An arm wrapped around me and I was dragged down the alleyway. I kicked and tried to scream out, but the hand wrapped around my mouth was preventing me from doing so. I clung to the forearm of my assailant, thrashing and trying to get away. But he was too strong and I was too nauseous and overwhelmed from the meeting that morning.

I was pulled through a door and it closed with a thud. I was still being dragged as his hand fell from my face. water was Dripping as I was tossed into a chair, and suddenly I could no longer hear the traffic on the road. I couldn't feel the sun on my face or smell the coffee from the shop I had been headed to. I couldn't hear people yelling at one another across the street or car horns honking or even people telling me to get out of their way because I was moving too slowly.

The only thing I heard was something being scraped across the floor.

It was black. Dark as night in whatever abandoned building my assailant had pulled me into. I was shaking. My head was spinning with everything that was happening. What was going on? Where was I? Why in the world would someone want to pluck me off the street? Were they going to hurt me? Was I going to die?

Was anyone going to recognize that I was missing?

My eyes darted around the room but it was no use. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't get my bearings and I couldn't identify anything that was sitting around me. I have never felt so scared and so alone in my entire life. I wrapped my arm mindlessly around my stomach, trying to guard the help with white inside of me.

Then, a chuckle came from the darkness.

“So precious, a mother and her protective ways.”

I furrowed my brow at the statement.

“I recognize your voice,” I said.

“You should. We met earlier.”

Something moved in front of me before a light began its illumination. I squinted my eyes, trying to adjust to the bright light in front of my body. I shied away from it, pressing into the cold metal chair my body had been slung into. But when I got my bearings and opened my eyes, I gasped.

I knew the man in front of me.

It was the my self-professed fan from Robert’s apartment complex.

“What do you want?” I asked. “Why am I here?”

But all he did was hold a phone up to his ear as it rang.

I started crying. Harder than I had ever cried in my entire life. The look in this man's I was not kind. It was borderline psychotic. I knew I was going to die. For whatever reason I had been targeted, and this man has followed me. I don't know where he had seen me and I don't know why he had chosen me, but he knew I would be at Robert’s. He knew I had been there and he knew the hotel I was going back and he waited.

In the darkness.

For the proper moment to strike.

I was crying so hard I couldn't hear what the man was talking about. He said something about decisions and something about his brother. Or someone’s brother. There was something about protection, or money. Being slow, or not needing it. I really wasn't sure. I knew I needed to be paying attention and I knew I needed to try and find a way out of this place. It wasn't like I was tied to the chair or restrained in any way.

But I couldn't see anything around me.

For all I knew, there were traps waiting for me the moment I stood up.

However, there was something he said that caught my attention. A name this man said that made my heart thunder against my chest.

“It wasn't your decision to make, Robert. You took an oath and we took you in as family. And you left my brother lying in the street because you were scared.”

Robert.

This man was talking to Robert.

“Robert! Help me!” I said.

The man sitting in front of me shot me a wry smile. Like he enjoyed the fact that I was yelling out for this man. What decision was he talking about? Why was he accusing Robert of killing his brother? He must have had the wrong person. Robert was many things, but a killer wasn't one of them. Sure, he was rough around the edges. Yes, he was a pretty impressive playboy. He could swing crude remarks with the rest of them and he frequently let his money do the talking.

But murder?

That wasn't Robert. It couldn't be. There was no way I could be carrying a killer's child. There had to be another side to this.

Right?

The world around me started to muffle. The man's face and front of me began to tilt at my mind started to run away from me. All I wanted to do was get back to my hotel. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep. I didn't want to hurt anyone and I didn't want to step on anyone's toes. I wanted to rest, relax, and pass the time until it was time for me to give birth. Until it was time for me to be a mother.

Until it was time for me to raise the family I had always been destined to raise.

I stood up from the chair and tried to get away. I turned around and tripped over the metal contraption I have been sitting in. I tried to get my feet underneath me as the world began to tilt. But I felt a strong hand grip my upper arm and pull me back.

“Let go of me,” I said.

“Shut up, bitch!”

My cheek began to sting as I fell back down into the chair. My skin was on fire and my jaw started to throb. How was I going to get out of this? Was Robert going to try and find me? I thought I was getting to know him. I thought I was beginning to understand him. But as I sat in that chair in the pitch black room listening to this strange man growl at Robert, the reality of my situation dawned on me.

I had no idea who Robert was.

