“Not glad to have you back, boss,” Rachel says as I pass her desk. “Now how will I file and paint my nails at my desk?”

I give her my largest grin.

“That happy to see me?” she asks.

“Nope,” I tell her. “This smile is all about Savannah.”

Rachel smiles. “She’s too good for you.”

“Let’s hope she never figures that out,” I tell her, walking into my office.

My face has been split in a smile since this morning. Through my shower, getting dressed, and driving to work. No, our threat isn’t gone. It’s breathing so closely down our necks, I feel it, but I’m committed to telling Savannah I love her today. I wanted to blurt it out after she gave me the best blowjob of my life, but I stopped just before it slipped past my lips. I didn’t want to even chance her thinking I was telling her because she sank to her knees before me. She’s worth so much more than that.

I send Savannah a message.

I stare at my screen, expecting the text bubbles to pop up, but they don’t. I sigh, keeping my phone on my desk, eagerly awaiting her reply. I start to go through the files that have been piling up on my desk in my absence this week. I grin when my phone vibrates across the desk. I pick it up and turn it over, looking at the screen.

My heart races seeing Savannah’s name. I swipe across the screen.

My phone clatters to the desk when I see the image with one word. “Fuck!”

I bring the screen back to myself, not wanting to believe I saw what I did. Rachel comes crashing into my office. I hear her speaking, but I don’t register the words.

The photo on my screen is worse than my worst nightmare. My heart stops beating, my blood freezes over as I become a statue of a man. My grip is so tight on the phone, I’m surprised the screen hasn’t shattered. Rachel is still speaking, trying to get my attention, but all I hear is a dull roar. It isn’t a moment later that I realize it is me roaring.

The woman I am endlessly in love with and my baby sister stare at me through the screen. A man stands between them. His face is not shown. I know it’s him. Aiden. He has a gun pointed at each of their heads. A simple word is below the image.

Choose.

* * *

That fucking, spineless bastard. I will destroy him. The ice in my veins melts in the place of the fire now coursing through me. I take a few deep breaths, making a plan. I scroll through my contacts until I find the name I’m looking for. As I listen to it ringing, I scribble two numbers on a Post-it, handing it to Rachel.

I will never choose, I will never have to choose. I’m getting both of them out of there. Then, I will gut him like the pig he is. He’ll never be a thought in their heads again after I am done with him. I choose them both, I will not play into his little games. I’ll find him, destroy him, and bring them home safely. I’m burning to tear the bastard apart. I want to feel his blood spraying on my skin when I rip his heart from his chest, smashing it beneath my boot.

I hold up my finger to Rachel when he answers the phone.

“Wells.”

Maddox Wells. Hudson’s brother and the only family member to break tradition and not join the family business. Maddox makes his own set of rules, able to find the gray and toe the line to his advantage.

“Maddox, it’s Liam Adler. My girl’s ex kidnapped her and my sister. I don’t give a shit what laws you have to break, trace her phone. The bastard just sent me a message from Savannah’s phone.”

“He has Olivia?”

Most people would feel terror over his tone that just seeped through the line. I relish in it, knowing it will fuel him to help me find Savannah and Olivia. Maddox and Olivia dated in high school. He broke up with her before he left for his service, not wanting her to put her life on hold. I’m not sure he’s ever gotten over her.

“Give me the number,” he demands.

I rattle off Savannah’s number. “Find it fast, call me back.” I hang up the phone, grabbing my keys. “Call those numbers and tell them to meet me at the gym.”

Rachel’s eyes are wide and shiny with tears, but she doesn’t ask questions. She follows me out of my office, already dialing by the time I get to the stairway. I run as fast as I can down the flight of stairs, peeling out of the parking lot not even thirty seconds later. I call James as I’m racing toward his gym.

When he answers, I grind out, “He took her. He also took my sister. I’m on my way. Hudson and Josh are meeting us at the gym.”

James doesn’t answer before hanging up the phone. I know he’s going to the locked room at the very back of the gym and loading up on weapons. One night while Savannah and I were working out, he pulled me aside. He asked if I knew how to shoot. I assured him I did and told him I’ve been carrying every time we left the house.

He had pulled me into the back room, showing me his massive collection of weapons. Guns, rifles, shotguns, knives, brass knuckles. He looked like he was ready for war. His collection could outfit an entire militia.

I whip into a parking spot, seeing Josh and Hudson pull in at the same time.

“What’s going on?” Josh asks.

I don’t answer, just nod toward the inside of the gym. I walk straight to the back, knocking on the locked door. James pushes it open a second later, and we all slip inside.

“What the fuck?” Josh and Hudson both say.

I turn toward Josh. “When was the last time you spoke with Olivia?”

“This morning after she dropped Tanner off at daycare.”

Relief washes over me that Tanner is safe at his school, unaware that his mother is in danger.

“Savannah has a psychotic ex-boyfriend who was recently released from prison after he attacked her several years ago. He kidnapped her and Olivia this morning,” I tell him as calmly as possible.

His face drains of all color, eyes widening in shock. “What the fuck do you mean?”

I tell him everything I know. I try not to show him the picture, knowing that it will be burned into his retinas for the rest of his life, just like it is in mine. It won’t matter when I have Savannah wrapped back in my arms, safe. The image of her beaten and crying with a pistol aimed at her head will surely greet me each time I close my eyes.

“I have Maddox searching for her phone. It’s obvious they’re in a warehouse.”

James pipes up. “We’re loading up then driving through the warehouse district. I called some of my contacts to see if they’ve noticed any usual activity.”

“What contacts?” Hudson asks, still bewildered by the scenario playing out. His face is still in shock, but he’s grabbing rifles and ammo. His brother is the one who served, but he’s a skilled marksman, as well. He was on the shooting team in high school, excelled at hitting distant targets.

James shakes his head. “No one you would dare to know. They’ll let me know if they see anything happening. They have eyes everywhere.”

No one questions him further. I tell Josh, “We’re going to get them back.”

“You’re fucking right we are. If he hurts her or my baby, I will massacre him.”

“Get in line,” I tell him. “I know Savannah will do everything in her power to keep Olivia safe.” I pray that while she’s keeping her safe, she watches and takes care of her own life, too. I shake my head. There is no other option than returning perfectly intact. I will accept nothing less.

“Let’s go,” James calls, moving a shelf aside,that leads to a hidden back exit.

“What the fuck?” Hudson mutters under his breath.