CHAPTER 24
OLIVER
My thumb hovers over Kaleo’s contact on my phone screen, but my hand trembles so damn hard I can barely keep my grip. I’ve been exhausted before, but it’s never felt like this.
This feels like it isn’t just my body that needs rest, but my heart and my soul.
Come on, Ollie…
All you have to do is press the green button.
Press the call button, tell Kaleo to get the plane ready, prep the route, and get the hell out of New York.
It is as easy as it gets… But my finger refuses to move.
Even walking down this quiet, beautiful street, with no one in sight, I feel like I’m choking. I can barely breathe.
Damn it! I want to see him… at least one last time.
I want to memorize the temperature of Damián’s skin, the smell of his cedar-mint deodorant, and the way his gorgeous brown eyes look at me like I am the only thing that matters in the world.
But I can’t…
If I see him, I won’t leave.
I know myself, and I am too damn weak when it comes to him. I know without a doubt that if I look into his eyes and he reaches out, I will selfishly attach myself to him and drag him right down into the absolute hell my life is about to become.
And I can’t.
I love him too much to be this selfish.
Ugh… it hurts.
Leaving him hurts so much.
But I love Damián so much that I’ll gladly deal with this pain just to make sure he, his family, and his friends are safe.
Because even though Rafael and my father are dead, dozens of cartels and corrupt assholes know me now as the man who burned down their stupid empires, and there is no way I will let Damián get caught in the crossfire.
I won’t let his mother, his sister, cute little Carlitos, or the Harknetts get hurt because of me.
Never again. Not after they almost died because of my brother.
I refuse to let my toxic bloodline destroy another family, to hurt and abuse others.
Okay, let’s do this, Ollie. Disappear so they can be safe.
Do it for them…
Do it for him.
I blink away my tears, move my thumb to click Kaleo’s name, and—
SCREEEEECH!
I jump, horrified, as a white van swerves around the corner and cuts off my path on the sidewalk.
The side door slides open, and a huge man wearing a balaclava lunges out, wrapping his arms around my waist, lifting me off the sidewalk, and tossing me into the open space at the back of the van.
I am two seconds away from screaming bloody murder and fighting for my life when a voice I recognize yells at the huge man.
“Freaking hell, bror!” Leif gasps in horror, slamming the door shut as we speed away. “What part of ‘be careful when you kidnap Ollie’ didn’t you get?”
“You can’t carefully kidnap someone.”
“What the hell, Bjorn?” I smack his arm. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Argh! See, Leif? Now, thanks to you, Ollie knows I’m the kidnapper,” Bjorn complains, pulling off his balaclava.
“You are the only one in here wearing a balaclava, and you’re covered in tattoos, Bjorn. Leif didn’t have to use your name for me to know it was you,” I point out, glaring at the giant Viking who is currently grinning at me.
“Surprise!” he cheers.
I look around the van. The entire back area is a wide-open space with no seats. Bjorn is grinning; next to him is Leif, who is giving me an apologetic wave.
At least one of them has a conscience…
Alexios is in the driver’s seat, completely ignoring us to focus on driving. And sitting directly across from me is Tae, who is holding a syringe filled with clear liquid. He leans forward, aiming the needle right at my thigh.
I flinch, but before Tae can stab me, Leif grabs his wrist.
“Tae…”
“It will only knock him out.”
“Absolutely not. Damián will kill us if something happens to Oliver.”
“Relax. The injection is perfectly safe. Besides, I added a dose of vitamin B12 and magnesium. Have you looked at his skin? He is paler than usual, has shortness of breath, and looks like he’s about to pass out. The man clearly has a deficiency.”
“Tae! You’re not stabbing me with—wait, do I really have a deficiency?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Meh… medium bad.”
Mmm… I have been feeling like shit lately.
“Fine. Yes to the vitamins, but no to the passing out.”
Tae smiles, pulls his medic bag closer, and starts checking vials. “Is there anything else you are experiencing? Headaches, fatigue, heart palpitations, dizziness, or a lack of concentration?”
“…All of the above?”
He stares at me from head to toe, puts down the medicine vials, and takes a saline bag out of the kit.
Holy crap…
“Tae, stop it!” Bjorn groans. “This is an active kidnapping, not a VIP wellness clinic. You’re supposed to look intimidating.”
“He has a syringe, bror.” Leif laughs. “I’m pretty sure he’s the most intimidating one in here.”
“Please, he has a tiny syringe.”
With his free hand, Tae picks up the first syringe he had prepared, the one with the sedative meant to knock me out, and stabs it directly into Bjorn’s thigh.
Bjorn gasps, his blue eyes going wide, and Leif and Alexios burst out laughing.
“Should we catch him before he passes out?” I ask, concerned.
