The next morning, I stretched luxuriously, my limbs loose and relaxed. And then I remembered: there were only three days left before we had to meet Li Na’s henchmen. I rolled over and found Lauren curled into a ball on her side, in a deep sleep. My heart clenched, seeing her like that—peaceful, oblivious.

My phone buzzed with a text from Olivia. Call me when you have a second, it read. We need to talk.

I slipped out of bed and went into the suite’s main living space, calling her immediately. “What’s going on?”

She sighed. “I really don’t want to get into specifics, but I don’t feel right keeping this from you. I couldn’t sleep. Some of the other distributors know now…and I wasn’t the one who told them.”

I steeled myself for the worst. “I’m listening.”

“If I tell you this, I need something in exchange…something to protect myself and my company if this comes back to me. Can you do that?”

Of course, she wanted something. Olivia wasn’t someone who played nice without some benefit to herself. “What are you looking for?”

“You can’t make promises about the patch right now, but I know you’re working on some new initiatives. I want to know that I’ll get exclusive distribution rights for those in Great Britain.”

“You’re asking me for speculative distribution rights? On technology I haven’t even created yet?”

“Yes. I know that Dynamica will still be working with Paragon in the future—or at least, with Lauren Taylor. That’s all the guarantee I need to know it will be great.”

Her Highness’s magic had struck again. All Olivia wanted was the imprimatur of Lauren’s brilliance—that was enough. “Done. Now tell me what you know.”

“I can’t give you a name. But I will tell you that my source was someone internal—someone at Paragon.”

I felt my blood pressure spiking. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”

“Someone on the board. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

I gripped the phone so hard, it should’ve shattered. “That’s a good enough place for me to start. Thank you, Olivia. Who else knows?”

She sighed. “The rep from Belgium called me, and Doug from Australia. They aren’t happy with the news.”

Just fucking perfect. In addition to the personal crisis we were experiencing, a global one was about to hit.

I gathered myself together. “I’ll have my legal team draw up an exclusivity agreement for forthcoming intellectual property rights in the UK.”

“I appreciate that.”

I’m sure she did. People wanted any association with Lauren that they could brush up against. I hung up and paced the room, seething. Someone on her board had betrayed Lauren. Probably in an attempt to thwart the sale and hang on to the company, but still, it was an unauthorized attempt.

I was going to have to call a board meeting, and I might have to employ some questionable tactics. The list of people’s asses I needed to kick was growing. Good thing I had plenty of pent-up rage—it’d probably come in handy.

“Gabe.” Lauren shot out of the bedroom, looking agitated. “Who was that?”

“Do you remember what I told you about my UK distributor? That someone had leaked news of the sale?”

Lauren nodded, seeming distracted. “Yes, of course. What about it?”

“She just called me. It was…someone from your board.”

She cursed and dropped into a nearby chair, her hands curling into fists. “This is literally the last thing I need right now.”

I went over and rubbed her shoulders. “I can handle this, if you want. It’s Dynamica’s problem too.”

She nodded shakily. “Okay…okay. I appreciate that. I can’t take on a single other thing right now.” Her gaze flicked to mine briefly. “Just keep me posted, okay?”

“Of course.” The fact that she wasn’t fighting me set off an alarm in my head. “What’s going on?”

She put her face in her hands. “Li Na just texted me. She said she wants to do the exchange today. I need you to call your brothers.”

“Okay,” I said automatically—even though I felt like the floor was spinning beneath me and that nothing at all was okay, and never would be again.

In a haze of dread, I texted my brothers and drove well over the legal speed limit on the ride home. We were moving fast, but everything felt slow, as if I were having a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Our brief break from reality was ending too soon. Lauren had been silent since we’d packed up, her lips pressed together in a grim line. I put my hand on her thigh, already apprehensive about the possibility of being separated from her. “Why is she doing this? Why is she changing the timeframe?”

Lauren fidgeted next to me. “I don’t know—maybe she doesn’t want me to have enough time to prepare, or to get backup prepared.”

“What’d the text say?”

“She just gave me the address in Oakland again, and she reiterated that I have to come by myself.” She stole a glance at me. “Do you understand that I need to follow her instructions?”

Anxiety rolled through me. “I understand that we need to get Hannah out of there, and that you need to be safe.”

She put her hand over mine. “Are you going to be okay?”

I kept my eyes on the road. “Of course. Because nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Everything is going to be okay because Hannah is coming home today,” Lauren said, “and because I love you. You know that, right?”

