Excerpt from Chapter One
The light ahead turns red and I stop at the crosswalk, pulling out my phone to check Isabelle’s message.
That’s when I feel it.
That prickling awareness at the back of my neck.
Someone is watching me.
I turn—
—and a hand clamps over my mouth.
Shock freezes me just long enough for another arm to lock around my waist, lifting me off my feet. My phone slips from my fingers and clatters to the pavement as I’m dragged backward.
I try to scream, but the hand over my mouth presses harder, cutting off the sound.
No—no no no—
I thrash, kicking wildly, but it’s like fighting iron. He doesn’t even flinch.
I’m hauled into an alley, the bright city vanishing behind me as shadows close in. The smell hits next—garbage, rot, something sour and unclean—and panic claws up my throat.
At the end of the alley, a van waits. Door open. Dark inside.
They’re shoving me toward it.
I fight harder, twisting, trying to bite, but someone grabs my wrists and wrenches them behind my back hard enough to make me gasp.
“Be easier if we drugged her,” one voice mutters.
“Boss wants her clean,” another replies. “You think we can’t handle one girl?”
One girl.
I try to scream again, but it comes out muffled against his palm as I’m shoved forward into darkness.
The van swallows me whole.
I hit the floor hard, metal digging into my side. Before I can even process it, something bites into my wrists—tight plastic.
Zip ties.
“Careful,” that same voice says. “No damage.”
“Please—” I choke out, but something is yanked over my head, cutting off my vision. Fabric presses against my face, stealing my breath.
The door slams.
The engine is already running.
And then we’re moving.
I scream.
I can’t help it. Terror rips through me, raw and uncontrollable. One second I was walking to meet a friend—and now—
Now I’ve been kidnapped.
The word doesn’t feel real.
But what else could this be?
“Breathe through your nose,” a voice says, flat and controlled. “You’re hyperventilating.”
I don’t want to listen.
But I can’t breathe.
So I do it anyway. In through my nose. Out through my mouth. Again. Again.
The panic doesn’t go away, but it dulls enough that I can think.
Why me?
I don’t have enemies. I don’t know anything worth stealing. I’m not important enough for this.
Unless—
My father.
The thought hits hard. His business. His money.
Is this about him?
But nothing about his world suggests this. He’s careful. Clean. Legitimate.
So what the hell is this?
“How long?” someone asks.
“Twenty minutes.”
“Remember—no marks.”
No marks.
The words echo in my head, sending a different kind of chill through me.
I’m not a person to them.
I’m cargo.
The van slows.
Stops.
Voices outside. A door. Movement.
My heart slams against my ribs.
This is it.
Hands grab me, hauling me upright. My legs stumble beneath me, stiff and useless as they half-carry me forward.
Gravel crunches under my feet.
Then a door opens—
Cool air washes over me.
I’m dragged inside, across smooth flooring, and forced down into a chair. Something tight wraps around my chest and arms, pinning me in place.
Then the hood is yanked off.
Light blinds me.
I blink rapidly, vision clearing—and freeze.
This isn’t what I expected.
I’m in an office.
A beautiful one.
Dark wood desk. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Leather. Books. Money in every detail.
Power.
The men who brought me here stand nearby in tailored suits, silent and still.
Waiting.
“For what?” I demand, forcing my voice steady. “If this is about money, my father will pay. Whatever you want—he’ll pay it.”
No one answers.
The silence stretches, suffocating.
“Please,” I try again. “Just tell me what you want.”
Nothing.
Then—
Footsteps.
Heavy. Measured.
Getting closer.
Every man in the room straightens instantly.
Whoever is coming… he’s in charge.
The door opens.
I can’t see him fully yet, just the edge of a broad shoulder, the outline of a man who carries authority like a weapon.
The air shifts when he steps inside.
And then he speaks.
Low. Cold. Controlled.
With a faint Russian accent.
“This isn’t the right woman.”