Ella told herself not to panic as she walked toward the bathroom.

It wouldn’t be fair to say she had relaxed, because she hadn’t, but the wine had worked to take the edge off her nerves. She was tempted to drink more. To have enough wine that she’d stop thinking and feeling. Get that hazy feeling going, so that tomorrow when she woke up she’d have a headache to focus on, instead of other things.

She used the bathroom and then took out her cellphone. She needed to make sure her online presence was still functioning. She checked the blog and then her ConnectU profile to ensure she had posts scheduled for the next few days. She left the stall and went to the mirror. She looked at herself, hating the colored contacts and dyed hair in that moment. Her entire life she had always been running and changing, and tonight was no different.

She splashed some water on her face and turned just as the stall door opened behind her. It was Kaylee, still limping a bit from the gunshot wound in her thigh, though it had started to heal.

She stumbled on her weak leg just as the outer door opened. The man who entered had a shaved head and a tattoo that covered the left half of his face. He shoved the door open with enough force that it hit the wall hard and he headed toward her like a runaway train.

Startled, Ella fumbled in her purse for her pepper spray, spilling some of the contents on the ground as she finally found it. Her kidnapper was supposed to come in through the window from the alley.

She lifted her arm, pressing hard on the button to release the pepper spray, but it didn’t stop him as he ducked and missed the majority of the spray. His eyes were watering but he kept coming toward her. She backed up, carefully trying to keep Kaylee behind her, and when he was close enough she kicked out, aiming for his groin, but he turned so her foot just bounced off his thigh.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he said.

“Get away from me,” Ella said, letting out a loud scream. Hell, she should have done that the moment he walked in. He grabbed Ella by the waist and she twisted violently in his grip, tearing herself free and hitting the bathroom floor hard.

Her head ached. She scrambled to her feet, hearing a scuffle behind her. Kaylee was on the guy’s back and he lurched backward, hitting the wall. Ella saw her friend’s head hit the wall, and then her eyes closed and she fell off their attacker.

Ella tried to get to her friend, but the man lifted her up and this time when he tossed her over his shoulder she stayed put. Kaylee’s eyes fluttered. She hoped her friend would be okay.

She had known they were going to abduct her, but she hadn’t counted on how hard it would be to allow it. This didn’t seem like something Linc would countenance. As he started to the bathroom door, she squirmed, trying to escape. Her survival instinct wouldn’t let her just go along with this.

He clapped his hand down hard on her ass and her head hit the doorframe as he exited the bathroom. She saw stars and fought to keep from losing consciousness as he walked down the hallway. It had been dimly lit earlier but the lights were out now. She felt a blast of cold air as he stepped outside and she glanced left and right to try to figure out where she was, but she couldn’t see anything. She was dumped into the trunk of a car and her body took the impact on the same side that she’d hit when she’d been thrown to the bathroom floor.

She ached and tried to kick out as the lid to the trunk came down and she was in the dark. It was tiny and triggered all of her worst fears. She could her the rumble of men’s voices outside of the car. He hadn’t taken her purse from her, so she reached inside trying to find her cellphone, hitting the button to illuminate the interior.

She texted Kaylee that she was in the trunk of a car and had no idea where she was heading. But then the trunk opened and a bright light shone on her face. Her phone was grabbed and tossed aside, and her purse was taken too before the trunk slammed down again.

She was alone. She had the tracker that Kaylee had imbedded in her and she had to trust that the Ares Team was following her. And Linc. He was out there ready to get her from these men.

This was the plan, but she hadn’t realized it would be so violent or hurt so much. She closed her eyes and pictured the safe place she’d escaped to long ago when she’d first been brought to Diavolos’s world. It was a beach, a place she’d never visit, but had seen on a poster in the window of a travel agency when she was a child.

* * *

Mick’s tone was low and intent. “One here. I have Six, she’s injured. Your guy is out cold.”

“Two here. Dammit, I’m following Ella now,” Linc said.

He’d promised Ella he’d be the one waiting for her. He had seen the fear on her face and he wouldn’t let her down.

“Three, where is she?” he asked Cory.

“I’ve sent the location to you. Damn. I just lost her signal.”