I didn't know how much time has passed, but eventually a bag was slipped over my head. The man's hand came down on my upper arm and he yanked me from the chair. I stumbled over my feet as a creaking door opened, and all of a sudden I could hear the traffic of the street. I could hear people yelling at one another down the sidewalk. I could smell the stale stench of urine in the back alley way as I was tossed to the pavement.

I fell to the ground in a stale puddle of oily water and that man’s voice emanated from behind me.

“Run, run, little princess. Time is fleeting.”

I ripped the bag from my face and took off down the alleyway in front of me. I could see the street through the hazy darkness of the fog that had settled between the buildings. I heard the man laughing behind me as I put distance between the two of us.

My legs were shaking in fear as I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

I started running. I ran down the sidewalk, shoving people out of my way. I stumbled into a brick wall and wrapped my hand around my body to pull my phone from my pocket. I had to call someone. I had to tell someone would have happened. I had to call the police or Lacey or someone who can help me figure out what to do next.

But I felt my stomach rolling before I could press the red emergency button on my phone.

I leaned into the building and spilled stomach bile onto the concrete beneath my feet. What in the world happened? Who was that man? Tears continue to spill down my cheeks as people passed me by. Like a small woman vomiting with tears running down her face against the building was a normal occurrence in the middle of Chicago. I wanted out of this city. I wanted to go home. I wanted to curl up in a bed and dig myself into the warm, soft sheets and sleep all of this away.

I wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and my body leapt into action. I whirled around and sunk my hands into the chest of the person behind me, shoving as hard as I could. But I shoved them so hard I lost my balance and went tumbling into them. Their arms wrapped around me as I clenched the fabric of their shirt. But I didn’t stop hitting them.

I didn’t stop beating my fist against the force trapping me against the wall.

“Leave me alone. I’m calling the cops,” I said.

“Joanna. Joanna. Stop. Look at me.”

His voice hit my ears and as my eyes fluttered up to him.

“Robert?” I asked.

Anger boiled in my veins. I had no idea how this man had found me, but I didn't want to be anywhere near him. I planted my fist back into his chest and braced my knees, then shoved him as hard as I could. He took a step back and I turned to leave, but his hand slipped into mine and twirled me back into him.

“You have to come with me,” Robert said.

“Are you certifiable?” I asked.

“I know you’re upset and you have every right to be. I know you’re scared and you have every reason. But if you come with me, I’ll explain everything.”

“I’m getting away from you. All of you. Who the hell are you?” I asked.

“I’ll answer any question you have. All of them. Multiple times. But you’re not safe here and you have to come with me.”

“Like I had to go to New York with you?”

“Please, Joanna.”

I looked into his eyes and saw a desperation in them. Gone was the stoic look and the stern brow and the cheeky little grin that boasted of his ability to get what he wanted. All of it was gone, and in its place was a look of worry, fear, and relief.

And every single thing was tainted with desperation.

I looked behind him, taking in the car sitting at the curbside. The interior was a lit up with every light the car had. Like Robert knew I would have been trapped in the dark. I didn’t understand how he could know something like that. I didn’t understand the conversation I had overheard. One moment I was wanting Robert to rescue me, and the next I was wanting him to play in traffic.

I didn't want to go with him. I didn't want to get in that car and go wherever he was going to take me. I wanted to go back to my hotel room and call Lacey so I go celebrate with her like I should have. Surround myself with people like I should have. Keep myself out of harm’s way like I should have been able to.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you. That’s all I’m asking,” Robert said.

He helped me into the car before we took off from the curb. I pressed myself as close to the doors I can get, putting space between Robert and I. I have slept with him. Just the other night I have given myself over to him completely. Trusting him with my body and allowing him to lay next to me all through the night.

A stranger. Whose child I was carrying.

What the hell was I thinking?

“Joanna?”

“What?” I asked.

“Are you thirsty? I have some water if you are.”

I slowly panned my gaze over to him as a breathless giggle fell from my lips.

“No, I’m not thirsty,” I said.

“Hungry?” Robert asked

“No!”

“Tired?”

“Yes… but that’s beside the point,” I said.

“Then what is the point?”

“What is the point? Robert… why the hell does someone want to hurt me because of you?”

“We’ll talk when we get back to the apartment,” he said.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to hiss. I wanted to beat my fists against his chest until he answered my question. That was the deal. I got in this car with him and he answered all of my questions. Well that was my first question and he was still putting me off?

I turned my entire body towards him, bracing myself for another fight. But his eyes locked onto mine and the sadness in my soul gripped my heart.

The sorrow dripping from his eyes was enough to get me to back off.