THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Time didn’t just slow down; it shattered.

The razor-sharp edge of the lamp glass was an inch from his jugular. I could see the reflection of the silver shard in his wide, icy blue eyes. I could feel the heat radiating off his skin. I wanted to slice him. I wanted to make this monster bleed for what he was doing to Dr. Evans.

But Lorenzo De Luca wasn’t a regular man. He was a trained apex predator.

In a fraction of a second, his lethal reflexes took over. He didn't flinch backward. Instead, he lunged forward, intentionally narrowing the distance so my arm couldn't get the proper leverage for a fatal strike.

His massive, gloved left hand clutched my right wrist like a steel bear trap, halting the glass mere millimeters from his skin. The point of the shard lightly grazed his throat, leaving a thin, bead of crimson that began to trickle down his collar.

"Boss!" the scarred guard roared, a chorus of heavy pistols instantly cocking in the dark room. Three red laser sights snapped directly onto my forehead and chest.

"Hold your fire!" Lorenzo barked, his voice a low, vibrating growl that rattled my teeth.

He didn't look at his men. His eyes were locked onto mine, burning with a terrifying mixture of lethal fury and dark, twisted fascination. His grip on my wrist tightened, grinding the bones together until my fingers went numb and the bloody shard of glass slipped from my hand, clattering uselessly onto the floorboards.

"You really are a piece of work, Alina," Lorenzo whispered, his breath hot and ragged against my lips. He was pinning my body completely flat against his solid chest, his weight completely crushing me into the mattress. "You almost had me."

"I should have killed you," I spit out, coughing as his heavy frame restricted my lungs. "You're a psychopath."

Lorenzo let out a dark, breathless chuckle that sent a violent shiver down my spine. "Maybe. But I'm a living psychopath. And you just officially traded your status from a useful witness to an active combatant."

He violently yanked my hands behind my back again, using his own heavy silk tie to bind my wrists together so tightly I winced. He shoved me back onto the bed, stepping away as he wiped the single drop of blood from his neck with his thumb. He looked down at his stained skin, then back at me.

"Put the doctor in the vehicle," Lorenzo commanded, his voice returning to that chilling, emotionless baritone. "He’s too valuable to kill on a rug. We'll extract the ledger's location from him at the warehouse."

"No! Leave him alone!" I screamed, thrifting my legs out, trying to kick at the guards as they violently hoisted Dr. Evans’s limp, groaning body off the floor.

"Alina... don't look..." Dr. Evans wheezed, his head sagging as they dragged him out of the room like a sack of garbage.

The heavy oak door slammed shut behind them, leaving only Lorenzo and me in the room.

The silence that followed was suffocating. Lorenzo walked slowly toward the door, his hand resting on the brass handle. He paused, turning his head slightly to look at me over his shoulder. The moonlight caught the sharp edge of his jaw and the stark white bandage on his nose.

"Get some rest, little mouse," Lorenzo murmured, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark promise. "Because tomorrow at dawn, you are going to watch me break him. And if he doesn't talk... you're next."

Click.

The deadbolt slid back into place.

I was left in the pitch black, my wrists bound tighter than before, surrounded by the metallic scent of Dr. Evans's fresh blood on the floor. Tomorrow, they were going to torture the only person who had ever looked out for me. And I had exactly six hours to figure out how to stop it.