Chapter 64 Chapter 64

Chapter 64 Chapter 64
Tito’s POV

I woke with a snapping jolt, the kind that shot straight through my spine and forced my eyes open before my mind could even catch up. For one disorienting second I thought I was still in Jax’s room because of the mattress, the dim bulb overhead, the weight of fear sitting heavily in my throat, but when a gloved hand clamped around my arm and yanked me upright, the illusion shattered.

“Get up.”

I didn’t even recognize the voice. I didn’t have time to. Two men were already dragging me toward the hallway, my bare feet scraping against the concrete floor.

Stella and Beatrice were still asleep when I was taken, or maybe they pretended to be; I couldn’t turn back and check. Every muscle in my body begged to fight, to claw, to scream, but the moment I twisted away, one of them slammed his fist into my shoulder. Pain sparked, white and hot, and I stumbled.

“Move,” the other one growled, as though my pain inconvenienced him.

My throat burned, still raw from all the crying I’d done the night before, but I forced the words out. “Where are you taking me?”

No one answered. Not even a grunt. They hauled me outside, the early dawn light sharp against my eyes, and tossed me into the van like I was nothing more than luggage. My knees hit the metal floor with a dull thud, knocking the breath out of me. Before I could gather myself, the door slammed shut, and the engine rumbled to life.

The van smelled like gasoline and old sweat. I pressed my back against the wall and tried to steady my breathing. My lungs felt too small, too tight, as though someone had wrapped a fist around them. Every bump in the road made my stomach twist. Every turn made me wonder if Kendrick had noticed I was gone yet. If my mom had woken up and called my name. If they thought I had run away again.

Guilt burrowed sharply beneath my ribs. I hadn’t even told my mother goodnight. Kendrick had tried to warn me… God, he had tried and I had brushed him off because I was tired and confused and didn’t know what to believe anymore. Now I was in a moving cage, and no one knew where I was.

The drive felt endless. Dawn bled slowly into morning, turning the windows from pale blue to bright gold, and still the van didn’t stop. My head throbbed so violently that I leaned it back against the wall just to keep myself steady.

My body hurt everywhere: my shoulder from the hit, my arms from the dragging, my voice from screaming. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to gather myself, trying to stay composed, but all I could see behind my eyelids was Jax—his smile, his friendliness, the way he spoke to me as if he cared.

Lie.
All of it had been a lie.

I shouldn’t have answered that call.

I shouldn’t have gone.

By the time the van finally slowed, my heartbeat was pounding so loudly in my ears that it drowned everything else out. The brakes hissed, the vehicle rocked to a stop, and then the door slid open. Cool air rushed in. Hands grabbed me again, dragging me from the van before I could plant my feet.

“Walk.”

They didn’t have to tell me twice; my legs moved on instinct. But the moment I lifted my head, I froze.

This wasn’t a warehouse.
This wasn’t a gang hideout.
This was a luxury apartment building.

Polished marble floors. Gold railings. A chandelier so expensive it could’ve paid my mother’s bills for five years straight. Everything inside gleamed, sterile and cold, like something out of a magazine. And that was exactly why my stomach dropped to the floor.

This was worse.
This was so much worse.

“Inside,” one of them said, giving me a shove between the shoulder blades. I stumbled forward into the living room. Everything was spotless, from the pristine white walls, glass shelves, to the velvet couches in navy blue. A city view stretched through the tall windows, the skyline glowing under the morning sun.

“Sit. On the floor.”

Their tone made it clear I would regret doing anything else. I lowered myself onto the smooth tiles, my palms sweating instantly. The men stepped back, but not far enough to give me hope. I felt their eyes on me, silent, merciless.

My mind ran circles around itself. Was this the buyer Jax warned us about? Had I been sold? Was he waiting upstairs? Was Jax even alive?

I pressed my fingers to my temples as a wave of nausea hit. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Kendrick’s face flashed through my mind—his worried eyes, the way he held my mom and I after the accident, the slight tremor in his voice when he asked if I was okay. And then the guilt came back, heavier than before.

Why hadn’t I listened?
Why did I push him away?
Why did I leave the house without thinking?

My head throbbed painfully, and I lowered it, breathing through the ache. A soft sob slipped out before I could stop it.

Then the front door clicked open.

I froze.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway—slow, confident, unhurried. Whoever it was wasn’t afraid. Whoever it was expected me.

And when he finally walked into the living room, my heart shattered so quickly I almost didn’t feel it at first.

Jax.

He entered wearing expensive clothes—a black dress shirt, tailored pants, a chain that glinted at his neck. His hair was styled, not messy like it usually was. His shoes were polished. And on his face was a smirk that didn’t belong to the boy who once teased me about stealing his fries.

“Morning, Tito,” he said lightly, almost sweetly, as though we were old friends catching up.

I felt the floor tilt under me.

He walked closer, crouched down, and with two fingers, he lifted my chin. My jaw trembled despite my effort to hold still.

“Welcome home,” he murmured. “Do you like it? I picked this place out myself. Perfect location. Perfect layout. Perfect… bait.”

My stomach twisted. “Bait?” My voice cracked on the word.

His smile widened. “For Kendrick. Obviously. He’s been hiding for years, Tito. But you—” He tapped my chin with cold amusement. “—you’ll bring him right to me.”

I jerked my face away, disgust mixing with disbelief. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “Or maybe I’m just a man who lost his brother because of Kendrick. And you—sweet, clueless you—were stupid enough to trust me. It made everything so much easier.”

My blood ran cold.

“You lied to me,” I whispered.

“Of course I did.” He laughed, short and sharp. “You’re too smart for your own good. The night I ‘rescued’ you, you were already planning an escape route. I saw it on your face. You were waiting for Stella to get better. I couldn’t let you ruin my plans.”

He grabbed my arm suddenly and yanked me to my feet. Pain shot through my shoulder and I winced, but he didn’t loosen his grip. He dragged me toward a door at the far end of the hallway.

“Let go of me!” I screamed, clawing at his arm. “You’re a monster—”

“And you’re loud,” he snapped, throwing open a metal door. “Shut up.”

With one brutal shove, he sent me tumbling down a small set of stairs. I hit the floor hard, air whooshing out of my lungs. My palms burned. My knees scraped. My throat tasted like rust.

The basement was cold. Empty. Bare concrete walls. A single overhead bulb. And a door that clicked shut the moment he walked out.

I pushed myself onto my elbows and screamed…screamed until my voice cracked and broke; screamed until my lungs throbbed; screamed until my throat bled. But the door didn’t open again.

Hours seemed to pass before footsteps returned. The door opened, and a man walked in with a phone in one hand and a gun in the other.

He thrust the phone at me. “Call Kendrick.”

I stared at him, breath shaking. “Why?”

“Because if you don’t,” he said, leveling the gun at my face, “I shoot.”

My trembling fingers closed around the phone. The moment Kendrick’s name appeared on the screen, my vision blurred.
I pressed the call button.
The line rang once, twice, and then—

“Kendrick?” I whispered.

And when I heard his voice, that deep warm, familiar, and terrified, every wall inside me collapsed.

“Tito—?”

I screamed his name.