Page 124 of The Last Promise You Made

My eyes returned to the television, hating every moment that I was forced to stand there, knowing this was exactly what Jaime wanted. He wanted me to feel helpless, jealous, and angry.

But what he didn’t realize was Gia didn’t really need my help. Not yet. Maybe never. She knew what she was doing in that room. I’d said I trusted her, and I would. I’d trust her to get herself the hell out of there. I had to believe she could, because if I didn’t… I couldn’t even let myself think it.

Jaime moved to a table at the side of the room where a laptop awaited. He plugged the flash drive in, hit some keys, swiped the screen, typed some more, and turned to glance at her with narrowed eyes. “Where’s the malware? The back door the NSA loves to plant.”

“I don’t expect you to trust me right away, but I’ve already told you why I’m here. The NSA doesn’t even know I broke the code. I’m here for myself and the life I can have if I choose correctly.”

What was she talking about? What life was she choosing? What had she told him? My heart rate spiked. Not with doubt, but with fear that whatever she was playing at might backfire.

He fiddled with the computer some more, checking for who knew what. He messed around for so long I was afraid he’d find the Trojan horse Rory had said Ravyn had planted. Laredo turned back and said, “It’s encrypted. Just like the one I already have. How does this help me?”

“Because I have the key.”

He laughed, a dry, cynical laugh. “If I couldn’t figure out my sister’s password, there is no way you could. You know nothing of Natalia. I am the one who spent my childhood playing games with her and spent my teen years shielding her from our father. I am the one who gave her the freedom she tossed back in my face. I know everything there is to know about my sister, and I still couldn’t unlock it.”

Gia moved toward him with a grace and confidence that took my breath away even over a damn screen. When she reached him, she gave him a careless shrug.

“I’ve spent years lying to my family about who I am. My brother knows nothing about the real me.”

“I knew my sister.” His voice was a barely controlled warning, screaming at Gia to stop, even though he hadn’t raised his voice.

Her chin went up, defiance in those eyes. “You didn’t know she was screwing Ryder Hatley. You didn’t even know she had a daughter. Ryder knew more about the real her than you did.”

His hand collided with her cheek, sending her face jerking to the side and requiring her to step back and steady herself on the table. My arm swung automatically in response, connecting with the beast next to me, and the hand holding his gun flung upward. I followed the first hit with a thrust to his nose and a knee to his groin. He grunted, countering my movements before shoving the gun into my temple.

I stilled.

“He wants you alive. Do not make me kill you and anger him,” the beast said just as, on the television, Jaime said, “Is this how you would try to win my trust?”

“You said you would require honesty. I’m giving it to you.”

Jaime’s hand wrapped around Gia’s neck, drawing her close. “You’ve overplayed your hand. I don’t need you.”

“If you didn’t, you’d already be using the Houdini box she created. You’d already have taken over the world one system at a time.”

His eyes narrowed, but his lip curled up, making him look a thousand times more demonic than ever before. “But a wolf whelp brought me a present today. A way to get the code without ever having to accept your offer. Would you like to see it?”

He turned on a television hung on the wall across from the bed, flipping through several screens until he found the one he wanted. As I registered what was on it, my heart shattered and broke, and I let out a roar of agonized fury.

A cot was the only thing in the cinderblock room, and lying on it, covered entirely by a black blanket, was a slight body. Next to the blanket was a stuffed jaguar, and on the floor beside the bed was a purple backpack I knew well. I knew every item stuffed inside it. They were things my daughter loved most and ensured she had when she needed to run.

Gia was talking. I could see her mouth moving, could see Jaime respond, but I couldn’t hear any of it over the thundering need to get to Addy, to save her from the demon her mother had run from.

My gaze landed on a large marble bust on the table next to me. I hunched, clutching my stomach as if in despair and ensuring the barrel of the gun dropped from my forehead as I picked the bust up and swung at the beast’s head. In his attempt to block it, he moved the gun, and a shot went off with a quiet puff. I swung again, catching him on the cheek this time with a satisfying crunch. His fist connected with my jaw, sending my head reeling and blood bursting from my lip. I ducked the second punch, spinning around and catching him in the temple with the bust, using a ferocity I’d never applied in my life. He’d barely crumbled to the floor before I’d stolen the gun from his slack fingers and headed for the door.

It was locked. A panel required a thumbprint on this side as well as on the outside. I aimed the gun at the pad, shot it, and was satisfied to hear the lock click open. I pushed out of the room just as I heard a moan behind me. The black hallway greeted me. Where the hell was Addy?

I raced to the next door, shot the keypad there, pushed it open, and was greeted with an office. I spun around, heading for the next door. I couldn’t shoot them all open. I’d run out of bullets. But what other option did I have?

“Addy!” I screamed, listening for a quiet response. Could she even find her voice enough to respond if she was scared out of her mind?

Behind me, the door to the room I’d been in slammed against a wall, the noise shattering the silence.

A bloodied beast emerged, fury registering in those cold eyes.

I spun, banging on the next door with the butt of the gun, calling my daughter’s name again.

The man stalked toward me. A deadliness in his look left me with no doubts he’d easily anger his boss now to get revenge for the blows I’d landed.

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