It was odd how easy it was to assimilate into his life and his household. My sisters seemed to be just as flexible as I was, and by the end of the fourth day, I felt like I’d lived with him for years. How was it possible to feel so close to someone that I technically didn’t know very well?

Not that we hadn’t spent hours getting acquainted. Wrapped up in his arms, and in his huge bed at night, we found time to talk in between touching and exploring each other. We’d had several late nights in a row, and it wasn’t unusual for us to be talking until dawn. Still, it shouldn’t have been so easy with him, but it was.

I wasn’t yet comfortable enough to share with him the full story of why I’d been on “The Island,” and what still loomed over my head. I dared hope we might’ve evaded Ivanov. The last place he was going to look was an upscale apartment at the top of Wallingford Tower, right? I wasn’t completely convinced, but I was hoping we had evaded him.

That hope shattered Friday when I went to pick up my sisters at their school. I’d taken a taxi, and it was quite a distance from Spencer’s penthouse to their old school. I knew I had to switch them pretty soon, but as I drew up in front of the school and saw a long, dark car that caught my eye, I realized it should’ve been much sooner.

I tried to convince myself not to freak out. There were dozens of limousines, even in this neighborhood, and it didn’t mean Ivanov was behind that tinted glass.

My stomach twisted in knots as I alternated my attention between the limousine and the front entrance, waiting for my sisters to appear. Sasha came first, trailing behind another equally quiet girl, whose name I’d forgotten, but recognized as one of her friends. I nodded to the other girl, but my heart wasn’t in making conversation, so I was relieved when she simply told my sister bye and moved on.

My gaze skittered to the car again, but there was no change. The doors hadn’t opened, and not even a window was cracked. There was no way to be sure it was or wasn’t Ivanov.

Carrie came bouncing out a couple of moments later, and she was giggling with a couple of boys around her age. I was glad to see she was bouncing back from losing our father, and I was determined to preserve as much of the innocence of her teenage years as I could.

I wasn’t really surprised despite all my hopes when the door opened on the limousine once I had both girls in the waiting cab. Ivanov stared at me with cold precision, and I winced when I looked down and saw his hand wrapped around his cock. He was jerking off to the sight of me and my sisters while surrounded by all the school kids. I shuddered and started to slip inside.

Today was the deadline, and I was afraid he was going to force us to get in his car as he had done to me at the airport. Instead, he simply held up a handwritten sign, and it bore the number one followed by six zeros and preceded by a dollar sign. My eyes widened, and I shook my head, but didn’t look at him again. I settled into the seat, pressed close to Sasha, and pinched the bridge of my nose to avoid giving in to tears.

Was he really trying to collect a million dollars now? I could see my life stretching before me, and if I survived it, I would spend years in sexual servitude to him and whomever he chose to share me with. Even worse, my sisters faced the same fate. Perhaps worst of all was Sasha’s, as she was slated to be his personal companion. He would continue adding to our debt and always find a way to keep us. I was certain of that.

We had to escape. That was all there was to it, and I was trying to act calm, though I was secretly panicking. As we approached Wallingford Tower, I turned partially to look at my sisters. “I need you to do something for me. Go to your rooms, pack what you can fit in your backpacks, and meet me in the foyer in a few minutes. We have to leave.”

Sasha blinked, looking startled. “But you’re in love with him.”

It was my turn to blink. “What?”

“It’s obvious you love Spencer, and he loves you. You can’t just leave him. It’ll break your heart and his.”

“We aren’t leaving permanently.” Carrie spoke confidently, and then she frowned at me. “Are we?”

My lips trembled, and I struggled to suppress a sob. “I don’t want to, but I don’t see any other way. We have to get out of the city. Dad left me—us—in a horrible mess. I don’t have time to delve into it right now, but I need you to trust me. We have to run.”

They both looked doubtful, but didn’t argue as the cabbie drove up to drop us in front of the building. I passed him a folded bill and suspected I’d given too much based on his happy look, but was too distracted to care about over-tipping at the moment.

I followed my sisters inside, aware of the black car drawing up across the road. He wasn’t making any secret that he was following us, and I wondered how we’d escape. Maybe we could borrow maintenance uniforms or something and go out the service entrance around back.

I was so busy plotting our departure that I didn’t realize Spencer was home early until I literally walked right into him as I stepped through the door. His arms folded around me, and I allowed myself a moment of comfort in his embrace. Then I stepped back and shot a look at the girls, reminding them with my gaze what they had to do. Now I had to figure out how to get away from Spencer too.

