Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty
NINA
Waking up felt like being buried alive.
The sheets were satin, the air perfumed and still, but my chest was tight, lungs burning with panic. My hands immediately flew to my belly.
Still there.
Still safe
My limbs were heavy, too heavy. My thoughts lagged behind my body like they were trying to swim through mud.
I sat up too fast. The room swam.
And then I saw a woman.
Seated in a high-backed chair at the end of the bed like a queen on her throne. Legs crossed, red lipstick perfect, a silk robe the color of blood pooling around her. Her nails were long, glossy, sharp. She didn’t blink.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.”
I scrambled back, one hand on my belly, the other gripping the sheets like I could somehow tear my way out.
“Where am I?” My throat was dry. My words cracked.
“Safe,” she said, smiling like a shark. “For now.”
I scanned the room. No doors. No windows. Just a heavy curtain draped across one wall. Mirrors framed in gold. A tray of untouched food—fruit, cheese, something pink in a crystal glass. I wasn’t touching any of it.
“You drugged me,” I whispered.
She leaned forward, eyes glinting. “I retrieved you.”
“For what?” My voice rose with panic. “What do you want from me?”
Her smile didn’t fade. “Kane.”
My breath caught.
“I had him first, you know,” she said, voice dreamy now. “I made him. Taught him everything. Turned him into gold. He was mine before he was yours. And now?” Her eyes flicked to my stomach. “Now you’ve taken him. Everything.”
I stood, dizzy but determined. “He’s not coming back to you. No matter what you do.”
Miss Carie tilted her head, amused. “Oh, honey. I don’t need him back. I just need to remind him that what I create… I can also destroy.”
My stomach twisted. I scrambled back, breathing quick and shallow.
She stood suddenly, graceful and terrifying. Her robe whispered along the marble floor as she approached. She reached out—fingertips brushing my cheek.
I slapped her hand away.
Her smile shattered.
"You call this strength?" Her voice slithered out, a sound like serrated steel dragging over bone. "You believe love is power? That pitiful life squirming inside you is no shield—it’s a flaw. A slow, screaming weakness." She leaned closer, her breath rancid with something spoiled. "I won’t just touch you, little mother. I’ll peel you open to watch it die first."
My stomach twisted, instinct screaming. I took another step back, hand cradling my belly.
She saw it. And she hated it.
Her eyes locked onto my bump like it was a disease.
“That thing growing inside you is what ruined him,” she spat. “He used to be fire. Untouchable. Beautiful. And now? He’s soft. You made him domestic and all Yours.”
She closed the distance between us in two strides, grabbing my wrist with claws disguised as nails. “But he was mine first. You stole him. And now I’m going to take him back the only way that matters.”
I tried to pull away, but she yanked me close—her voice low, her breath cold against my cheek.
“He’ll come for you. Of course, he will. But when he does, he’ll find ashes. Grief. Maybe just a body. Maybe two.”
Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I clenched my jaw, shaking. “You lay one hand on my child, and I swear—”
“You’ll what?” she cooed mockingly. “Scratch me with your little fingernails? Please, darling. You’re in my world now.”
She released me, calm and composed again as if none of it had happened.
“You’ll stay here,” she said. “Eat. Rest. Look presentable for when Kane arrives. He’ll want to see you one last time, after all. A memory to hold onto once I put the pieces of his life in the ground.”
She turned her back on me.
Walked toward the steel door.
Just before she opened it, she paused.
“Oh—and I wouldn’t bother screaming. These walls are soundproof. No one will hear you.”
The door shut behind her with a hiss. The lock clicked.
KANE
She was gone.
Vanished.
And there wasn’t any other single trace of struggle besides that jug. No blood. No note. No scent I didn’t recognize.
Except—
I paused.
No. There was something.
I caught a whiff of something sharp and familiar—a scent that was clean and expensive, yet rotting underneath.
Kendrick.
That smug cologne he bathed in like it could hide the filth underneath. I hadn’t smelled it in months. Not since Miss Carie’s message: You’ll regret it.
And now here I was. Regretting it.
I didn’t think. Didn’t breathe.
I moved.
\---
Fifteen minutes later, I was in my closet, pulling down a battered box from the top shelf. Inside were relics of life I swore I buried—burner phone, spare cash, a prepaid credit card tied to a fake name Miss Carie had once set up for me “just in case.”
I was a sex worker. A high-paid one. But no matter how polished the clients were and how exclusive the setting was, things could turn ugly fast. Obsession could turn into violence.
And when it did? I'd have to defend myself.
There were nights I walked into those rooms wondering if I’d make it out clean—or at all.
That box existed for one reason:
In case I ever had to run.
In case one of those rich, twisted clients pushes too far.
In case I fought back.
In case I accidentally killed someone which is something that occurred consistently.
It never happened.
But it almost did.
And “almost” was enough to make a man prepare for ghosts.
Now here I was, pulling it all back into the light—not for me.
For her.
Because Nina was gone.
And if I had to burn down the whole fucking world to find her, I’d do it with both hands.
I called one of the numbers. It rang once.
Then a voice answered, gruff and a bit startled. “Kane?”
“Track Kendrick.”
Silence. Then: “Jesus, what happened?”
“She’s gone. And he took her.”
“…You want him alive?”
“Yes. Mess him up but leave enough for me to recognize the bastard.”
\---
I drove like the world was ending.
Because for me, it was.
Every second Nina was out there, she was in danger.
They didn’t want to talk.
They wanted to hurt her.
And I knew why.
Because Nina had given me something they never could.
Peace.
Family.
Love.
A future.
And they hated her for it.
They were trying to take it from me, piece by piece. How naive.
I found Kendrick at the edge of town, leaning against a blacked-out car like he was waiting for a damn brunch reservation instead of a war.
The second he saw me, his face tightened—but he didn’t move. Smart. If he had flinched, I would've knocked his teeth in just for breathing.
I slammed the door behind me and stalked up to him, the rage boiling under my skin like acid.
“Where is she?” I growled.
Kendrick held up his hands, palms out. “Wasn’t me. I swear it, Kane.”
I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back against the car hard enough to rattle the frame. “You were in the house. I smelled your fucking disgusting cologne.”
“I was checking on her!” he snapped, not fighting me, just talking fast. “Miss Carie sent someone else and before I could get there, she was already gone. I told you the boss would escalate. She’s spiraling, Kane. Are you leaving? Falling in love? Knocking your girlfriend up? That was your death sentence.”
My heart slammed once, hard.
“She wants Nina and our baby,” I said. “Gone.”
He looked away. That was all I needed.
I shoved off him, pacing, dragging both hands through my hair. Every bone in my body screamed to move. To kill. To rip through walls until I had Nina back in my arms.
Kendrick fixed his jacket, then looked up. “The boss moved to a different secret location. I’ve been trying to get intel for weeks. She’s built a place—off-grid, outside the city. Calls it The Sanctuary. They hired private guards, and got the whole building rigged with surveillance and steel. No one gets in or out without her say-so.”
“Except me,” I muttered.
“You break in without a plan, she’ll kill Nina just to prove she can,” he warned.
I turned toward him, deadly calm. “Then give me a plan.”
Kendrick hesitated, appearing a little bit taken aback. “You really love her, don’t you?”
I met his eyes. “She’s my beginning. And if I lose her, I’ll be everyone’s end.”
He nodded once, solemn. “Then let’s go get your girl back.”