All Chapters of A BILLIONAIRE'S PROMISE: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The figure led her away from the bridge, through narrow streets and alleys that twisted like secrets. Ella followed without speaking, her eyes fixed on the back of the hooded jacket in front of her. She memorized every turn, every landmark, every possible escape route. Not that it would matter. Not that she had any intention of running.They stopped at a van parked behind an abandoned warehouse. The figure opened the side door and gestured for her to get in.Ella hesitated. Once she got inside, there would be no turning back. No chance to call for help. No chance to warn anyone. She would be at their mercy completely.But Xander was already inside somewhere, tied to a chair, blindfolded, waiting for her. She couldn't abandon him. Wouldn't.She climbed into the van.---The ride was short. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. The windows were blacked out, so she couldn't see where they were going. She counted the turns instead. Left, right, left again. The roads grew rougher, the ride bumpier,

The knife slipped from Xander's fingers twice before he got a proper grip.His hands were slick with sweat, his fingers numb from the cold and the fear that had been coursing through him since they'd been trapped in this basement. Ella watched him work, her own hands pressed against the rough concrete wall behind her, trying to stay out of his way while staying close enough to help if he needed her.The bomb sat silent in the corner, its frozen timer still reading 00:02:43. Neither of them trusted it to stay that way. The wire was cut, but who knew if Isabella had installed a backup. Who knew if the silence was temporary, a brief respite before the real explosion.Xander positioned the blade against the chain of his handcuffs. The metal was cheap, rusted in places, but it held firm against his first attempt. He tried again, sawing back and forth, the blade scraping against the links with a sound that set Ella's teeth on edge.The third attempt worked. The chain snapped, and Xander's l

The gun never wavered.Isabella stood by the window, her back to the city lights, the black metal gleaming in her hand. She'd been standing there for twenty minutes, waiting, watching, her eyes darting between Ella and the door. Every few seconds, she glanced at her phone, checking for a message that hadn't come.Ella sat on the couch, her hands folded in her lap, her breathing carefully controlled. She'd stopped shaking after the first ten minutes. The fear was still there, coiled in her stomach like a snake, but she'd learned to live with fear over the past few months. This was just more of the same. A different setting, a different weapon, but the same enemy."He's not coming," Ella said.Isabella's eyes snapped toward her. "What?""Xander. He's not coming. He doesn't know I'm in danger. You haven't told him.""I will.""Then tell him." Ella kept her voice calm. "Call him. Text him. Whatever you're going to do, do it. This waiting isn't helping anyone."Isabella's grip on the gun t

The hallway outside the operating room was cold.Not the kind of cold that came from open windows or poor heating. The kind of cold that settled into bones, that made waiting feel like punishment, that reminded everyone sitting in the plastic chairs that life was fragile and unpredictable and over in an instant.Ella had been sitting here for three hours. She'd lost track of time somewhere around the second hour, when the numbness had set in and the tears had stopped and all that was left was the waiting. Just waiting. Just breathing. Just trying not to imagine what was happening on the other side of those double doors.Clara sat beside her, holding her hand. Liam sat on her other side, his presence solid and quiet. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say. The doctors had been clear: the surgery was complicated, the bullet had come close to Xander's heart, and there was no guarantee he would survive.Ella had signed the forms. Had watched Xander's body disappear through the do

The morning light was soft, filtered through the blinds in thin stripes that fell across Xander's face. Ella had been watching him sleep for nearly an hour, tracking the rise and fall of his chest, counting the beats between breaths, reminding herself that he was alive. The nightmares had faded over the past few days, but the fear hadn't. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the gun. Every time she blinked, she saw him fall.She held his hand, her thumb tracing slow circles on his palm. The doctors said he was improving, that his vitals were strong, that he'd be moved to a regular room soon. But she wouldn't believe it until she saw him walk out of the hospital on his own two feet. Until she heard him laugh again. Until she could look at him without seeing the blood spreading across his chest.His fingers twitched.Ella froze, her breath catching in her throat. She'd felt twitches before—involuntary movements, muscle spasms, the body's random signals. But this felt different. This