로그인JuliusJoseph kicked the door in and we burst through with weapons raised. The cabin was darker inside than I expected with just one lamp throwing shadows across the walls."Clear!" Mark's voice came from the back of the house, but the main room wasn't clear. Hudson was dragging Jane by her arm toward a side door. Her hands were bound in front of her with a zip tie and there was a fresh bruise on her cheek."Let her go!" I barked, my gun trained on his chest.Hudson froze and slowly turned to look at me. His face was pale and sweaty, his eyes wild. He pulled Jane in front of him like a shield."Stay back!" He yelled. "I'll hurt her, I swear to God, I will!""You've already hurt her!" I took a threatening step closer. Joseph moved to my right, trying to get a better angle. "It's over, Hudson. You're surrounded. Let her go and we can end this without anyone else getting hurt.""Without anyone else? You mean without me getting hurt," He laughed and it sounded unhinged. "You don't care a
Julius"We've got something."Sarah's voice came through my phone at two in the morning. I had been awake for seventeen hours straight, running on nothing but coffee and pure rage."Talk to me." I said, already grabbing my jacket."Traffic camera caught the van heading north on Highway 9 around noon yesterday. We lost it after that but I pulled satellite imagery from the area. There's only three properties within a twenty mile radius that match the profile. Remote, privately owned, recent activity.""Send me the addresses.""Already done. Mark has teams moving to each location now."I was out the door before she finished talking. Joseph was waiting in the parking garage with two patrol cars."Your people move fast." He said, his voice filled with awe."They know what's at stake," I got into my car quickly. "We're checking all three locations simultaneously. I'm not waiting another second.""Armstrong, we need to be smart about this. If Hudson's got her, going in hot could put her in m
JaneHudson came back with a tray of food about an hour after he left. It was soup, crackers and orange juice and he set it on the small table by the window like we were on some kind of romantic getaway."You need to eat," He said, his tone almost gentle. "The baby needs nutrients."I was still sitting on the floor where I had collapsed after he locked me in. My cheek still throbbed where he hit me, but something had shifted while he was gone. Panic had given way to clarity.If I wanted to survive this, if I wanted to protect my baby, I had to be smart. Fighting him head-on wasn't working. He was stronger than me, and he was clearly not thinking rationally, so I needed to play a different game."Thank you." I said quietly, pushing myself up off the floor.He looked surprised. "You're welcome."I walked to the table and sat down, picking up the spoon. The soup smelled like canned chicken noodles and my stomach turned but I forced myself to take a bite."See?" Hudson sat down across fr
JuliusMy phone buzzed in the middle of a board meeting and I almost ignored it, then I saw Claire's name on the screen and something cold settled in my chest. Claire never called me unless it was important."Excuse me," I said to the board members and stepped out of the conference room. I answered the call. "Claire, what's wrong?""Julius," Her voice was shaking. "Have you heard from Jane?""Not since this morning. Why?""She was supposed to meet me for brunch an hour ago. She's not here and her phone is going straight to voicemail. I've called fifteen times."I was already walking toward my office, my stride quickening with each word. "Maybe she's running late. Traffic, or...""No. You don't understand. Jane is never late, and she always, always answers her phone. Something's wrong, Julius. I can feel it."My heart started pounding. Claire was right. Jane would have called if she was running late. She would have texted at the very least, and her phone never went off, not since she
JaneI was checking my phone at a red light when something slammed into the driver's side door.The impact threw me sideways against my seatbelt. My phone flew out of my hand and before I could process what was happening, someone was yanking my door open, the lock mechanism broken from the hit."What the..."A hand grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the car. I screamed and tried to pull away, but another set of hands grabbed me from behind. "Let go of me!" I thrashed and kicked, my feet connecting with someone's shin. One of them cursed."Get her in the van now."That voice. I knew that voice.Hudson stepped out from behind a black van parked at an angle that blocked any view from the street. His face was still bruised from where Julius had hit him at the wedding. He looked worse than before. He looked disheveled and manic, his eyes wild."Hudson!" I screamed. "What are you doing? Let me go!""I should've done this from the start," He said, walking toward me. "I should've never let
JaneI kicked off my heels the second we walked through the door. My feet were killing me and I just wanted to get out of this dress, beautiful as it was. The wedding felt like it had lasted three days instead of a few hours.Julius closed the door behind us and leaned against it, just watching me. He still had that cut above his eye from where Hudson had gotten him during the fight. His suit was ruined, torn at the shoulder and stained with grass and blood."Are you okay?" He asked quietly.I wanted to laugh at that question. Was I okay? I had just gotten married after my ex showed up drunk and threw photos of us at our wedding guests, but somehow, standing here in our home with Julius looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world, I realized I actually was okay."Yeah," I said. "I'm okay. Are you?"He pushed off from the door and walked over to me, his hands finding my waist. "I'm sorry.""For what?""For everything. For the fight, for Hudson showing up and f
JaneMy eyes locked with Julius’s and in that moment, I saw my own desperation reflected back at me.“Please,” I whispered, my hands sliding up his chest to frame his face. “Please make me forget. Just for a few minutes. Make me forget Hudson. Make me forget—” My voice cracked. “Make me forget eve
JaneJulius froze. For one terrible, endless moment, his lips were still against mine and his body was rigid with shock. I had made a mistake. A horrible and irreversible mistake. I was kissing my fiancé's father. The man who was supposed to become my father-in-law in less than twenty minutes. Wh
JaneJulius Armstrong's piercing grey gaze locked with mine, and I didn’t think it was possible, but the humiliation grew even worse. It wasn't enough that I had caught my fiancé fucking my best friend minutes before our wedding. It wasn't enough that Hudson had kept going, had mocked me and had
JaneThe woman staring back at me in the mirror looked like a bride. White lace clung to curves I had learned to hide and to despise. My auburn hair was pinned into an elegant updo that had taken the stylist two hours. My makeup had been carefully applied to make my green eyes look less tired and







