Patty’s penthouse was full of guests mingling and enjoying the baby games. Bridget and I were throwing a baby shower for my twin sister, Patty, and her husband, Sam, before they left to go to Shialia. Patty and I were the children of King William of Shialia. When Patty went rogue trying to figure out what my ex-husband had been doing, she found her future husband. Now, we were all waiting to find out if they were having a boy or girl, so the theme of the party was rubber duckies.

Our friend CJ sat down next to me on the plush black couch. “How are you doing with Patty leaving?”

“I’m fine,” I said. But it was a lie.

My father had demanded that his first grandchild be born in Shialia, so Sam and Patty planned on leaving this afternoon for a six-month trip during which Sam would work on learning more about my home country. In about ten years, Patty and Sam would be crowned King and Queen. Until then, they would assist in the everyday operations.

“Hey, sis. How are you doing?” Patty asked, sitting down on my other side. She was resting her hands on the slight bulge on her stomach. I looked over to see Brock and Sam standing out on the patio. Even though Sam was outside, he still had an eye on Patty. Sam looked to be in intense conversation with Brock.

“Good. Are you enjoying the party?”

I was lying again. I hadn’t been doing well for the last few months. I felt like I was losing my mind. Things kept changing places in my house. When I was driving, I felt like someone was following me. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. I didn’t want to worry Patty or Sam. They had a lot going on already.

Maybe once Patty and Sam were in Shialia, I’d ask Brock to analyze the security footage of my house. I had looked at the video after some of my clothes went missing, but I couldn’t find where it happened. It seemed someone had tampered with the video.

But now was not the time to worry about how my refrigerator reorganized itself or how my clothes went missing or were misplaced. This party was about Patty and Sam.

“I wish you would come with us. I’ll miss you,” Patty whined.

Patty had been begging me to come with her, but I wasn’t ready to face that demon yet. Ten years ago, a group of terrorists led by a man named Axmed had kidnapped and tortured me for a week before my father’s men could find me. Axmed and his men thought they had captured Patty, the future queen. Once he learned they had the wrong heir, they tortured me, trying to get my father to hand over either Patty or a massive amount of cash.

The clicking noise from Patty’s tongue brought me out of the depressing memory. I looked over to see Patty glowing. Her blond hair brushed against her shoulders, and she was wearing a cute sunflower sundress. She hadn’t dyed her hair since finding out she was pregnant, and it was strange to see her with the same hair color as mine.

I shrugged, not wanting to admit I was too scared to go back to Shialia, even though my original attacker was still in prison. “I’ll consider coming when you’re closer to your due date.” It was the same statement I’d made a hundred times. She knew I was blowing smoke up her ass.

The chance of being kidnapped once was one in six hundred ten thousand. I couldn’t find the statistics of being captured twice, but I knew the chances were extremely low. I just wasn’t ready to face the fear. I still had nightmares about it and suspected they would get worse if I went back.

Wanting to change the subject, I said, “Did you know babies born in May are, on average, heavier than babies born in any other month?”

“Thanks for letting me know how fat I’ll get. Don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject. I’ll let it go for now. Just so you know, Brock said he would travel with you if you decide to come to Shialia.”

Just the thought of Brock sent shivers down my spine and straight to my clit. I looked out the window to see him staring right back at me. His hazel eyes were captivating.

Patty pushed my shoulder to get my attention.

“You should ask him out,” Bridget said, sitting in the white recliner next to the couch. Bridget was Patty’s boss and married to my boss, Alex. She was holding their first baby, Alonzo.

I would admit nothing, so I played dumb. “Who?”

Bridget burst out laughing and flung her head back. I didn’t think it was that funny or that it was obvious I had a thing for Brock. I couldn’t imagine any sane, healthy gal wouldn’t have the hots for him. The man was drop-dead gorgeous. Over the past few months, he’d starred in all my fantasies.

“We all know you’re lusting after Brock. Why don’t you ask him out?” CJ said.

“We’re at Patty’s baby shower, not an intervention about my sex life.”

Bridget moved Alonzo to her other arm. “Well, I need some grown-up talk. It seems all I do anymore is talk about babies. Don’t get me wrong. I love this little guy.” She gave Alonzo a kiss on the head. “But back to your sex life. We can’t have an intervention about your sex life because you don’t have one.”

“The divorce hasn’t even been final for a year. Worse yet, my ex hasn’t even been in the ground for a year, and you want me to find a new sex partner?” My ex, Doug, had been cheating on me for the past year. I was working on the divorce when Patty caught him with another woman at Sam’s BDSM club. The separation sent him over the edge. He kidnapped Patty and tried to get money from her. Sam ended up killing him.

