Page 12 of Dangerous Proposal

I take a deep, steadying breath before lifting myself onto the ledge and swinging myself out. Somehow, I easily catch the wood, and my grip tightens. Once I’ve got a good hold, I start my descent to the ground.

My feet hit solid earth, and I turn around, checking every direction. Surprisingly, there’s no one watching me as I make my escape. I take off toward the line of trees at the edge of the property.

When I reach the trees, I’m not surprised to find a fence hidden behind the foliage. I sigh and start walking along the edge of the property, checking for any weak spots. There’s nothing obvious, but I find a section that’s overgrown with vines. After a brief pep talk to myself, I start climbing the metal fence.

As I walk away from the house Red brought me to, my heart pounds. I’m sure any minute now, he’s going to appear and drag me back. I’ll only have a few more minutes of freedom before he catches up.

My shoulders stay tight, but the further I get from the house, the more my body relaxes. Eventually, I let out a small giggle. I can’t believe I managed to escape. It feels almost criminally easy. I shouldn’t have been able to climb out of a window and over a fence like that, but somehow, I did. My luck must still be with me. I just need to get home, and this will all be a bad memory. Maybe I’ll even unpack it all in therapy one day.

By the time I’m two blocks away from the house, I realize I’m in a part of town I don’t recognize. Groaning inwardly, I stop and take a proper look around. I don’t know any of the street names. I glance up and take note of the skyscrapers in the distance. I start heading toward them. Once I hit the numbered streets, I’ll have a better sense of where I am.

Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed that I don’t know where I am. I can’t believe I let myself get so distracted by Red that I didn’t even realize where we were going. This is definitely a learning experience. I can’t let anything like this happen again.

I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I don’t hear the sound of footsteps pounding down the sidewalk behind me until it’s too late. I spin around, eyes wide. Instinctively, I raise my hands to protect my face, but it’s useless.

The man in front of me grabs my wrist hard, and a sharp pain shoots through my arm. I’m terrified he might break it, but I try to pull myself out of his grasp. It’s futile. He’s so much stronger than I am. Still, I won’t give up without a fight.

“Let me go!” I shout, stomping my heel down hard on his toes.

He hisses in pain, but his grip tightens, pulling me against his chest. I can feel his hot breath on my neck, and my stomach turns in disgust. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the intimacy of the moment.

“You’re the whore that Red brought home, aren’t you?” he growls. I bristle at the name but can’t force myself to speak. My whole body is frozen in fear. “Maybe we can use you for negotiations. Hit him where it hurts, huh?”

Panic surges in my chest as I realize that this man isn’t one of Red’s men. Instead of being taken back to the safety of Red’s house, I’m going somewhere much worse. The realization is almost enough to paralyze me.

I fight against the fear, throwing my head back into his chest. He grunts in pain, the wind knocked out of him. I take that moment to twist out of his grasp, and while his grip on my wrist is still firm, I land a quick, hard kick right between his legs.

For a second, I feel the sweet rush of freedom. I turn on my heel, adrenaline surging, and sprint down the road. I make it less than half a block before I feel arms wrap around me again. Whoever this is, they’re stronger than the first guy, their hold even tighter. Before I can scream, a rag is pressed over my mouth.

I gasp for air, but it’s no use. I know what they’re trying to do—knock me out. My head spins as the rag covers my face, my body fighting the urge to surrender to unconsciousness.

I kick and twist, holding my breath, trying to fight the darkness. I can feel myself slipping, my vision blurring, but I keep pushing, keep fighting. I have to stay awake; I have to get away.

The world goes black.

Chapter Nine

RED

“We’ll have to give him back,” I groan, leaning back in my chair, my gaze locked on the ceiling. “I don’t like it either, but we can’t give them a reason to retaliate. We’ve already hurt him and the other two enough.”

Jace raises an eyebrow, his arms crossed. “But they fucked with Brandy. Doesn’t that count as keeping their brat?”

“I get what you’re saying,” I mutter, meeting his eyes. “Trust me, I do. And I’m pissed too. But if I hadn’t been distracted, those guys wouldn’t have made it past the front door. They’re small-time, and from what I can tell, they came here just to scare us. We sent them packing.”

“You really are going soft, huh?” Jace smirks, a glint of challenge in his voice.

“I haven’t gone soft,” I snap, slamming my hand down on the table. “I’m trying to be smart. The last thing we need is to start a turf war over this. A warning is enough.”

“Red–” he starts to say, but the door bursts open before he can finish.

The room falls silent, all eyes shifting to the man who stormed in. He pauses, a breath catching in his chest, clearly not expecting us to still be in the middle of a heated debate. If I were soft, I might’ve felt bad for him.

“What?” I ask, impatience slipping into my tone. I’ve been away from Evie for too long, and I need to explain things to her. Once I’m done with this mess, I can get back to her—get back to making her mine again.

“Your girl…” The words hit me like a punch to the gut. “She’s not in her room. And we just got a message from our rival’s president. They said they have her.”

My stomach twists, and the air in my lungs vanishes. “Fuck,” I growl, standing up so fast that my chair crashes to the floor. “Where is she? Did they set up a meeting point?”

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