LOGINELARAThe drive to Vermont takes four hours and seventeen minutes.I know because I count every one of them.Damien sits beside me in the back of the SUV, his hand wrapped around mine, while his thumb traces slow circles against my skin. It should be comforting. It is comforting. But every mile that passes feels like a countdown, and I can't shake the feeling that we're driving toward something we can't take back.Marcus sits in the second row with one of Hayes's men. He hasn't spoken since we left the city. He just stares out the window with the hollow eyes like he is finally reckoning with the weight of everything they've done.I don't feel sorry for him.But I don't hate him either. Not anymore. He's just another person Elena used and discarded when she was done.She has a gift for that.Hayes rides up front, running logistics on his tablet, coordinating with Detective Morrison, with the Vermont State Police, and with Damien's security consultants already positioned near Woodstock.
DAMIENI'm in the car with Hayes, Marcus Reid secured in the back seat, when Elara's text comes through."Elena's missing," I tell Hayes. "Change of plans. We need to find her before she gets too far.""Or before she does something desperate," Hayes adds grimly. "Cornered narcissists are dangerous."Marcus speaks up from the back seat. "She has a backup plan. She always does."I turn to look at him. "Explain.""When we first started working together, Elena told me she had contingencies for every scenario. If things went south, she had places to go, identities to use, with money stashed away." Marcus looks at us nervously. "She said she'd been planning her escape route since high school. Just in case.""Since high school?" That's fifteen years of preparation. "Where would she go?""I don't know the specifics. She kept that information compartmentalized, she said if I didn't know, I couldn't tell anyone even if I wanted to." Marcus shifts uncomfortably. "But she mentioned Canada once. S
ELARAThat evening, as we're doing final preparations to leave for the safe house, my mother calls me.I almost don't answer. But something makes me pick up."Mom.""Elara, sweetheart, we need to talk." She sounds tired and defeated. "About Elena.""There's nothing to talk about...""She's in trouble. Real trouble. The police called us today. Said they're preparing to arrest her for fraud and conspiracy." My mom's voice breaks. "They said she could go to prison for decades.""She committed crimes, Mom . Serious crimes. She should go to prison.""But she's your sister. Our daughter. We can't just abandon her.""She abandoned herself when she chose to destroy people for sport." I'm so tired of this conversation. "Mom, she orchestrated a murder plot. She hacked into federal databases. She framed Damien for securities fraud. These aren't mistakes. This is who she is.""She's sick, Elara. She needs help, not prison.""Then she should have gotten help before she committed felonies." My voic
DAMIENMarcus Reid sits across from me in the empty building, looking like a man who's just been handed a life preserver."Elena's calling me." He holds up his phone, showing the three missed calls. "She never calls three times in a row. She's freaking out.""Because she knows you've been compromised." I lean back against a concrete pillar. "The question is, what are you going to tell her when you call back?""What do you want me to tell her?""The truth. That you're scared. That the SEC is closing in and that you want out." I meet his eyes. "But not that you've met with me or that you're cooperating. You play it straight, like a nervous partner who's getting cold feet.""She'll know something's wrong.""Let her. Paranoid Elena makes mistakes. Comfortable Elena is dangerous." I check my watch. "Call her back. Put it on speaker. Let's hear what she says."Marcus dials with shaking hands. Elena answers on the first ring."Where the fuck have you been?" She didn't bother with greeting. T
DAMIENBy next morning, I recieve Hayes texts at 6 AM.Hayes: Marcus Reid has been acquired. He's at the foundation site. Though he is confused but he is cooperative. How do you want to handle this?Me: Give me thirty minutes. I'll meet you there.I slip out of bed without waking Elara, dress up quickly, and leave a note on the pillow: Meeting with Marcus. Back soon. Stay inside. -DThe foundation building looks skeletal in the early morning light, bare concrete and steel beams, frozen mid-construction.Marcus Reid is sitting on a plastic crate in the center of the empty first floor, flanked by two of Hayes's security team, looking so terrified."Mr. Reid." I approach him slowly, in a non-threatening manner. "Thank you for agreeing to meet.""I didn't agree to anything. Your people grabbed me off the street...""My people offered you a ride to discuss a business opportunity. You accepted." I sit on a crate across from him. "But you're right. This isn't voluntary. So let's be honest wi
ELARAI kiss him then, pouring all my gratitude, fear and desperate hope into it.Damien meets me with the same raw intensity that II felt his mouth is slow and deliberate, like he’s memorizing the shape of my mouth all over again. There is no rush or frantic act of tearing at our clothes. Just this deep, searching kiss that tastes like relief and everything we’ve been too afraid to say out loud until now.His hands slide under my shirt, as he glides his warm palms up my ribs, his thumbs brushes the undersides of my breasts. He breaks the kiss only long enough to pull the fabric over my head, then returns immediately, his lips trail down my jaw, throat, and the sensitive spot just below my ear that makes my breath hitch. I tilt my head back, offering more skin to him.He lays me down gently onto the rumpled sheets that still smell faintly of last night’s sweat and sex and he settles above me, he braced his weight on his forearms so he doesn’t crush me. His eyes never leave mine.“I lov
DAMEINPlease what?" I bite her shoulder, hard enough to leave teeth marks. "Use your words, baby.""Fuck me." Her voice is raw, desperate. "I need you inside me. Now."I slide two fingers into her roughly, without warning or preparation beyond her own arousal. She's so wet they glide in easily, an
ELARAI can see the shift in Damien's expression, from protective fear to that predatory look he has when he becomes interested in messing someone up."What are you thinking?" I ask.He sets down the phone and comes to sit beside me on the bed. "Lucas is hunting you. That makes you prey, which puts
ELARAThe elevator ride to our suite feels endless. Damien’s hand rests low on my back, his thumb tracing slow circles through the silk of my dress, each pass sending heat curling low in my belly. The doors slide open with a soft chime, and he guides me inside, the city lights of Tokyo glittering b
DAMIENHayes clears his throat. "Sir, we've triangulated the last three calls to Elena. They all originated from a two-block radius in Williamsburg. It is a heavy industrial area with lots of abandoned buildings. Perfect place to hide.""Send a team. I want discrete surveillance only. If they spot







