I knew it was too good to be true. I knew I couldn’t have what I really wanted.

When Logan walked into the room, at first I thought I was dreaming. The dust spread up around him and I thought maybe I finally broke, maybe I’m finally dead. But no, it was him, the real him, and he kissed me. And he loves me.

It was the best moment of my life. Maybe that’s sad, but it’s the truth. Before that, I’d never been loved, not really, not truly. My father used me like everyone else in my life. I had friends, of course, and maybe they loved me, but not like Logan does. They wouldn’t sacrifice like Logan would.

It felt good, so good, to finally hear the words. At some level, I knew it from the beginning that I loved him, but I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way. It started to become clear, but he never actually spoke it, which somehow makes it more real. Hearing the words brings it all into reality.

But he didn’t say it, and then I thought he was dead. Seeing him again, feeling him again, and hearing those words, well, they brought me back.

I was ready to die. I was ready to destroy myself and move on to whatever’s next. Now though, my hope is returned and life continues.

At least for a minute or two.

Anton’s laugh tears through my chest like a knife. The guards slowly come toward me and Logan drops his gun and puts his hands up. I glare at him, not sure why he’s giving up, but I follow his lead. He knows what he’s doing, and I don’t think he’s going to give in so easily.

“I caught you, sneaky bitch.” Anton steps between the guards at the far end of the hall and claps his hands as machine guns go off nearby.

“Well done, Logan,” he says. “You sneaky bastard. You almost got away with it.”

Logan grins at him. “I still might.”

“Doesn’t look that way.”

“From the sound of it, I don’t think you’re going to last very long.”

“Oh, that’s true, for sure. But you’re not going to get through this, either.”

“So what, you’re going to kill us?” Logan laughs. “Hollow victory. You’ll be gunned down soon enough.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Can’t deny it.” Anton walks toward us, still grinning like a maniac. The guards behind him exchange glances, like they’re not so keen on what they’re hearing from their leader. “So maybe we’ll all die in a blaze of glory. But you won’t survive it, either.”

“What makes you keep going, Anton?” Logan asks. “If you surrender, I know my people will spare your life.”

“Your people.” Anton spits on the ground. “Who are you?”

“Navy SEAL. Badass. Lady slayer.” Logan grins and I can’t help but smile. “I’m the guy that’s going to kill you.”

I know what he’s doing. It’s pretty clear that he wants to keep Anton talking, which makes sense. The more Anton talks, the closer he gets to us and the longer we live. I’m guessing Logan hopes that his people can get to us in time.

More than that, it’s clear that Anton’s soldiers aren’t as keen on dying as he is. They’re already looking at each other like it’s time to drop their weapons, and I know Logan is going to exploit that.

“Very funny,” Anton says, smiling like an insane person. “So very funny. I can see why she likes you.” Anton’s gaze turns to me and I feel like I want to vomit. “So, Riley, how does it feel to still be mine?”

“I’m not yours,” I say.

Anton walks closer and Logan steps in front of him. Anton laughs and pull a gun from his waistband.

“Move,” he says. “Let me see my property.”

“Drop the gun, Anton,” Logan says loudly, loud enough for the other guards to hear it. “You don’t have to die today. It’s all over, anyway. Drop your gun and surrender. My people aren’t the cops, so they won’t throw you in jail. You’ll get to keep living.”

“I don’t give a shit about living,” Anton says, eye wild. I can tell he’s on the edge. “I just want to kill you now, you fucking bastard.”

“You won’t hurt her,” Logan says softly.

“Watch me.”

An explosion rocks the building. The guards behind us all begin shouting and firing their rifles. Logan moves faster than I thought possible, stepping up to Anton and grabbing his wrist. I notice that Logan’s back is all bloody, but I don’t have time to wonder why, because he twists and tears the gun from Anton’s hands.

“Kill them!” Anton screams.

More gunfire erupts and Logan dives to the side, grabbing me and throwing me into a room. Anton screams again, this time in agony. I roll to my feet and look around. It’s a small room with a single chair in front of what looks like a small window.

Logan moves to the door and looks out. He fires off a few rounds then moves back to me.

“Come on, we have to run.”

“Where?” I ask him. “What happened?”

“One of my units came through, but the guards are holding them off. We can get out behind them.”

“Anton?” I ask.

“You’ll see. Come on.” He grabs my hand and pulls me along.

Out in the hall, it’s chaos. The guards are all down at the end of the hall where we were headed originally, shooting like mad. Meanwhile, Anton is on the ground, his eyes wide as blood seeps from a bullet wound in his skull. Logan grins at me and I know it was him that finished Anton off.

I pause next to the body, staring down at him. This is the man that caused me so much pain and agony. He’s dead now and I’m still alive. I spit down on his corpse.

“Rot in hell,” I say.

“Come on,” Logan says a few feet away. “Run!”

I run toward him as more bullets begin to tear up the ground. He drops to one knee and fires back. Once I’m past him, he turns and follows.

I throw open some doors at the end of the hall just as another explosion rips through the building. This one is closer and the whole room shakes. Logan grabs my hand and pulls me along, through a room with a large projection television and a poker table. There are couches in front of the television, like people used to sit around and watch TV while girls are getting tortured.