I tore my eyes from the road just long enough to glare at her. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Act like you might not come back. I will lock you up before I let that happen, babe.”

“You have to stop threatening me—you need to be an adult about this. I will do everything in my power to make this go smoothly. But Hannah comes first.” Her voice broke. “Do you understand?”

“I understand. Do you understand that I can’t live without you?”

“I can’t live without you either.”

“Great. Then it’s settled—you’re not going.”

“Yes, I am—”

My phone rang, interrupting us. Levi’s voice boomed through the Bluetooth speaker. “Are you guys almost here? We have a lot to go through.”

“Lauren’s not cooperating,” I said.

“Gabe’s not listening to me, and you need to do something about it!” Lauren snapped.

“Let’s get one thing clear,” Levi said, sounding as if he were an exhausted parent about to ground the both of us. “I am running this operation today, and you both need to do what I say. And right now I say, shut it. This is a big day, and I understand that there’s a lot of anxiety—but we’re going to bring Hannah home and give you both some options for dealing with Zhao going forward. So stop fighting and get back here.”

He hung up and I got off the exit, closing in on home. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

“So don’t.” Lauren’s voice was hoarse.

Was it only hours ago that I’d held her in my arms, our bodies completely entwined, as close as I’d ever been to anyone? And now, the space between us felt impenetrable, as though she were in another country rather than sitting right next to me.

I put my hand over hers, trying to close the distance.

* * *

LAUREN

I got another text from Li Na as we pulled up to Gabe’s house.

Please remember to bring your passport, clothing, computer, and passcodes, it read. NO WEAPONS. No other electronics. If anyone else is at the site, this transaction will not occur.

My nerves, already stretched thin, were fraying. “I got another text.”

Gabe threw the car into Park and reached for my phone. He read it silently, the expression on his face tightly controlled. He handed the phone back to me and stared straight ahead.

“Gabe. Please, look at me.”

He didn’t move. “I can’t do this.”

“Just come inside. Let’s go talk to Levi…everything’s going to be okay.”

He nodded, clearly not wanting to fight. He even held my hand as we walked inside, but it felt leaden and cold beneath my fingertips.

I didn’t want to do this to him—to us. But my sister…

Levi and Ash were inside, as antsy as I’d ever seen them. “I didn’t get any leads last night,” Ash said immediately. “I didn’t have time. So we’re going into this cold, which is fine, but it isn’t what I wanted.”

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I appreciate that you tried. Li Na just texted me again.” I gave him my phone.

Levi and Ash read the text from earlier and the most recent one, then glanced at each other. “It’s Sunday, so the office park we’re meeting at is closed today. Today might be a better day.”

The look they exchanged told me it could also be a worse one, but I didn’t say anything.

Levi put his hands on my shoulders, gently. “Your job today is to get Hannah into your car and get out of there. I’m going to have a dozen armed men watching—we’ll have your back.”

I nodded, pretending I wasn’t scared shitless. “Okay. Got it.”

Levi turned to Ash. “Call Agent Marks and let him know what’s going on. Ask him to meet us there soon—I don’t want to wait too long, in case there’s some sort of surprise.” He turned back to me and Gabe. “We’re going to get packed up and head to the site. I want to go over the directives with you before I leave. Do you want to come with us, Gabe? I can’t have you at the actual site, but you can stay nearby.”

Gabe didn’t blink. “I’m going with Lauren.”

“You can’t,” Levi said. “You read the texts. We can’t compromise Hannah’s safety.”

I reached out and covered Gabe’s hand with mine. “Go with your brothers—which is more dangerous than I can even stand. If I had my way, I’d have you go into the office today.”

“You’re talking to me about danger?” Gabe pulled away. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go by yourself!”

“We need to get going.” Levi, clearly uncomfortable, stood to go. “Lauren, I’ll call you from the site and we’ll go through every detail. Gabe—you sure you don’t want to come?”

Gabe didn’t look at him. “I’ll call you in a little bit.”

I waited until Levi had escaped to start yelling. “Gabe, you can’t do this.”

“I can’t let you get kidnapped is what I can’t do!”

“That’s not going to happen—I won’t be by myself, and you know it. Levi and Ash will be there with a whole team. And the FBI.” My stomach rolled when I thought about how far we were straying from Li Na’s directives. “We’re already compromising Hannah’s safety. Please let this go.”

