That’s when the unthinkable happened.

My worst fucking nightmare.

The guy I’d run into unclipped the carrier and ripped him away.

“No!” My scream ripped from my gut. I kicked and fought as he handed Caylen to a man who stepped from one of the waiting cars. He was carried further and further away even as I fought and screamed. Tears stung my eyes and clouded my vision until I could no longer see what was happening.

I heard a car door open and close and then the unmistakable sound of it driving away. It sucked what was left of my self-preservation.

“Ahhhh!” My scream was a cry for war. The first act to saving my son. I bit into the hand of my captor until I tasted blood when he tried to silence me with his hand over my mouth. The metallic tang of his blood on my tongue only fueled me. He cursed from the pain and dropped me. I would have ran, but the man who started all of this quickly grabbed me.

“The easier you make this for us, the sooner you get your son back.” Mention of my son had me slacking in his grip. I studied his face but had no recognition of who this man was—who so coldly took my son—who he could even be.

“Who are you?” I thought they were merely trying to rob me but why take my son for nine hundred bucks? They could have easily overpowered me and taken the money, which told me they weren’t mere street thugs.

“I don’t matter. There’s someone who would like to speak with you.” It was then I noticed the lit cell phone he now held in his hand. I glared at the screen and saw that the phone call had already been going for two minutes. Whoever was on the other line had heard everything. With shaking hands, I took it and waited.

“Hello, Mian.”

I might have died when I heard his voice. I could no longer feel my limbs, and Iwasn’t sure I was even still breathing until I whispered his name. “Angel?”

“It sounded like you put up quite a fight.” Pissed off, I wondered if he were actually praising me until he said, “That was stupid.”

“You did this? Where are they taking my son?”

“They are bringing him to me as I requested.”

“Excuse me?”

“Fair exchange isn’t robbery. You have something that belongs to me, and now I have something that belongs to you.”

“I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand that? Give me back my son!”

“In due time. First, I want to play.”

“My son has nothing to do with whatever sick game you think this is.”

His chuckle was deeper and smoother than I remembered. “So what’s his name?”

“Excuse me?” I gasped and struggled to control my breathing, but it was impossible as I replayed the image of my son being taken.

“You risked a lot for him. Surely, he has a name.”

“His name is Caylen, and I would riskeverythingfor him.”

The silence was brief and then he coldly uttered, “Well, thenCaylenwill be waiting for you at my father’s home. You have two hours.” I realized a moment too late that he had hung up, so I looked around for answers.

I was alone.Chapter FourteenThe supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. –Sun Tzu

ANGELI hung upand closed my eyes tight. Catching her unguarded gave me some of the sweet satisfaction I had yearned for, but I wouldn’t be completely satisfied until I had her helpless and at my mercy.

She would learn quickly that I had none when it came to her. Not anymore. Leaving her alone these past three years had been mercy enough until she made the first move that put us at war.

I was the Bandit and the Knight.

The position came to each new generation when the last son stepped down or died. Protecting our legacy meant protecting the family and it was now my duty. I would fulfill that duty by imprisoning her under my control.

Completely.

I could have easily taken her when I had her son stolen from her arms, but what fun would that had been? She needed to suffer in the worst way—a way that only a mother could, and while my actions sealed my fate and my spot in hell, I welcomed the rush I felt knowing I’d have her soon.

“Do you think she will come?” Lucas, breaking the silence and stole me from the dark and back to reality.

“What other choice does she have? We have her kid.” Each time I was forced to acknowledge that Mian spread her legs for some faceless man was like a knife stabbing deep. The wound felt akin to betrayal. It was jealousy of another man taking what could never be mine. Secretly, I added the pain she caused to her list of grievances and promised to make her pay.