“What does that mean?” Linc asked. “Tunnel?”

“Yeah…let me give you some options based on the last location. I’ll send it to you.”

“One here. We’ve still got Five inside, if you lose the signal. He’ll get in touch as soon as she’s there,” Mick said.

Cade had been inside of Diavolos’s operation since just after Ares Team had taken down the server farm that had given them their first clues to Diavolos’s location and identity. No one wanted to believe that Diavolos was tech billionaire Reece Hammond, but he wouldn’t be the first powerful man to have a secret life. Linc and the rest of the team needed more evidence to tie Reece positively to Diavolos.

“I promised her I’d keep her safe,” Linc said.

“We all did. We’re not going to let her down.”

“Aphrodite One here,” a female voice came over the line. It was Kendra Seville, the head of Aphrodite Team. “We’ve got a lead on the guy from the bar. We had him under surveillance for another op. Rusty Longtree. He’s a two-bit thug and enforcer for one of your enemies, Ares Two.”

Linc knew who she was talking about. Quentin. Linc should have suspected this would happen, it had been nine months since he’d been on the street as Cockram and Quentin was taking advantage of that by moving into Cockram’s operations. “Thanks. I think I know where they’re going.”

“Want us to drop back?” Kendra asked.

“Once we pick up the tail,” Mick said.

“Affirmative. Aphrodite One out,” Kendra said.

Linc made a sharp turn and headed in the opposite direction. Now that he knew who had Ella, he didn’t need Cory to send him turn-by-turn directions. Using the power of the Bentley, he drove swiftly through traffic and headed toward the warehouse he knew Quentin’s based his operations from.

He knew that Cory would be tracking both him and Ella, and that the rest of Ares Team would provide back-up.

This kind of petty, backstabbing behavior among thieves was part of the reason Diavolos had been able to flourish. Street thugs fought it out because they didn’t understand the money that could be made on the dark web.

He pulled into the parking lot and saw a battered Impala parked near the side door. He pulled his weapon, a street-enhanced semi-automatic pistol with an extended mag.

“Two. I’m going in.”

“Four here. I’m not in position yet. Give me three minutes.” Frank was still setting up.

“One?” Linc asked.

“Hold, Two,” Mick said.

“She could be—”

“We don’t deal in could be, and if you get shot or killed then we have no one on the ground. Hold.”

Hell. Linc ducked to minimize his shadow and ran toward the Impala so he could check the inside of the car. “Aphrodite One, are you in the area?”

“Affirmative,” Kendra said. “Got your back.”

“Ares One, sounds like I’m covered.”

“Go,” Mick said.

“Four here. I’m in position now as well.”

He saw movement at the edge of the building and spotted the tall, dark-haired woman dressed in leathers. She had her black hair pulled into a high ponytail. Linc moved quickly toward Kendra. “I’m going in as Cockram. I’ll slam the door and make a scene and you can move in if there are shadows.”

“Sounds like a plan. Head’s up, Rusty roughed the girl up.”

Linc shoved his rage down deep. He had a job to do. As Cockram. Cockram wouldn’t care about blood and bruises, except for how they affected his bottom line and the price he could get for Ella.

“Thanks. Moving in.”

He hit the door hard with a well-placed kick, and walked into the warehouse with his gun drawn. There were pallets stacked high with boxes and crates that provided cover for Kendra, and Linc was aware of her moving behind him to the left. He saw Quentin and three of his flunkies clustered around Ella, who was laid out on a table and looked to be unconscious.

The men had all turned when he’d kicked in the door, guns drawn. Linc didn’t hesitate to shoot the guy nearest him in the shoulder, causing his hand to open and his weapon to fall to the floor. He fired a shot at the guy next to him, who shot at Linc. The bullet grazed his shoulder and Linc was close enough to launch himself at the man and take him down to the ground. Grabbing the other man’s shoulders, he slammed him hard on the concrete floor until he stopped moving beneath him.