“You think I can just let you go? And hope you live long enough to get dropped off at home afterward?” He leaned back against the counter and glowered at me. “You’re not doing this to me again.”

“You’re right—I’m not!”

“We got lucky in Menlo Park—lucky that Timmy was strong enough to break that guard’s neck!”

“Stop. Just…stop.” Exasperation bubbled inside me, and I fought to calm down. I didn’t have the strength to fight him at every turn. “I’m not doing anything, except exactly what your security team’s telling me to do! I know you just want to protect me, and I love you for it. But love me enough to trust me. Please.”

“I’ve gotten burned by that before. Several times, babe.” His voice had a dangerous edge.

He wasn’t budging an inch, and it felt as though I were slamming my head into a brick wall by continuing to argue with him. “I understand your position,” I finally said. That was as close as I could come to a compromise.

“Then accept it. I’m not staying here while you go meet with Li Na’s armed guards. Not. Going. To. Happen.”

I considered slamming into the Brick Wall of Gabe one last time, but I needed to conserve my energy for Hannah’s sake. “Fine. You can follow me to Oakland—but only if that’s okay with Levi, and only if you pull off way before we get to that office park. Wait for me there. And you have to bring guards.” The last thing I wanted was Li Na’s henchmen getting their hands on Gabe.

He scrubbed his hands against his stubble. “That’s not good enough.”

“It’s going to have to be good enough! Your brothers and a whole SWAT team are going to be there, watching, waiting for something to go wrong. I’m already compromising Hannah’s safety. You can’t keep pushing me.” I buried my face in my hands, shaking with anger. At Gabe. At myself. At Li Na. Fucking Li Na.

Maybe I would be able to live with myself if I ordered a hit on her.

Gabe came closer, pulling me to him. We were both angry, but we still clung to each other.

“I’ll call Levi and talk to him about it. But you have to promise me, Lauren.”

I buried my face in his chest. “Promise you what?”

“That you’re going to be in that car when it comes back.” He tilted my face up farther toward his. “Say it.”

I took a shaky breath. “I promise.” The last thing on earth I wanted was to lose Gabe. But my sister… If it came down to it, I would never leave her.

I looked at the man I loved. He was trusting me, again, to come back to him.

And I could see in his face it was against his better judgment.

“Call Levi. If he says yes to this, fine. Otherwise, go meet them now.”

Gabe went to call his brother. The phone call was brief. “He said it was okay, but I have to stay at least a mile away.”

“Did you agree?”

“I’m not happy about it, but yes.”

I wasn’t happy about it either—for a different reason—but I kept my mouth shut.

The rest of the morning passed in a slow blur. There were phone calls from Levi and Ash, maps to review, contraband weapons to pack. Fears to ignore. Finally, it was time to go. Timmy and the rest of our security team headed outside, assembling the vehicles and finalizing plans.

“Ms. Taylor.” Timmy nodded at me. “Please be safe.”

Touched, I patted his hand. “I will.” I moved closer. “Please try to keep Gabe in line.”

Good thing Timmy wore his wraparound sunglasses—he probably rolled his eyes.

I got into the driver’s seat of my sedan—an odd sensation. I could drive competently, but I’d become accustomed to having someone else behind the wheel.

Gabe closed the door for me, then leaned down. “I’ll be waiting for you. You be in that car. You come back to me.”

I grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him close. “I’ll always come back to you. You have the best wine. And the best—”

“Push-button fireplaces, I know.” He smiled at me, and for a moment, the dark worry abated and his eyes sparkled with their normal warmth and humor. “Not to mention that you love me and can’t live without me.”

Our eyes locked. “I do love you.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, clearly trying to lighten the mood for a moment. “I know. You especially love me for my body.”

“Gabe,” I hissed, looking around, “stop.”

“Fine, but you know it’s true. By the way, babe—I love you too. And not just for that hot little body of yours.” He kissed me, briefly and intensely. It made me dizzy.

When he stood back up, all the humor drained from his face. He was strictly business, pale but still incredibly gorgeous beneath his scruff. “Stick to the plan, Lauren. Get Hannah to the car, and then let Levi take care of the rest. The only reason I’ve agreed to this is because I trust my brothers. They’re the best. I trust them with your life.”

I nodded. My palms were slick with sweat against the steering wheel. “I’ll see you soon. With Hannah.”

He looked miserable. “Come back to me.”

“I will. I promise.”

Gabe nodded and took a step back, his gaze never leaving mine. I finally turned away, hating to leave him, and put the car into Drive.