Slivers from the rope burrowed into Letty’s wrists. The burning sensation meant her skin had been rubbed nearly raw. But she slid the rope back and forth over the rock behind her, trying in earnest to cut it enough that she could pry it apart. No telling how long she’d been out.

The smell of Earth and copper filled her nose, to the point the taste of metal coated her tongue. Darkness shrouded her, with a tiny flare of light in the distance. Where the hell was she? She worked her fingers to feel around behind her, finding a crumbling wall of dirt. She must be in some kind of cave, or maybe a mining shaft. Didn’t they mine copper in Montana?

The speck of light in the distance grew bigger and brighter as it floated toward her. A flicker of hope danced in her heart that it would be Malik coming to save her. But the shadow that appeared behind the light grew into the sinister scowl of Hanson Welder, not the beautiful, charming smile of Malik. How the hell would Malik even be able to find her?

I just had to take off and confront them. Me and my big ol’ mouth, instead of waiting for Malik to come back.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think Dell would be capable of such an act like this. Nor that she would be taking the brunt of it. Surely, Dell wouldn’t allow this. It had to be all Hanson’s idea.

“You make one sound, and this cave will crumble around you like a house of cards.” Hanson held the light up, showing off his greasy hair and dirt-lined face.

“Where are we?” She dared to ask.

“Somewhere where no one will find you.”

“Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?’

“Don’t need another Stephens’ blood on my hands. I ain’t no killer. But I am gonna make sure my kid gets her prize, one way or another. Just need you out of the way until it’s over.”

“What’s to stop me from going to the police when you release me?”

“Your word against mine and Dell’s. For all they know, you were on a bender and passed out drunk somewhere and missed the race.”

Letty prayed a silent prayer, searching for the spirit of her father to fill her with wisdom and strength. “The truth will come out. It always does. Just like the truth about what you did to the bulls.”

Hanson kicked over the lantern and dropped to a squat in front of her. “You best shut the fuck up, right now, or I’ll change my mind about killin’ you. I’ll send you to see your daddy without a second thought if you say one more word.”

Letty ran the rope across the top of the rock one last time and the strands snapped, jerking her arms. She summoned all the strength inside her and forced her arms apart, busting the remainder of the rope. Using the momentum, she swung her arm around and clocked Hanson across the head. He flew back, head over feet and busted the oil lantern. Total darkness surrounded them and Letty worked hard on the rope binding her feet. She inched herself along the floor, away from the area Hanson had left her in, should he wake up and come at her again.

The rope wouldn’t budge and she grabbed another rock, sawing at the strands cutting off the circulation around her ankles. Blood pounded in her head with each stroke, and her fingers numbed. But she continued, forcing herself to work through the pain and get herself free. Tears puddled in her eyes, and she fought to hold them back. At last, the rope gave and the strands unraveled, allowing her to break free.

She pushed herself up, clinging to the wall next to her. Gravel crunched from behind her and a set of arms clamped her around the waist.

“You fucking dirty bitch.” Hanson threw her body to the ground, crawling his way on top of her until he straddled her. “Time to teach you a lesson in manners. Take advantage of the dirty bitch you are.”

“Stop, Hanson, you don’t want to do this.” For the first time since her capture, real fear settled in her heart. Being beaten, drugged, left for dead scared her, but the real fear of the situation hit home as he ground himself on top of her and ripped open her shirt, launching buttons into the air. “Think about your daughter, Hanson. Think about Stevi. Don’t do this. I’ll let it all go. I’ll let her win. Just leave me be. I won’t say a word. It’s not worth it.”

“She can’t win without me, and I want my damn money. They owe me that fucking purse.” Spittle covered her face, and she cringed.

“Have you even let her try? Stevi’s a good barrel racer. Try having some faith in your daughter.” Letty had to keep him talking, keep his focus off raping her and back to Stevi. “She’s always been my best competition. She probably could have won all those other races on her own volition had you let her. She’s really good.”