Linc rolled to his side and came up swinging as the last of the three men with Quentin confronted him. The guy was built like an ox and had a bald head with tattoos on his face. Linc guessed this was the man who’d taken Ella, and the rage he’d buried came boiling up. He used the fist holding his pistol and brought it down hard on the side of the guy’s face, his head snapped back and Linc took a punch to the gut and an uppercut to the nose which made blood spurt all over his face and hurt like a mother. Linc punched his assailant in the throat, the other man stumbled back, falling to the ground. Linc kicked him until he stopped moving and turned his weapon on Quentin, who’d lifted Ella into his arms and had a knife held at her throat.

* * *

Ella’s head ached and she felt the sharp edge of a knife at her throat. Her eyes met Linc’s.

She couldn’t think, just hung loosely in the arms of the man who held her. Linc’s gaze slid over her body, his eyes narrowing at each cut and bruise on her body. She tested the strength of the man holding her as he said something to Linc. She wasn’t listening to him. She noticed that when she shifted, the knife pulled away from her throat, and he was more intent on watching Linc than on keeping her still.

Linc had a gun in one hand, and blood was all over his face and dripping down his chest. But he still looked capable. She shifted again and the man brought his attention back to her.

“Stop squirming, bitch, or I’ll cut your throat right now. You don’t want that do you, Cockram? She’s your payday.”

“Cut the bullshit, Quentin, we both know you’re not going to kill the woman Diavolos has that bounty on. You’ve already cut the price I can ask by roughing her up.”

“That’s her fault. She wouldn’t come easily.”

“Screw you,” Ella said. “I’m not some prize. Let me go.”

He brought pressure back to the knife at her throat and Ella froze. It was sharp, and she knew she had to be careful when he was paying attention to her or he’d cut her.

“What do you want?” Linc asked.

“I’ll sell her to you,” Quentin said.

“Or I can just kill you and take her.”

“You could try, but she might end up dead. Like I said, stalemate,” Quentin said, distracted again by Linc, and this time Ella took advantage of it.

She lifted her legs and felt the scrape of the knife on her throat as gravity helped her fall out of Quentin’s grasp. Linc fired a shot and Quentin crumpled to the floor next to her. He was still breathing, blood pouring from a wound on the side of his head. Ella scrambled away from him, trying to get her feet underneath her, but her legs were weak and as she tried to stand, nausea overcame her.

She turned away from Linc as she threw up. She emptied her stomach and her body still heaved. She felt Linc’s hand on the back of her neck, holding her hair out of the way as she continued to heave. When she stopped he lifted her gently in his arms, carrying her away from Quentin.

Linc kept walking until they were out of the building, knowing Kendra was providing cover for them and arresting Quentin and his men. Ella was aware of him placing her on the hood of a large car and he framed her face, looking down at her. “Damn. You shouldn’t have been hurt. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Is it safe for us here?”

“For a few minutes. My team is going to move in and help arrest those bastards.”

“How did you find me so quickly?” she asked, trying to keep talking so she didn’t lose it. He left her for a second and she shivered in the cold—her blouse and skirt had been perfect for the bar, but were no match for the evening air.

Linc was back, putting his coat over her shoulders and opening a first aid kit. He took out a cloth, wiping the cuts on her face with a gentle hand. His face tightened as he saw the shallow cut on her neck. “I should have killed Quentin for this.”

“You’re not that kind of man,” Ella said.

“The kind who kills?” he asked. “I’ve done it before.”

“I know, but that’s not you.”

Linc shook his head, he wasn’t sure. “How do you know?”

“The man who talked to me in my bathroom isn’t that kind of guy. He’s tough and he can get the job done, but he’s not a vigilante or a killer without cause.”

Linc cleaned off the last of the blood on her neck and then placed a bandage over it, rubbing his thumb around the edges with the softest touch. Their eyes met in the dim glow provided by the street light. It was hard to really read his expression, but she felt safe.

Safe and secure.

Two things she’d never felt this close to a man before. Linc was special. He was different than other men. At least where she was concerned.

She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his chest. Heard the solid beat of his heart through his tacky silk shirt, and then felt his hands on her back and he held her loosely so she could back away, but she didn’t want to. She needed the comfort that he provided her.

She knew this journey was just getting started, and for the first time she fully realized the consequences of saying yes. She had known that it would be difficult, but she’d thought she’d sort of wing it and be okay. But now she felt that her fate was tied to Linc’s.