Page 217 of Dare To Live

“Bella, give him a chance to explain.” Miles touches my arm.

I glare at him. “Where’s Ivan?”

“In his car. I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

“We know where they are,” Bret says.

My head snaps back to him. “Where?”

“A farmhouse about a quarter of a mile from here. Eli agreed to wear a tracker. Our team has only just got there. They haven’t had a chance to scope out the area yet and figure out a plan. I had to come and collect you.” He shakes his head. “You were supposed to be far away from here, Arabella. Eli promised he’d make sure of that.”

His words send a wave of disbelief through me. “Eli knew about this the whole time?”

“No, just since yesterday.”

“And he what … forgot to mention it?”

Bret takes a step backward. “I asked him not to.”

“What the fuck?” I raise my fist again. This time it’s Miles who stops me.

Eli knew about this, and he kept it from me?

He made love to me over and over last night, knowing that the man who killed his friends was roaming around free. It has to be the reason why he was so adamant about me going back to L.A.

He knew helping the FBI was a risk. That something could go wrong. He kept me from the danger, only to walk into it himself.

“Why aren’t you at the farmhouse rescuing him?”

Bret glances away from me. “Because Ridley has hostages, and there are protocols we have to follow.”

“What kind of protocols?”

“We need to find out what he wants?”

“You know what he wants!” I scream at him. “And now he’s got it!”

Bret hesitates, looking away.

I narrow my eyes.

“He made contact just before Ivan called me.” Bret’s jaw tenses before he meets my stare again. “He wants you to go to him. He says if you go, he’ll release one of his prisoners.”

I should be surprised, but I’m not. After all these years of ensuring I received Zoey’s beloved white lilies, I know I’ve always been on the psycho’s mind, even when he was locked up behind bars.

“And if I say no?”

Bret sighs. “He’ll execute the couple.”

“She’s not going.” Miles grabs my arm. “Bella, tell him you aren’t going.”

I swallow hard and give him a weak smile. “I can’t do that, Miles.”

He shakes his head. “Evan is a maniac. He’ll kill you.”

“He has Eli.” My voice trembles.

I have to do this. If I give myself time to think, I’ll let fear hold me back.

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