“Not with you in the picture. You rattle her confidence. Maybe I should have taken you out long ago,” he said with a sneer, about to grab a handful of her breast, but she knocked his hand away. It only set him off, and the crack of his hand smacking her face hit her ears before the sting of his hand blazed through her cheek. “Fucking, bitch.”

Letty bit back tears, and swallowed her scream. She didn’t know if what he’d said earlier about the walls coming down if she screamed was real. Something scraped the gravel in the distance and a soft glow of white light shone through the darkness. Hanson glanced up, and Letty took the moment of his distraction to yank her hands free of his grip and scratched at his face. They tousled in the darkness and she managed to land her fist against the lump of his Adam’s apple in his throat. He rolled off her, clutching his neck, and she scrambled to her feet.

“Help me! Is someone out there?” Letty cried out, just above a whisper as to not rattle the walls.

“Letty?” a deep voice resonated back to her through the cavern. Malik’s voice.

“Malik? I’m here. Please, help me.” She barely got the words out before an arm clamped across her mouth, and another snaked around her stomach from behind,

“Letty?” Malik called out again as his boots pounded the gravel harder, echoing off the walls.

“You fucking stay right there,” Hanson demanded as Malik came into view with his flashlight.

“Letty,” Malik gasped, his eyes widening as he took focus on her. But he wasn’t alone. A tall brown-haired guy, built similar to Malik, stepped from behind him, and from the way he carried himself, she had to bet he was a SEAL as well.

As soon as they came into view, Hanson’s palm cupped her mouth and nose, cutting off her oxygen. She squirmed, jabbing at him with her elbows before latching onto his arm, digging her nails into his skin to let go of her. Stars floated in front of her eyes as the air thinned, and the room spun.

“You fucking brought people with you? You just sentenced your bitch to death.” He removed his hand from her mouth and she sucked in an enormous breath, full of dust, launching her into a coughing fit. But then he clamped down on her jaw, twisting her head to the side.

“Listen, man, we don’t want any trouble. We just want Ms. Stephens back safe and sound,” the brown-haired man said.

“Who the fuck are you anyway?” Hanson asked, backing away from the men.

“I’m Malik, a friend of Ms. Stephens. This is my buddy Hank. He just came with me to make sure she was all right.”

Hanson jerked her head harder to the side. “Either of you make one more move and I break her neck.”

“I’m warning you, Hanson, this is gonna end badly for you. Step away from Letty. Just let her go, and you won’t get hurt. It doesn’t have to end like this.” Malik’s rich voice warmed her heart. He’d come for her, even after their blowout that morning, he’d kept his promise. The unwavering tone of his demand made even her question just what he planned to do with Hanson. The intensity in his glare left a chill along her skin. He’d turned into his programmed soldier mode, a weapon.

Hank readied himself behind Malik, poised and cool. These same men handled situations with ISIS and other terrorist groups, kept the world safe, and battled every day for our freedoms. Yet here they were, fighting a psychotic ex-rodeo star. She wondered if Hanson even knew these guys were SEALs, trained to take people out far deadlier than him. Yet as his hands tightened on her body, digging his grimy calloused fingers against her skin, it didn’t matter who he was. He was just like a terrorist with nothing to fear and no soul, so easily turning to violent acts to get what they wanted.

“Who are you to be giving me demands? I could snap this bitch like a twig before you even took a step. Fuck you. Fuck all of you. You’ve ruined my life, and I want retribution. I’m owed what I’m owed!” He took a step forward, dragging Letty through the dirt.

The next instant drug out like an hour. As Hanson took a step and his fingertips tightened against her jaw, he yanked on her neck as if he planned on snapping her head right off. Only his fingers slipped off her chin, and his hold on her entire body slacked as he slid to the floor. Another set of arms pulled her in the opposite direction of Hanson, and she fell against the wall. Letty didn’t even see what happened, she only knew Hanson was dead, or dying out on the floor, as the acrid copper scent of blood intensified the metallic copper taste already in the air.

