LOGINChapter 227: Olive's POVThe room was spinning."What?""Klaus found me," Alonso said, and his voice was almost gentle now, almost soft, like he was telling a bedtime story instead of dropping a bomb on my entire life. "He tracked me down somehow, followed me back to my hotel, and confronted me in the parking lot.""You're saying you were in his unit.""I was.""And you survived the explosion.""Barely. But yes. I survived.""Then why didn't anyone know?""Because the people who saved me had reasons for keeping me hidden. And because by the time I was healed enough to go back into the world, I didn't look like the man I used to be. I needed a new face. A new name. A new identity. And I needed to stay hidden until I was ready to do what I came here to do.""Which is what?""Which is finish what should have been finished twelve years ago."I felt sick.I felt like the floor had become liquid, like the whole room was tilting, like every assumption I'd ever made about the man I'd thought
Chapter 226: Olive's POVHe sat down in a chair across from me, mirroring my position, and the casual way he did it was somehow more menacing than if he'd been pacing or looming over me. Like he had all the time in the world. Like nothing was going to interrupt this. Like Zane wasn't going to come crashing through the door to save me, because Zane couldn't come, like he was in charge which he was."Twelve years ago," Alonso said, "Zane Mercer was a soldier. A good one. He was twenty years old. He'd enlisted at almost sixteen because his father had pushed him into it. Because his father wanted him out of the house. Because his father had reasons that you don't need to know about right now.""What reasons?""That's not important.""It sounds important.""Olive," Alonso said, and there was a warning in his voice now, "we're going to do this in the order I want to do it in. Stop trying to redirect."I shut my mouth.Filed that information away for later. Zane's father had wanted him out o
Chapter 225: Olive's POVThe chair was uncomfortable.That was the first thing I noticed, which was insane considering everything else that was happening, but my brain seemed to have decided that focusing on small physical sensations was easier than focusing on the fact that I was sitting across from my best friend who was tied to a chair and being held hostage by a man I'd thought was just a flirty hockey player who I had first met at Hunter’s party.The seat was hard. Wooden. Not cushioned like the chairs in the lounge area outside, which felt deliberate, like he wanted me to be uncomfortable, like he wanted Brenda and me to feel the wrongness of this situation in our bones.Alonso was watching me from where he stood near the door, his arms crossed, his silver eyes studying my face like he was waiting for something specific to happen, like he was waiting for me to break or panic or beg.I wasn't going to do any of those things.At least, I was going to try not to do any of those thi
Chapter 224: Olive's POVI'd walked into a building full of armed men and not one of them had bothered to look in my direction. They were on their phones. Talking to each other quietly. Sipping drinks from glasses.Like I wasn't even there.Like the kidnapped woman walking into their boss's lair was just so routine and so unremarkable that they couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge it.I felt sick.Whatever this was, whoever I was about to meet, this wasn't some random psycho with a grudge.This was somebody powerful.Somebody with money and connections and an entire fucking army at his disposal.And he had brought me here for a reason.I kept walking, deeper into the warehouse, past the men who didn't see me, toward another door at the far end that was already opening as I approached.A man was holding it open.Tall. Broad-shouldered. Suit that fit too well to have come off any rack. He nodded at me politely, like a maître d' welcoming me to a restaurant, and gestured for me to go
Chapter 223: Olive's POVThe place was dark.I checked the time on my dashboard.7:54 PM.I'd driven with so much fucking hurry to get here, weaving through traffic and running yellow lights and praying I wouldn't get pulled over because explaining to a cop that I was racing to a kidnapper's hideout to save my pregnant best friend who had also slept with my stepfather and ruined my mother's marriage seemed like a conversation that would not end well for anyone involved.Now my hands were clasped at the steering wheel, gripping it so tight my knuckles had gone white.Heart racing.Scared as hell."Have I done a stupid mistake?" I whispered to myself in the dim cabin of my car. "What the fuck am I doing?"The car was still on, the engine humming softly, like it was waiting for me to make up my mind.I could turn around.Could throw the car in reverse and peel out of here and pretend I'd never gotten that call.But Brenda's face flashed in my mind, the way she'd looked at the restaurant
Chapter 222: Zane's POV"Pretty story," he said. "Very compelling. You always were good at talking your way out of things."He counted off on his fingers."But here's what I know for certain. I know that you've spent twelve years building an empire while I've spent twelve years having my face rebuilt. I know that you've moved on with your life, started a business, made money, found a girl.""While I've been stuck in this nightmare that never ends.""And I know that you never once tried to find me, never once looked for survivors, never once questioned whether maybe, just maybe, someone had made it out alive."The accusation hit me like a physical blow.Because he was right.I hadn't looked, hadn't questioned, had accepted the official reports that said everyone was dead. Because questioning would have meant admitting that I'd failed them. That I'd led them into a trap. That their deaths were on my hands."I believed you were dead," I said. "Everyone confirmed it. The reports said ther
Chapter 35: Olive's POVThe call came twenty minutes after I left Grayson's office.I was still standing on the sidewalk like an idiot, people rushing past me with their coffee cups and briefcases, living their normal lives while mine was actively imploding. My phone buzzed in my hand and I almost
Chapter 36: Olive’s POV"Hit send and it's yours," he said, watching me carefully. "But first, I need to know something."Of course. There was always a catch."What," I said, not taking my eyes off the screen."How did you do it?"I looked up. "What?""How did you get him?" Ryan leaned forward, elb
Chapter 34: Olive’s POVThe door slid open on its own, smooth and silent. I stepped inside.Grayson sat at the round table with three board members, all of them turning to look at me like I'd interrupted something sacred. Their faces were tight, eyes sharp. Judging."You can leave," Grayson said to
CHAPTER 28: OLIVE’S POVMy heart was trying to break out of my chest. The room was spinning. And Zane was looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the entire goddamn world."I'm yours," I said, louder this time.The corner of his mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "Good girl."And then







