,” I say. Even though it’s a lie.

I will never stop thinking about Brody. I’ll never stop dreaming about him. Gabe can control a lot of things, but he can’t control my thoughts or desires.

Gabe parks the car outside of our condo and then says, “Come.”

I do, like a dog following a command. He leads me up to our condo. I pray that his damn phone rings with some important client who needs to be killed or secured or whatever the hell it is that he does. It doesn’t ring though. We get up to the condo, and he shuts the door behind us, locking it. I know what he’s going to want. I’m not sure I can give it to him. I want to protect my friends, but I also won’t let him lay a hand on me. Not without a fight.

“Fix me a drink. A scotch,” he says.

I walk to the kitchen and pour two glasses of scotch—one for him and one for me. I walk back to him and hand him one. He smirks when he sees the second glass. He clinks our glasses together and then drinks down my entire glass.

“Now, strip for me,” he says, his eyes staring into my eyes.

I go to do what he said, but I can’t. My hand stops just short of lifting the shirt over my head.

“If you hesitate, I will put all your friends’ names in a bowl and pull one out. The name I do dies. And we will repeat that process until you either listen to me or they’re all gone. Understand?”

“No.”

He hits me hard across the face, knocking me down to the floor. I can’t think. Everything hurts. My head is pounding. The dizziness overtakes all of my thoughts. I feel something hard jut into my back.

Gun. I have a gun. I reach into the back of my pants, pull out the gun, and aim it at his heart.

He laughs and rips the gun from my hand before I can react. He tosses it aside like it’s nothing before I even had a chance to get a shot off. He grabs my hair and pulls me up.

“You think you’re smarter than me, don’t you? Better, stronger? But you aren’t. You’re just a stupid little bitch with a beautiful cunt that I want.” He slobbers up my neck and my face when I try to push him off, but he’s right. He’s much stronger than I am. If he wants something, he’ll just take it.

“I’m going to have my way with you over and over again. And then I’m going to do what I said; I’m going to put all your friends’ and family’s names in and pull one out, and that person will die today. And then I’ll keep repeating until they’re all gone, and when they’re all gone, that’s when I’ll kill you.”

I should be afraid, but instead, it just pisses me off. I kick him as hard as I can in the balls and run. He grabs my ankle, and I fall to the floor before I can take two steps away. I won’t let him do this to me or to my friends.

We both look up as the door to the condo is pushed open. Three guys tumble in, all holding guns aimed in our general direction. But they aren’t just any men. These are my men. Brody, Noah, and Levi.

I should be relieved to see them here. But I know how bad of a shot they are, and I know that, if they miss once, Gabe will kill them all.

“Run,” I plead with them.

Noah looks at me like I’m the saddest thing he’s ever seen while Levi and Brody both stay fixed on Gabe.

“Let her go,” Brody says.

Gabe laughs. “No, she’s mine. But I will enjoy killing the three of you in front of her. It will break her, and then she will be mine completely.”

Brody looks down at me for just a second. I know what he’s about to do. I cover my head as he shoots. I hear Gabe move behind me, pulling me toward him to use me as a shield as he reaches for his own gun. I grab on to his arm, reaching for the gun behind him with all my might, trying to keep it away from shooting Brody. I hold him off only for a second.

But then dozens of men start pouring into the condo, all with bulletproof vests and helmets. They rush over to Gabe, pulling him to his feet and disarm him.

“Gabe Cole, you are under arrest for attempted murder of Skye, Brody, Noah, Levi, and many, many more.”

In complete shock, I watch as they drag Gabe out. I don’t believe that this is really happening.

I turn to one of the officers. “Is this really happening? Am I safe now?”

“Yes, he won’t be getting out of jail for a very, very long time. You are as safe as you can be.”

“Thank you.”

Brody comes over and wraps me in his arms. “I told you I would save you,” Brody says.

“How? How did you convince the police?”

“I planted a recording device in the gun,” Noah says.

“You were able to record our entire conversation?” I ask.

Noah nods.

“We knew you would run if we couldn’t find another solution to save us. So, we used it to get the evidence that we couldn’t find on our own.”

“If you guys wouldn’t mind, we would like to question each of you individually. That’ll help build our case against Gabe,” one of the police officers says.

“Sure,” Brody says, slightly pulling away from me. He leans down and firmly kisses me on the forehead. “You’re safe now. To live your life however you want.”

He walks away, following one of the officers. And Levi does the same, following another officer out. Leaving me and Noah by ourselves in the condo.

“You okay?” Noah asks.

“I will be.”

“Good. Will we be seeing more of you around Detroit now?”

I shake my head as I stare at the back of Brody’s head. It could be one of the last times I ever see him. “I don’t think so.”

Noah watches Brody turn the corner out of the condo. “I lied. Just so you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s not a prick. He doesn’t date countless women and multiple women at the same time. He’s hardly dated. And he sure as hell doesn’t go around, fucking women willy-nilly. He’s a nerd with a big heart. He will love you with everything he has if you let him have that chance. He won’t hurt you. He’s one of the good guys.”

I tuck my hair behind my ear. “He’s hurt me before.”

Noah narrows his eyes. “You need to ask him about that.”

Is it possible that Brody is a good guy? That he won’t hurt me?

I run after Brody. “Wait!” I shout.

Brody turns around and gives me a giant smile. I run to him.

“I don’t trust men. I know you don’t have to guess why. My mind says I should run far away and never let anyone into my life again. But my heart wants something more. My heart thinks you might be a better man than I give you credit for. But I need to know, why did you hurt me in the Bahamas? Why did you text me a picture of you and that woman? Why did you fuck her?”

“Because you needed something to take away the pain. I never had sex with that woman. I just got her to pose with me to make you hate me. It seemed to be what you needed. Just like how you needed rough BDSM-type sex. I’ve never done anything like that in my life. I had no idea what I was doing. I just Googled and made it up as we went along.”

I chuckle.

“I’ve never owned an animal. I’ve never wanted kids. I live a completely different life than you. We don’t like the same music or the same movies or the same drinks. But I do know one thing. I love you, Skye. I love that we are different. I love that we can grow together and learn to become better people because of each other. I want to learn what it means to love animals. I want to know what it’s like to have kids with you. I want to marry you and live happily ever after with you. I want everything with you.”

“So, you’re not a dick?”

He shakes his head.

“Or an asshole?”

He shakes his head again.

“Or a tool? A prick? A monster?”

“No. I can’t promise that I’ll never hurt you, but I will do everything that I can to not hurt you if you give me a chance. Will you give me that chance?”

“Yes.”