Page 129 of The Rancher's Secret Relationship

“All I want in return is that you let Elizabeth and Sunlight go. Unharmed. I’ll forget you ever existed, and you’ll do the same.”

Tension filled the air as Dantes visibly struggled to make a decision. His hands trembled, and he kept glancing at Elizabeth, then back at Flint, as if weighing his options. The drugs were clearly making it hard for him to think clearly, but the fear of STRAKH was cutting through the haze.

Flint knew people would think him an idiot to take such a crazy gamble.

But he didn’t give a damn.

This wasHiswisdom, and Flint had never felt more certain in his entire life.

“I know you took my phone,” Flint said. “I have them in my Contacts. Just type six spaces, and their number will show up. Ask them anything to prove who they are to you.”

“I swear, if this is a fucking trap—”

“Youwon,” Flint stressed. “That’s all there is to this.”

“And you’re doing it for her, is that it?”

Flint met Dantes’ contemptuous gaze unflinchingly. “Yes.”

The other man glanced at Elizabeth, then back at Flint, his expression torn between rage and fear.

“You’ll be on the run for the rest of your life if you kill me now,” Flint said quietly. “This is the only chance for both of us to end it.”

Dantes stared at him for what felt like an eternity, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. Finally, he reached for the phone, his fingers fumbling as he unlocked it.

“You better fucking be telling the truth...”

True Love's Lick

THEY COVER OUR EYESand shove us out of the van. My knees crash into the icy ground, the cold piercing me like a blade. The snow stings my palms, and the sharp air burns my lungs with every breath. Around me, the wind howls like a creature of the night, but even that can’t drown out the frantic hammering of my heart.

I start counting to sixty as they ordered, my voice trembling.

“One...two...three...”

The crunch of tires grinding against snow echoes in the distance. They’re speeding away, leaving us unharmed. Just as they promised.

By the time I reach thirty-eight, the sound of the van fades into silence. The wind dies down, leaving only my broken voice to shatter the eerie stillness.

I know it’s over.

I know we've been saved.

But my body doesn’t seem to believe it. My hands won't stop shaking, and my tears keep falling.

Hands pull me up, gentle but firm, and the blindfold slips away. The taut lines of Flint’s handsome face come into focus, his violet eyes raw and unguarded.

“I’m sorry,” he says hoarsely. “This should never have—”

I cup his face with trembling hands, and the words I promised myself I’d say come tumbling out.

“I l-love you.”

His eyes close, his jaw tightening. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispers. “But I promise—”

A wet, sloppy sound interrupts him, his words cut short by the sloppy lick of true love.

“What the—”

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