Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ivan
My lungs burned as I bent over at the waist and sucked lungfuls of cold air in through my mouth.
Cardio wasn’t my favorite, which meant it was the perfect way to torture the taste of Poppy off of my lips and the scent of her out of my nose.
Anything to get her out of my head at this point, but it didn’t matter how much pain I inflicted on myself; she had invaded my every pore.
She lived in my bones now. In my pulse. In every fucking thought. My entire existence was wrapped up in her, and I was royally fucked.
I stretched my arms over my head when I first sensed I was no longer alone.
I started my run again, even though my legs burned, but I didn’t want whoever was tailing me to know I was onto them.
My legs ached with every stride, screaming at me to stop, but pain was good.
Pain kept me focused. I took the next turn—down a street with fewer exits, fewer witnesses, and fewer cameras.
If they wanted me trapped, they picked the wrong fucking man to follow.
Except when I turned down the alley, there were five men waiting there.
I stopped and turned on my heel, hoping it was just one man behind me, but instead I found three.
The back of my neck prickled with irritation instead of fear.
“Really?” I muttered under my breath. “This many?”
The ones behind me spread out, blocking the exit. The ones in front stepped closer.
“Donovan Madden would like to send a message, Ivan Cristof.”
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” I cracked my knuckles. “Do you have any idea how many men I’ve killed?”
A couple in front of me looked at each other nervously, but they still didn’t move.
I didn’t have my guns on me because I’d been stupid and lazy, thinking no one would target me—they were only after Poppy.
I had a knife strapped to my leg, but that would only do so much damage, and that was if I could get close enough.
“I thought Donovan Madden would be the type of man to take care of business himself,” I called out as I watched all of the men the best I could.
“He is. We are here to retrieve you.”
Eight men to retrieve me? I was flattered.
Before I knew it, all at once, each of them rushed me.
The crack of a taser echoed through the alley, and I knew I didn’t stand a chance.
I moved, and I was fast, but I wasn’t fast enough.
Agony lit up my spine as one of the men hit me with the baton taser.
My knees buckled, but I fought to stay upright.
I’d been through worse—at least that was what I told myself.
But I still hit the pavement face-first, unable to break the fall, limbs locked and useless as electricity tore through every nerve ending because in the end… I’d never been through anything like this before. I wasn’t prepared for just how awful it was.
Voices blurred above me. “Hit him again. He’s too strong.”
A second jolt slammed into me— harder this time. My vision went white. My muscles spasmed uncontrollably. My shoulder slammed into the concrete as another wave crashed over me.
I lost air as I fought to stay conscious. Hands grabbed my hair, arms, and legs as they tried to roll me over.
“Jesus, he’s heavy!”
“He’s waking up!”
Something struck my side, which I swore was a boot, but I could hardly feel it over everything else my body had been through. My stomach was hit next, and then my jaw. They didn’t let up until I knew I was going to die.
They cinched what I assumed to be zip ties around my wrists and ankles, and I could barely feel the sting of them cutting into my skin.
“Fuck,” someone hissed. “He’s bleeding already.”
“We don’t need him pretty. Just breathing.”
The metal doors of a van slammed open, and I was hauled off the ground. There was pain everywhere. I tried to fight them, but my body wouldn’t listen. It was a twitching mess from the shocks.
One man leaned close to my ear, his breath hot and smug. “Donovan said to tell you something,” he whispered. “Word-for-word.”
I stilled. “You like touching what’s his?”
My heart stopped. “He wants her to beg.”
Something struck the side of my head, and everything finally went black.