“Yes!” CJ and Bridget yelled at the same time.

“You guys are ridiculous. I need to start working on the cake.” I got up to walk away, but Patty’s words stopped me in my tracks.

“He watches you when you aren’t looking, you know. He asks me every day how you are doing, even though he spends half his time as your bodyguard.”

I continued into the kitchen and pulled out a multilayered Reese’s peanut butter cake. Between each layer was a row of Reese’s peanut butter cups. The frosting was chocolate and peanut butter and had Reese’s crumbled on top. When I opened the freezer to pull out the ice cream, I couldn’t find it. I looked through all the shelves, but it wasn’t there.

Patty and Bridget were still in the living room playing with Alonzo when I walked back in. “Hey, guys. I’m going to run to the store quick to pick up ice cream. Do you need anything else?”

Patty shook her head. “Make sure you take one of the guys with you.”

I ignored Patty’s request. We’d all had bodyguards since Patty’s kidnapping. My ex was in the grave, along with Patty’s crazy friend. The tabloids still hadn’t made a big deal over my identity. There was no reason to ask one of the men to go along. I was running to the store by myself, dammit. It was only a few miles away.

I grabbed my phone and purse and headed down the elevator. My black Lexus SUV was waiting in the front spot next to Patty’s Range Rover. I jumped in the SUV and took the first right to exit out of the garage, waving at the guard on the way out.

The streets were quiet for a Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d driven myself somewhere without a bodyguard. Enjoying my freedom, I chose to take the scenic route. In the marshy grass, I spotted a mamma alligator basking in the sun next to her baby.

Needing a few more minutes to myself, I turned down a road that led to a nature preserve.

I noticed a black Escalade in my rearview mirror. The windows looked tinted. The driver wore a hat pulled down low, covering their face. The Escalade was going faster than it should be on the back roads and was getting closer and closer. I sped up. Clicking the hands-free button on my steering wheel, I called the first person who popped into my head.

“Where are you, Jessica?” Brock answered. “You aren’t supposed to leave without so—”

“Shut up! I need help.”

The vehicle was getting closer. I sped up, and the Escalade followed by increasing its speed. It was riding my bumper.

“What’s going on?” I could hear the panic in Brock’s voice.

I looked in the review mirror and saw the Escalade right on my tail. I pushed the gas down. Glancing at the speedometer, I noticed my speed was close to seventy on a forty-mile-an-hour road. Where were the police when you needed them? Law enforcement issued close to one hundred twenty thousand tickets a day. I would gladly take one if they could get the maniac off my butt.

The vehicle behind me smacked my bumper, causing my Lexus to lurch forward. I put my foot down on the gas, hoping I could outrun the Escalade.

“Someone is trying to run me off the road.”

“Slow down and see if they’ll pass you. It’s probably someone with road rage.”

“They hit my fucking bumper. Did you know that, in a seven-year study, there were over two hundred murders associated directly with road rage? Let’s hope it’s not road rage and that they leave me alone.”

“This is not the time for a fact check. Where are you?” Brock yelled at Neal to pull up the traffic cameras. “Do you see any turns ahead of you?”

Turning my attention back to the road, I looked for a turnoff. “Yes, in about a hundred feet.”

“Take it. Decrease your speed as much as possible, and take the corner wide,” Brock demanded.

The turn was fast approaching. I slowed down. The Escalade behind me was catching up. I braced myself and took the corner faster than I had ever done before. The wheels on the right side left the road, and I heard a screeching sound from the tires on the left. I made it around the corner, and my Lexus dropped back to four wheels.

“I made it!” I shouted, not sure if I was telling Brock or myself.

On the other end of the phone, I heard a sigh of relief. “Did they follow you?”

I peered into the review mirror. The Escalade had turned and was catching up again.

“Yes.”

“Neal hacked into the cameras. I need you to tell me where you are.”

“I took the scenic r—”

The Escalade hit my right rear fender, causing my Lexus to swerve to the left. My front tire got caught on the uneven pavement on the shoulder of the road, causing my vehicle to flip.

I couldn’t hear Brock anymore over the deafening sound of crunching metal. Glass flew into the car, and I could feel the shards hitting my skin. In the first roll, I knocked my head on the roof. In the second, I felt my right arm snap. The pain was intense. By the third time the car flipped, I knew I was going to die.

“Brock, please find me,” I whispered before the lights went dark.