He frowned at me, his hand clamping around mine. I tried to pull away subtly, but he wouldn’t allow it as he led me from the foyer to a small sitting room off the hallway. When he closed the door and locked it, I stared at him in surprise. If he was thinking of some kind of kinky game, I wasn’t in the mood. That in itself was shocking, because I would’ve thought nothing could quell my desire for him. Even now, it burned at a low level, but I didn’t have the luxury of stoking it to a scorching fire.

“What’s going on?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stood between me and the door.

I mimicked his posture. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Spencer snorted. “It’s clear something’s going on. You look terrified and sick, so talk to me. I can help you.”

I shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do.”

His brows drew together as he scowled at me before moving forward. He took my hand in his and dragged me to the couch, sitting me down a little less than gently and blocking my path to the door with his body. “Spill.”

I wanted to be strong and resist, knowing it wasn’t smart to drag him into the danger Ivanov posed. I tried to hold out, but the determined set of his shoulders and the tender seriousness in his gaze had me crumbling.

Before I knew it, the story tumbled from me, though I felt pathetic dumping it on him. “Now he wants a million dollars, which means he’s going to bind us to him forever. I’ll never escape, and I can’t do anything to save my sisters. I hate my father.” I wailed as I made the confession, feeling worse because it was true on several levels. Part of me would always love him, but I hated the weakness that had led him to indulge in his addictions after losing Mom, coupled with his poor judgment in seeking loans from a man like Ivanov, and finally capped off by taking the coward’s way out to remove himself from his problems.

His arms moved around me, and Spencer started rubbing my back as he made soothing sounds. He held me as I cried, and he didn’t seem to find me weak or pathetic when I finally managed to lift my head and stare up at him through my blurry gaze.

He cupped my face in his hands and used one of his thumbs to catch a stray tear. “It sounds like money will solve this, and I’m lucky to have plenty of it.”

I frowned. “I can’t take that kind of money from you, and I can’t risk your safety. You can’t deal with him.”

His expression betrayed nothing. “A man like that only responds to strength and money. I’ll go talk to him.” Anger seeped through his tone, and it was obvious he wanted to do more than talk.

Panicked, I put a hand on his shoulder. “Promise me you won’t do that. I couldn’t bear it if he... I don’t want you hurt, Spencer. I have to leave now, but I want you to know that’s not what I want to do. I wish I could stay, but I have to get my sisters somewhere safe.”

His lips thinned. “You aren’t going anywhere, and I want you to promise you’ll stay here and let me deal with him.”

I shook my head. “I can’t make that promise. It isn’t safe for you to be around me.”

“It won’t be safe for this Ivanov once I get my hands on him. You’re staying where you belong—right here.”

I wrenched away and glared at him. “Save the Neanderthal side for the bedroom. This is a real decision that affects my life and my sisters’. I can’t just surrender it all to you and let you solve the problem for me like I’m helpless.”

He frowned. “I’d never mistake you for helpless. This must be why you went on the show, huh?” At my hesitant nod of confirmation, he gave me a look of admiration. “That’s plenty strong right there. You’ve already proven your determination, and if you could meet him on equal footing, I have no doubt you’d vanquish Ivanov. The problem is, you can’t be equal, because you don’t have his might or his power. I do. Let me help you with this. Please?”

If he had sustained his overbearing alpha routine, I probably would’ve continued to remain firm in my refusal of his help. But when he asked me like that, and spoke with such confidence that it would be a simple matter that money could easily resolve—the kind of money I couldn’t even imagine, but was nothing to him—I found myself wavering. “What if he hurts you?”

He looked unconcerned. “He’s not going to hurt me. I’ll make it clear I’m there with money to settle the debt, and that’ll be the end of it. A man like that just wants money. If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t keep pressuring you and adding to your balance. He knows he can’t get the cash from you, so he wants to control you, but I guarantee he’ll take money from me over indentured servitude from you any day.”

I weakened further. “I guess we could set up a meeting with him and maybe feel him out?”

He sighed, but nodded. “If that’s what you want, we’ll do that.”

I couldn’t deny how relieved I was as I sagged against him. I was still in his arms a moment later when there was a firm tapping at the door. With a smothered curse, he got up and moved to unlock the door and open it.

My sisters stood on the other side, both holding backpacks. Sasha looked scared, and Carrie was somewhere between defiant and terrified. “You have to tell us what’s going on before we agree to leave,” she said, the defiance heavier in her voice than her posture.

I let out a harsh breath and sagged forward. “I’ll tell you everything, though I wish I didn’t have to. But I don’t think we have to leave either. Spencer’s going to help us.” As they came into the room, and he joined me once more on the couch, his arm around my shoulders, I allowed myself to hope that maybe together, we could make the Ivanov problem disappear.