“Here,” Logan shouts as more gunfire erupts nearby. He throws open a door and I dive inside as another explosion blasts through our room. Logan stumbles and fires his gun then gets inside the room, shoving the door closed behind him.

It takes me a second to understand what we’re looking at. It’s a bedroom, with wide, open windows and a four-poster bed. Logan walks across the room and throws open the windows, looking outside.

“Come on,” he says.

“Logan,” I say.

He stops and looks at me. “What?”

I point across the room. Crouched down next to the bed are three girls, cowering in fear, wearing nothing but lingerie.

“Shit,” he says softly and walks over to them. “Listen to me,” he says. “Anton is dead. You’re all free. Can you follow?”

The girls stare at him and start screaming. I watch in horror as they try to attack Logan, but he just dances backwards, avoiding their blows. Eventually he brings up his gun and points at them.

“Back off!” he yells.

The girls collapse together on the bed, screaming and crying, howling like wounded animals.

“Fuck,” Logan grunts. “Come on, Riley.” He pulls me toward the window. I can barely look away from those girls.

That was almost me. I can see it, almost like a vision of an alternate world. If not for Logan, I would be like those girls screaming on the bed because their rapist is dead.

“Riley,” Logan says, pulling me out of it. He takes me by the shoulders and looks into my eyes. “We’re almost away. Can you make it?”

I nod once. He turns and steps out of the window before helping me climb out behind him.

Once outside, the gunfire is louder, but more sporadic. Logan leads the way, sticking close to the wall. We stop and hide behind parked trucks and watch as a group of men wearing black and holding assault rifles comes jogging across the courtyard, heading toward the main building. There’s another explosion and more gunfire, drawing them away.

I follow Logan, skirting along the outbuildings, heading toward the gap in the wall. We’re almost there and suddenly someone starts yelling.

“Logan!” It’s a man’s voice and it’s nearby.

We freeze and Logan looks over. “Fuck,” he says under his breath.

“What?” I ask.

“That’s one of my commanders,” he says. “Fuck. Listen, Riley, I won’t let them take you. Okay? Run when I say.”

“What are you going to do?” Fear rifles through me.

“Run when I say. Okay?”

“Okay,” I answer, eyes wide.

“Ready?”

A group of men in black come trotting over from a distance as Logan squares up toward them. He raises his gun.

And suddenly the group is lit up by rifle fire. A group of compound guards comes bursting from a side building and attacks the group, which scatters and finds cover. A gun battle erupts right in front of us and Logan whirls, grabbing me by the hand, and runs.

We make it to the gap in the wall and he pushes me through first before following. We run as fast as I can toward the beach. I nearly trip over some rocks but Logan is there, steadying my body against his.

We run for a long time. When we can’t run anymore, we walk until finally we find the cave. We climb down together without another word.

Once inside, I collapse onto the ground and start panting, trying to catch my breath. He leans against the wall, breathing deep, but still steady.

There’s still some scattered gunfire, but it’s distant and sporadic. He watches me for a couple of minutes until my breathing finally calms down.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I nod. “I think so.”

“Not hurt?”

“No.”

Good.” He crouches down in front of me. “This is the hard part.”

“The hard part?”

He nods slowly and takes my hand. “You know how I feel about you. I don’t have to explain that.”

“I know,” I whisper.

“WE have to make a choice now.”

“What is it?”

He frowns and looks into my eyes. I reach out and touch his face, his handsome, gorgeous face and I want to laugh and cry and scream all at once. I don’t know what to feel. I’m free and I’m not free, but I’m with Logan and that’s all that matters.

“We can go back and face the consequences. Or we can start walking and never return.”

“Never return?”

“Home,” he says. “We can’t go back to the States. We’ll have to go on the run. Your father will be looking for you and my people will want me back for what happened in there. It might be a hard life, Riley.” He looks down at his feet. “I can’t ask you to do it. But I want to offer the option. I’ll do whatever you want to do, Riley.”

I stare at him and sigh. If we go back, we can go home, but I’ll be given to my father and he’ll likely get thrown out of his unit, maybe even jailed. If we run, we’ll have to go into hiding, maybe change our names.

But we’ll be together. I smile and then I laugh, because the answer is obvious, so obvious. There’s really no question of what I want.

“I don’t even like America that much,” I say.

He grins. “How dare you. America is the best country on earth.”

“Yeah, well. What’s second best?”

He shrugs. “Want to find out?”

“I do,” I say softly.

“I love you, Riley.”

“I love you too.”

We kiss and I know this is the right thing to do. I don’t care where I am or who I am, so long as I’m with Logan. He’s the only man I can love, the only person I can trust. He’ll take care of me, even if it’s hard at first. He’ll give me pleasure even when there’s no pleasure anywhere to be seen, because that’s the kind of person he is.

I’ll give up my old life willingly. I won’t go back to my father and my comforts. That was just a gilded cage, anyway.

Now, I’ll be free. Because I’m with Logan, I can be free.

We stand, climb out of the small cave, and we start walking, hand in hand.