Kara tugged the top of her strapless A-line wedding gown for the hundredth time. The dress was too large and kept slipping down. She pulled the veil out of her hair and chucked it across the room. Weddings were supposed to be the happiest day of a girl’s life.

This wasn’t her happily-ever-after. She was signing her death warrant.

She needed to find a way out of the wedding.

She still hadn’t been given the opportunity to talk to her father. Was he dead? Glancing at the mirror, she thought the light bruising around her neck was a clear sign that she was dealing with a ruthless man, as if his actions hadn’t been enough. Really, all he’d had to do was say his last name to convince her he was ruthless. Nobody with a working brain cell dealt with that family.

Fuck. How had her dad gotten messed up with the mob? And on top of that, the Nikitovich family? She had recognized the name the second it had left his lips. The previous year, Rovshan’s father’s trial had been in the news. He was charged with two hundred counts of human trafficking. The family had been kidnapping women who were on vacation in Las Vegas and selling them on the dark web. They also kidnapped kids and teenagers.

The famous crime family had taken a large hit. Half of the men they had working for them were being tried in the trafficking case. Rovshan had been in Russia for the last few years, so the FBI hadn’t found any evidence that Rovshan was involved in the trafficking. Last she heard, Rovshan’s father had been sentenced to life in prison, and he had taken over the family.

Yep, she was marrying the man in charge of the Nikitovich family. With a grunt, she flopped into the white chair. She felt numb.

A memory of earlier that morning filtered through her mind. Grayson would know how to handle a situation like this. He would use his massive arms to take Rovshan down. Those arms were drool-worthy. Grayson was nothing like the man she was being forced to marry. He was a monster.

Mom had always said that monsters got what was coming to them. She could only hope that the monster in the adjoining room would get what was coming to him in the next thirty minutes.

Kara glanced around the room, looking for anything she could use to escape. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something shiny under the espresso vanity. The hairdresser from earlier must have dropped the scissors—either on accident or on purpose.

The hairdresser had been shoved into the room and told to get Kara’s hair done in thirty minutes, or they would kill her. She had been shaking so fiercely while styling Kara’s hair that Kara had doubted she could finish the task. But she managed to style Kara’s hair into an elegant updo while tears ran down her rosy cheeks. She must have known Kara was being held against her will and so left Kara the scissors in sympathy.

A new wave of hope soared through Kara for the first time since she had been grabbed. If she survived, she was going to track down the tall hunk from the airplane and ask him out. Too bad the men took her suitcase and purse and she no longer had his number.

Kara needed to get the door open and get the hell out of the church before she was wed. She wondered why Rovshan was going through with a church wedding. When he said they would get married, Kara thought they would head to the clerk of court. Instead, they drove an hour from Bozeman to a town called Eagle Ridge. Her family ranch, Montana Gold, was only fifteen minutes from Eagle Ridge.

Listening to make sure no one was walking down the hall, Kara tested the door handle, hoping the last thug had left the door unlocked. The doorknob didn’t move. She reached to grab the veil lying on the floor. On the end of the veil was a thin barrette that could use to pry the lock back.

She slipped the barrette into the space between the doorframe and the door. A minute later, Kara heard the click of the door release and let out the breath she’d been holding. When she didn’t hear footsteps or voices, she peeked her head out the door and looked each way down the hall. The coast was clear, so she worked her way out the bridal suite door.

Kara hugged the wall as she tiptoed down the hallway, trying not to make a noise. The rustling of her skirt echoed through the hall with each step forward. When she passed the room two doors down from hers, she heard men’s voices. At the sound of her name, she stopped.

“Kara has no clue what she’s been sitting on since her mom died. Her father has kept her in the dark for years. That old man couldn’t care less what happens to her as long as he gets his payday.”

Kara thought she recognized the voice on the other side of the wall. It was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she knew it from.

Rovshan’s voice came in response. “Time for you to head out. We don’t want anyone seeing you here. Use the back door.”