“It would take a rhinoceros tranquilizer to knock this one out,” Tae explains as he preps my arm for the IV. “With this dose, he will just be… slow.”
“I’m Bjorn Eriksson! I… am… ne–ver… slowww…” Bjorn slurs, and now I burst out laughing.
Oh, God… I needed this laugh almost as much as I needed the damn IV bag that Tae is about to hook me up to.
Ouch!
Tae removes the needle, tapes down the line, and uses a special hook to hang the bag from the grab handle between the ceiling light and the door.
“Are you comfortable?” Tae asks, and I nod. “Try not to move much because once we reach the destination, we will have to tie you down.”
“We brought zip-ties, but I felt the soft rope would chafe less.” Leif shows me a soft cotton rope. “Damián would be absolutely furious if we left marks on your wrists.”
“Aww, how thoughtful, but I’d prefer not to be kidnapped at all.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, but that is not an option.” Alexios keeps his eyes on the road. “You present a huge flight risk.”
I open my mouth to argue, but… I was literally planning my escape before I got taken.
“Too… bad! We… got… youuu.”
“Go back to sleep, Bjorn,” Leif sighs, gently pushing his brother’s head away from the door handle.
“So… where are you taking me, Alexios?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Can I get a tiny clue?”
“Damián will be there.”
“Wow, Alexios, you are a master of giving clues.” Tae gives him a thumbs-up, and Alexios laughs, flipping him the bird.
And I already knew that Damián being there was a given, but hearing his name spoken out loud makes my stomach dip and my heart flutter.
Ugh, no… Stop fluttering, stupid heart.
I shake my head, ignoring the stupid bit of hope my brain attaches to, and instead force myself to stop overthinking all this.
Okay, this is good, Ollie.
At the very least, I’ll get the chance to explain why I have to go, say goodbye… and maybe have one… or two sessions of hot sex.
Okay… five sessions of hot, mind-blowing sex.
As a goodbye, of course…
And maybe an—Ah! No.
No, no, no… Don’t even go there, Oliver.
You can’t have a boner while being kidnapped.
I look around, desperate to find a distraction. The van is clearly brand new, and it’s completely bare. There are no screens, bags, cables, or hidden guns… nothing remotely Harknett.
“What do you guys normally use this van for?”
“Nothing,” Alexios says from the driver’s seat. “We rented it yesterday.”
“You rented a kidnapper van… just to kidnap me?” I ask in disbelief.
They all nod simultaneously, as if this were the most obvious answer.
“We have a kidnapping contact guy.” Leif grins, proud of that fact. “Got it for a great price.”
“You guys have a contact for kidnapping vehicles?”
“Yes,” Tae shrugs. “Don’t you?”
I pause…
“Actually, now that I think about it, I do.” I narrow my eyes at them. “But I use my contact to save lives, not to literally kidnap people.”
“If you think about it, we’re using it to save lives, too,” Leif argues.
“Breakups don’t kill people.”
“We’re talking about our lives,” Alexios corrects me. “Damián will go on an absolute rampage if you leave him.”
“…I’m not leaving him because I want to.”
“We know,” Tae says, awkwardly patting my shoulder. “Which is exactly why we agreed to kidnap you.”
I sigh.
Even Tae is trying his best to be sweet…
This is going to be so damn hard.
“We… rented… the… vaaan!” Bjorn slurs, and we all stare at him.
And then we all burst out laughing.
“Bror, we moved on from that topic like ten minutes ago.”
We drive for another twenty minutes until the van finally rolls to a stop, and Alexios honks the horn three times. He turns around and looks at Leif. “Ready?”
“We have to cover your eyes,” Leif says, pulling out a black cloth.
“Seriously?”
He winces. “Dami’s orders.”
“Fine…”
I turn around so Leif can tie the blindfold, and as soon as my vision goes pitch black, I start to freak out. Not because I can’t see, but because of who I’m going to see when the blindfold comes off.
Then the door opens, and someone, probably Alexios, judging by how massive his arms are, carries me like a princess. He walks across an open space, opens a door, walks into a room, and sits me down on a super comfortable chair.
“Arms,” Alexios says from behind me, so I move my hands behind my back.
He ties them together at the wrists, making sure the knots are tight enough to secure me, but not tight enough to hurt my skin.
“Good luck,” he whispers before leaving.
And just like that, I am left completely alone, with my hands tied at the back of a chair in the middle of an unknown room.
It will be okay, Ollie… Just tell him the truth.
You can’t put his family in danger, and even though you love him—What? No… the fuck… don’t tell him you love him!
That will make things harder.
I tense the moment I hear the wood creak behind me. A pair of hands moves to undo the knot of my blindfold, and I know, without a doubt, that they belong to Damián, because no one can make my body come alive the way he can.