Page 80 of Forbidden Bond

“I’ve been watching you. I followed you when you left your friend’s house this morning. Luckily for me, you were all alone. I messed with your car when you went into that drugstore. Then I waited for you to drive past me.”

He’s planned it all meticulously. Down to every last detail. I start to feel faint. Leeman gets back to his feet and glances at Stacey with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Get comfortable, Katherine. Because you’re never getting out of here.”

I can’t breathe. I think I’m hyperventilating. Or dying. Leeman offers a cruel smirk as he stares down at me. It isn’t until he walks out and closes the basement door that I allow the darkness to swallow me.

CHAPTER 24

Topher

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”It’s a quote I’ve always liked, and it’s been burned into my brain for years. It’s never made more sense to me than it does in this moment. It honestly feels like I might die right now. Because Katherine’s gone. And I have no idea where she is.

I called my brothers first and then I called the cops ten minutes ago. It’s been twenty minutes since I got here to pick up my girl, thinking she’d be waiting for me. But she was gone. Her phone was on the ground, her purse was on the chair but she was nowhere to be found.

Something icy had slid up my veins. I’d yelled her name for two minutes and then I called for help. Then I made a call to a place I could never have imagined before today, the FBI office and asked for James Malone.

My brothers get here first. Then the cops and, finally, Katherine’s father arrive. He beelines for me and I barely have any time to prepare before he throws a punch at my jaw. I’m not sure I could have dodged it even if I wanted to. I’m numb. Carlo has to physically restrain him.

“You motherfucker!” James Malone yells. “This is all your fault. You and your fucking family. I knew this would happen.”

“Calm the hell down,” Christian orders sharply, staring down at the older man. “We had nothing to do with this.”

One of the cops walks over, asking for my statement. I tell them everything.

“She told me she’d wait for me here. I was coming to pick her up,” I say.

The officer in front of me nods. “And she didn’t give you any inclination that she would get a ride elsewhere?”

My eyes narrow into a glare. “What are you insinuating? That she left on her own? Without her phone or her purse?”

“I’m trying not to rule out possible explanations, sir,” the officer says. He glances nervously at my brother beside me. I guess Christian’s reputation precedes him. “In cases like this, the victim probably disappeared on her own.”

“That’s fucking bullshit,” I state.

“Sir—”

“Enough!” Malone yells. He fixes his tie before shoving Carlo away and stepping forward. He looks at the officer. “This is a federal investigation now.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little rash?” Christian drawls.

“Katherine was kidnapped.”

Blood rushes to my head at that. I keep imagining her somewhere, scared out of her mind.

“That seems obvious enough,” Christian states, staring at him. “But we can’t rule out that it could be a hostage situation that can be easily resolved.” His eyes flick to me. “Someone might have taken her due to her affiliations with my family.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that your family of criminals has no shortage of enemies that would want to harm my daughter for associating with you,” he says, his blue eyes icy and hard. “But unfortunately, I know exactly who has my daughter.”

“Who?” I ask through gritted teeth.

Malone looks away. Fear flickers in his expression. “Charles Leeman was released from jail two months ago.”

It takes me a minute to place the name. When I do, I’m walking forward and grabbing the man at the collar of his shirt.

“Please tell me you’re fucking joking.”

He’s taller than me. His expression remains cool as he stares down at me.

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