Tearing my gaze away, I searched for the door. Out. Now.

Men with SWAT vests swarmed the house, and confusion dogged my every step. Who called in the SWAT team?

One of the men slung his gun over his shoulder and rushed toward us. “Thank fuck,” he murmured as he grabbed me and pulled me into him.

I jerked back. “Don’t touch me,” I whispered, my voice harsh and broken.

He pulled away, his hands cupping my jaw before I could shove away. “I got you, duchess.”

My eyes met silver ones through the goggles.

Rix.

In a SWAT uniform.

What? My brain couldn’t keep up.

“Let’s get you out of here. Come on.”

He bustled me out the front door hanging drunkenly off its hinges. We reached a black Suburban, and Rix shoved the goggles up off his face and onto the helmet.

“Are you okay?”

That question again.

I nodded, but my heart rate accelerated. Tears stung my eyes at the concern in his gaze.

I wanted to turn away. Didn’t want him to see me like this.

Be strong, Valentina. Don’t break. Don’t let him see you break.

I tried to focus on him, not on the pathetic mess I knew I was. “Why are you wearing a uniform?” My words came out faint and shaky.

Rix ignored my question and ran his hands over my face, hair, arms, and hands. “Fuck. You got some cuts.” I opened my mouth to ask my question again, when Rix returned to the tender spot on my temple. “Already bruising, duchess. Dammit. We need to get you to the ER to get checked out.”

I couldn’t think about my injuries or I’d fail in my promise to myself not to let him see me break. Instead, I grabbed his hand as he smoothed my hair away from my face.

“Why are you wearing a SWAT uniform?”

The man who’d brought me down the stairs joined us at the SUV. “Good to have you back, man. Just like we trained at the academy.”

Academy?

“You want to get her out of here? No one needs to know you were here. Don’t want to blow your cover.” He dug keys out of his pocket and handed them off to Rix.

Blow your cover?

Even in the chaos of my mind, it all slid together. My gaze shot to Rix. His face was hard, but one thing was clear.

Rix wasn’t Rix.

And he’d been lying to me since the day we met.

The knowledge rocked me as the confession bled into his gaze. I didn’t need him to reply to know it was true. Rix isn’t Rix.

Jerking out of his arms, I stumbled back. He let me go—another confession of guilt.

“Who are you?” My voice shook, and the mess of my emotions rammed together like fists to flesh.

I was going to break. I was going to lose it. He was my safety. The one solid thing I could count on. And he wasn’t real. He was a lie.

“Thank fuck, you got her.” Another familiar voice joined the rush of static in my head.

Rhett came around the SUV. Rhett. The man who’d seen me at my worst before, and it had changed his opinion of me forever, no matter what he’d said.

“Who are you?” I demanded again.

Rix’s mouth tightened. “Beauregard Hendrix. NOPD. Undercover.”

The words were like a kick to the gut, shattering my ability to hold it together. Everything was a lie.

“I don’t even know you.”

His silver gaze pierced me. “I’m the same man I was before, duchess.”

I swallowed as hot tears spilled over. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t do this.”

I tore my eyes away from Rix, or whoever he was, and found Rhett. I spun and threw myself into his arms.

“Get me out of here,” I begged. The whole of me was falling to pieces. A full-on breakdown was imminent, and that wasn’t something I wanted anyone to see.

Rhett closed his arms around me. “Shhh. It’s okay. You’re fine. You’re just fine, honey.”

“Get me out of here,” I said again, my voice raw with the sobs I was holding back. “Now. Please.”

“Okay. We’re going.” Over my head, he spoke to someone else. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”

The thought of once again finding myself battered and bruised in a hospital bed, Rhett sitting across from me, shredded the remainder of my control. Sobs broke free, racking my body. He held me tighter, and I wanted to curl into myself and never come out.

I’m broken. I’m truly broken.

WATCHING AS VALENTINA SHRANK AWAY from me and threw herself into the arms of another man ripped at my insides. Fuck. I wanted to tear her away from Hennessy and hold her close to make sure she was okay, but the look on her face told me everything I needed to know.

She didn’t want me touching her.

That knowledge was enough to bring a man to his knees. But to fight for her, I’d stand strong.

And there’s no way in hell I wasn’t following them to the hospital. I wasn’t letting her go. I’d make her understand.

Fuck. I would not lose her. Not over this. Not over any goddamned thing.

I watched as Hennessy loaded her into his Jeep and rounded the hood. When he met my eyes, there was no triumph in his gaze.

I nodded at him. He knew I wasn’t backing down.

The taillights lit up, and he drove away with the only woman who’d ever own me.

Be ready, Valentina. I’m coming for you. Every fucking time.

I’D SEEN HER CRUMPLE BEFORE, but this time it was worse. Valentina Noble wasn’t a woman on the edge; she was a woman who’d fallen off a cliff.

I’d seen it more than once. Victims of trauma, especially rape, who were faced with another traumatic experience often regressed dramatically due to flashbacks. Valentina wasn’t just battling the situation we’d pulled her out of. She was battling herself. And in her case, it was the strongest enemy she had.

Dried blood marred her arms, legs, and face. I wanted to clean her up, but that could wait until she was in the ER. Her safety—not her appearance—was all that mattered.

Her sobs had subsided, but I didn’t take that as a good sign. Tears still streamed down her cheeks.

“Honey, you just hold on. We’re gonna get you all fixed up again, and the last few hours will be like they never happened.”

She didn’t respond for several minutes, and when she did, her voice was quiet and shaky. “You can’t change the fact that I love him, and all he’s ever done is lie to me.” Her breaths came out ragged and harsh.