Kara heard footsteps heading away from the door she was standing at and breathed a little easier. Nevertheless, she gripped the scissors tighter in her right hand and prepared for anything that might come.

The familiar voice spoke again. “Good doing business with you, Mr. Nikitovich. I will be at the meeting point around nine tonight.”

She heard a door close. Kara was frustrated that she couldn’t place the familiar voice, but she focused on the continuing conversation.

“You know, boss, she is a pretty lady. Maybe you should keep her around longer than you planned.”

“Yeah, she is a hot piece of ass. I was thinking about keeping her around for a few weeks to get my rocks off. Maybe let the team have their way with her. At least I’m not marrying some old hag. I would rather have kept her on the side for a few years, but the only way I can get my hands on the land is to marry her. And to top it off, there are stipulations about the wedding day.”

Why does he think I have any land? Maybe he has the wrong person.

“I want you and Bennie to go to the meeting point at nine tonight and take that man out. After I’m married to Kara, we won’t need him any longer.”

“Are you going to tell her about…”

Gripping the scissors in her right hand, Kara leaned in closer to the door to make sure she heard what Rovshan was about to say. The bustle of the wedding dress knocked against the door, causing a creaking noise to echo through the hallway.

“Who’s out there?”

Loud footsteps echoed on the other side of the door. Not waiting to see who was coming, Kara gripped her bustle with one hand and the scissors in the other and took off as fast as her short legs would go. She made it to the first turn, and though Rovshan and his men were coming after her, his footsteps were still a few feet behind her.

The church’s front doors were in sight, or she could go left and look for her father, though she had a feeling he was already gone. But there wasn’t time to get her dad at the moment. Regardless of whether he’d gotten her into this situation, Kara would find a way to save him. At least, hopefully, she could save him.

Kara looked over her shoulder to see if they were getting close. Rovshan was only a few steps behind her. Her heart was pounding with fear of what he might do if he caught her. She pumped her arms, trying to run as fast as she could, but a hand wrapped around her hair, jerked her head back, and caused her to stumble back into Rovshan’s arms.

She kicked her leg back, hoping to connect with his groin. When she missed, he tightened his grip around her waist. He was holding her so tight that she couldn’t get a breath. Not wasting any more time, Kara swung her arm downward, praying the scissors would impact the man somewhere. She heard him grunt in pain, and he loosened his hold.

Kara used that opportunity to get loose. She didn’t wait to see how badly he was hurt. The shouts of Rovshan’s men were getting louder. Kara yanked the only weapon she had out of Rovshan’s leg. The heavy footsteps of the guards were getting closer. The doors to the outside world were less than ten feet away. Using as much energy as she had, she forced herself to keep running at full speed. When she made it to the front door, she threw it open with all her weight.

There was no time to ponder her next move. She was covered in blood from stabbing Rovshan in the leg, and it had soaked into her dress. She knew that the moment he found her, he would kill her. There was no going back from stabbing the leader of the Nikitovich family.

Kara dashed down the stairs then took a left and ran down the street. The pavement tore her bare feet with each step. When the first shot sounded behind her, she ran in a zigzag motion. She spotted a Ford F150 parked at the red light. The stranger’s truck had to be better than anything behind her. She needed a ride to the police station, and then everything would be okay.

The next shot missed her by a sliver. She could feel the air swoosh next to her head. The windows to the truck were down. She didn’t have time to ask for a ride. Reaching through the window, she pulled the lever to the door and hoisted her fifteen-pound dress into the truck.

The bustle of the dress was so large that it was a challenge to close the door. Kara didn’t have time to look at the driver. She turned in the seat to see if Rovshan’s thugs were still chasing her. The moment she turned around, one of the thugs raised his gun. She could see his finger squeezing the trigger of the 9mm.

“Go!” she screamed.

Another shot rang through the air, breaking the back window.