Malik flashed his light to Hanson’s body and a knife protruded from his forehead. Letty lurched forward, out of Hank’s arms who turned out to be the one who caught her, clutching her hands to her mouth at Hanson’s wide-eyed stare. Fear froze his eyes, as the last thing he saw was the blade hurtling toward him.

Malik stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding tight to her body. “Are you okay? How bad did he hurt you? Dear God, please tell me he didn’t...” His trembling fingers fumbled with her ripped shirt.

Letty pulled back and shook her head. “He tried, but I fought him off. If you hadn’t come when you did...” She dove back at his chest and he curled her into his arms.

Hank clasped a hand to Malik’s shoulder. “If she’s okay, I’m gonna go bring in the cops to collect the body. I called the Sheriff on the way up here and let him know what was going on. It took me assuring him we’re both trained SEALs and reminding him about my security agency to convince him to let us go in first. I couldn’t take the chance at how Hanson would react to seeing cops storm the cave and putting Ms. Stephens in more danger than necessary. They’re gonna have questions for us. Be prepared.”

Malik and Letty nodded as Hank ran off into the darkness.

“Jesus, I’m so sorry. I should never have left you. This is all my fucking fault.” Malik kissed the top of her head.

“No, it’s mine. I was stupid and confronted them on my own. I should have waited for you. I was so embarrassed and angry with myself this morning after what happened, I just wanted to stop being afraid and take care of the situation. I’m so tired of living in fear—fear of my finances, my mother’s health, and then my life—I needed to take a stand with something. I didn’t think they’d really do anything. I didn’t think such evil really existed in the world. I mean, you see it on the news, but it’s so far removed, you don’t think it can touch you. Until it does...”

Malik cupped her cheek. “You shouldn’t have to see or experience the evil that is out there. I promised you I would protect you, and I let you down. You shouldn’t have had this happen at all.”

Letty inched her way to her tiptoes, moving toward Malik’s lips. She ached to thank him, to tell him he didn’t let her down and reassure him that it wasn’t his fault. But bright lights burned through the darkness from the end of the cave and a myriad of police officers made their way into the alcove, stopping her moment.

One of them stepped forward while Hank was with the others, flashing their lights through the cave, collecting evidence and examining the body. “Malik Thompson?”

Malik nodded and extended his hand. “Yes, sir.”

“Deputy Grayson.” He gave a nod. “Can you tell me what happened here?”

“Yes, sir. He had Ms. Stephens hostage. I tried to talk him down and get him to let her go. But it only angered him and as he attempted to snap her neck, I launched my blade at him.”

The deputy quirked a brow. “That’s quite a shot, Mr. Thompson. What if you’d hit Ms. Stephens?”

“I’m a trained Navy SEAL, codename Steel. It’s what I do, sir, for the love of my country.” Malik’s gaze shifted from the deputy to Letty, that intensity in them turning from cold to warm and passionate. “Today I did it for the love of my life. There wasn’t an option to miss the shot.”

“Ms. Stephens,” the office nodded to Letty. “Mind if I ask you some questions?”

Letty nodded and stepped away from Malik, though he held tight to her hand, as if he didn’t want to let her go. She squeezed his fingers and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek, reassuring him it was okay. Everything in that moment changed, like a fog had lifted and her path shifted. What was once so important to her, a title, a prize, her pride...seemed so trivial. What she thought she was fighting for wasn’t for others, it was for herself. She thought she needed to win to make all her troubles go away. But her mother would still have her health issues, there would always be someone wanting money from her, there would always be just one more race to win.

What wouldn’t be there tomorrow would be Malik. When she thought death was imminent, as Hanson’s fingers squeezed the air from her, she only thought about how she should have taken Malik up on his offer for a drink that very first time they’d met. How things could have been so different, if only she hadn’t been so stubborn, so singularly focused on winning, thinking it would be the answer to all her issues. She didn’t see what was right in front of her; a chance at love, a family, a real life.

Now the race she wanted to win was for his heart, and she hoped she wasn’t too late.