“I can’t wait to watch you come with my cock buried inside you. I’ll show you what it means to be with a real man. Your man.” He stood tall, his six-foot height dwarfing me. “I’m gonna give it to you so good you forget you’ve ever had another dick. I’m gonna blow my load all over your tits so you’ll remember who you belong to. We’ll call the doctor and get that IUD out so we can start our family. I can’t wait to see you fat with my kid. Knowing I put it in your belly will keep my cock hard all the time. Just wait, Eden. Life is gonna be so fucking good.”

Chills rippled over me because he meant every single word. He pressed another kiss to my head before he turned and left the room.

Oh my God. I had to get out of there. There was no way in hell I was going to let Angelo have the chance to rape me. And it would be rape, because I’d never let him touch me willingly.

I wanted a chance to save myself? Well, I guess the universe decided to make it count.

I tore through the room, searching for a phone. A laptop. Anything.

Of course, there was nothing. Why would there be? That would be too damn easy.

I rushed to the windows and shoved open the curtains. The glass was frosted, and beyond I could see the shadows of bars.

The connected bathroom didn’t turn up anything useful either—except for a tiny window with more frosted glass. It wouldn’t budge. I jammed all my weight into it, but it held firm.

Did I dare break it? Even if I did, there was no way I’d squeeze myself through the window frame. My hips would never fit. I just wished I could see out and get some idea of where I was.

I needed a plan.

I wasn’t helpless or a liability.

I didn’t need to be rescued. I could rescue myself.

I hoped.

TEN YEARS AGO, I’D LEFT New York in a car I’d stolen in Queens. I dropped it in Pennsylvania and stole another one to get me to Cleveland. With every mile I’d driven, I plotted my revenge, rage and despair tearing through me.

I’d been so fucking cocky, thinking I could win enough counting cards to pay off the loan shark and set us up so we wouldn’t have to worry. When security had come, I’d told Abby to run, but neither of us made it. They’d beaten the fuck out of us both, making it clear that they’d hunt us both until they’d been repaid double. Then they left us in an alley like trash, and Abby was dead by the time I came to. I’d carried her home, tears streaming down my face, as the acrid smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger. The tattoo shop and our apartment above it had both burned with my uncle inside.

Abby’s body had joined my uncle’s in the van to the morgue, and I’d made my plan. I knew they’d be back for their first payment. And I knew I had no way to get it to them.

I had nothing to lose.

So I bought a gun off the street and went looking for the man who’d ordered it all. He took what mattered to me, so I’d take his life.

His offices weren’t far from the shop, and I went looking for him there. Standing in front of a brownstone in Hell’s Kitchen, I’d leveled the gun at his chest as he’d stepped out of the front door, my finger on the trigger.

Until a blond girl had come rushing out of an SUV, raced up the steps, and thrown herself into his arms.

Surprised, I’d jerked, and my shot went wide. Casso’s thugs had swarmed him and rushed the girl into the building.

Now I knew the blond girl I’d almost shot.

Eden.

And now I was going back, ready to trade my life for hers. I didn’t have any false hopes that I’d be making a return flight on the Titan Industries jet.

No, this was coming full circle and ending here.

I was a dead man walking when I stepped off that jet, and I didn’t give a fuck. All that mattered was making sure she was safe. I just didn’t expect everything to come full circle quite like this.

When Simon brought the jet to a stop on the tarmac just before sunrise, we all rose, armed to the teeth and with duffels slung over our shoulders as we waited for Titan to open the door.

“I never have to do this shit myself,” he grumbled as he pushed it open and lowered the steps.

Another jet was parked under giant spotlights a hundred feet away, and Rix stopped short on the tarmac as he studied it. “Same tail numbers as the one that left NOLA. That’s Casso’s jet.”

We all froze.

“Why is it still on the tarmac? Looks like it’s getting ready to fly again,” Con said.

I ran back up the steps to the cockpit as Simon was removing his headset. “Can you check with the tower, ask if that jet is leaving?”

He looked at me and pulled the headset back down. “They might not tell me, but I can try.”

I stood behind him as he radioed and asked for information.

“Roger that.” He lifted the headset off again. “It’s set for takeoff as soon as the passengers are aboard. No more than fifteen minutes.”

Con stood behind me in the doorway. “You think it’s him? Taking your girl somewhere else?”

“Don’t fucking know, but I’m not leaving until we see who’s getting on it.”

Con called the other guys back inside, and I explained.

“Change of plans,” I said. “That might be them. We’re not leaving until I know my girl isn’t here.”

Lord leaned against the cabin wall. “Want to set up a couple sniper positions? Me and Con can take ’em. That way, if shit goes down we can take them out.”

I thought of the airstrip. “Where the hell are you going to do that?”

Lord laughed. “Let us worry about that.”

“We got less than fifteen minutes, so we’re going now.” Con unzipped the duffel and pulled out two rifles. “I’ll keep it low so we don’t get any interest from the tower.”

Con and Lord exited the plane.

“Simon and I can cover you from here. There’s no point in not being totally prepared.” This came from Rix.

“And what about me?” Titan asked.

“You’re with Bish. Don’t let him die.”

“Thanks,” Titan drawled.

We headed down the stairs and Con and Lord were nowhere in sight, already having disappeared to God only knew where. It was easy to forget the brothers had been lethal in the military in their day. Simon and Rix stood like sentries at the stairs, sidearms out of sight.