CHAPTER 3

Althea fought sleep for as long as she could.

But exhaustion—physical, emotional, soul-deep—won.

Her breathing softened. Her fingers loosened their trembling grip on the sheets. And slowly, her consciousness dipped into the one place she dreaded most.

Darkness.

Then—

A door slamming open. Footsteps echoing like drumbeats.

A shadow filling the doorway.

Dominic.

Even in dreams, the air around him turned colder.

Her younger self stood frozen, still in her wedding veil, still naïve enough to believe kindness could not turn into chains.

“Thea,” he said in that low, unreadable voice, the tone that used to thrill her—until it didn’t.

Then the scene warped—

The room stretching like a nightmare funhouse, walls bending, the bed growing taller, the lights flickering out. She saw his silhouette approaching, steady, inevitable.

She tried to back away— but her feet sank into the floor like mud.

“No,” she whispered, voice breaking. “Not again… please—”

His hand reached for her.

Her breath shattered.

In the dream, Dominic’s hand finally touched her cheek.

Not gently.

Not lovingly.

Possessively.

She felt the cold brush of his wedding ring.

“Mine,” his voice whispered— but it was layered, distorted, as if dream-Dominic spoke with a hundred voices at once. "Remember, Thea. You belong to me."

She tried to scream again, but no sound came out.

Her vision blurred. The room folded in black. His face inched closer—

Althea snapped awake in the dark motel room, gasping, drenched in cold sweat.

For a moment she didn’t know where she was. The walls weren’t the mansion’s suffocating gold and marble. The air didn’t smell of dominance and expensive cologne.

This place smelled of old wood, rusted aircon, and damp curtains.

A cheap motel.

Freedom.

Except—

Her pulse spiked so violently she nearly doubled over.

Something is wrong.

He’s close.

Thea clutched her stomach instinctively, the familiar protective gesture now sharper, desperate.

Jessica bolted upright from the couch.

“Thea? What happened?”

Thea tried to breathe, but the air felt thick, poisoned with the memory of a man who always sensed her like a shadow tied to his spine.

“He’s close,” she whispered, voice quivering. “He knows. Jess… he’s coming.”

Jessica shot upright. “What—already? There’s no way he tracked—”

But then she saw Thea’s trembling. Saw the terror in her eyes. The familiarity of it.

Jessica’s blood ran cold.

“Oh God. Thea.” She hurried to her side, gripping her shoulders. “We have to move. Now.”

Thea shook her head, overwhelmed. “I-I can’t—my legs—”

“Yes, you can,” Jessica insisted. “We didn’t come this far just to get caught.”

Outside, a car engine roared by on the highway. Too loud. Too powerful.

Not a regular traveler.

Thea’s breath caught.

Jessica grabbed their bags. “Come on. We go out the back. There’s a service exit that leads to the field—”

The doorknob clicked.

Both women froze.

Once.

Twice.

A slow, testing rattle.

"Thea."

Thea’s entire body went stiff at the sound of his voice, her hand flying to her stomach again.

Jessica mouthed silently.

Run.

She dragged Thea toward the bathroom window, shoving it upward with trembling hands. It screeched loudly— too loudly— but there was no time.

“Thea, go!”

Thea climbed up, squeezing through the narrow opening, her breath catching as the metal scraped her arm. Jessica pushed from behind, whispering frantically, “Go—go—go!”

"Thea," he called out again, this time quiter, more like a soft plea.

The doorknob turned again.

Firmly.

This time with strength.

Thea tumbled out onto the cold ground behind the motel, scraping her knees, biting back a cry.

Jessica followed immediately, pulling the window down, leaving no sign.

“Run,” she whispered again. “To the bushes.”

They sprinted across the back lot, breath harsh, feet slipping on gravel.

Inside the room—

The door finally gave way.

It slammed open against the wall.

Dominic Valtieri stepped inside.

Black coat.

Cold expression.

Eyes sharp enough to carve through bone.

He stood in the center of the room, breathing once—deep—and his entire body tightened like a predator locking onto scent.

Jessica dragged Thea into the trees. Thea stumbled, heart thundering.

Dom turned toward the bathroom.

Slow.

Controlled.

Certain.

He walked inside.

And when he saw the open window— still warm from their escape— his entire world narrowed to a single point.

She was here.

Seconds ago.

He inhaled, eyes closing as though memorizing the air.

When he opened them, they were colder than winter steel.

“Althea.”

Thea heard her name carried on the wind.

Her knees buckled.

Jessica caught her. “Don’t stop. He’ll kill you with a thought. Move!”

They pushed deeper toward the field behind the motel, ducking under overgrown shrubs, feet sinking into soft mud.

Behind them, the motel door burst open.

A spotlight swept across the lot.

Thea’s breath lodged in her lungs.

Jessica pushed her down, pressing both of them into the grass. “Don’t move.”

Dom stepped outside, men flanking behind him.

His voice was ice and murder.

“Search the rear. She’s close.”

Shadows fanned out across the field.

Boots thudded.

Flashlights slashed through the dark.

Thea’s hand flew to her stomach as she curled smaller, barely daring to breathe.

A beam of light passed so close Jessica had to cover Thea’s mouth to muffle her sob.

Dom walked to the exact spot where Thea had fallen onto her knees minutes earlier. He crouched, running his fingers lightly over the disturbed dirt.

He shut his eyes.

He could almost feel her.

Almost hear the way she gasped when afraid. Almost sense the tremor in her hands when he leaned too close. Almost taste the panic she was drowning in.

He opened his eyes, gaze sweeping the darkness.

“She’s here,” he said quietly. “Keep searching.”

Thea couldn’t breathe.

Jessica held her tighter.

Boots passed them again— and then again— before finally turning the other direction, following a false trail one of the guards mistakenly stepped on.

Jessica waited until their shadows vanished.

Then—

“Run.”

This time, Thea did.

Not for herself.

But for the life she carried.

And behind her, Dominic Valtieri stood in that empty field, teeth clenched, heart pounding with a fury too sharp to name.

He had missed her by seconds.

Seconds.

And that was a mistake he would never let happen again.