I climbed the familiar steps lined with fresh flowers and thick, green bushes. I didn’t have time to admire the landscape when I was here three nights ago, but the beauty was more than I expected from ruthless men. I waited for a beat in front of the gargantuan doors.

The closest house was miles away.Helpwas miles away. Could I really do this?

At some point, while I stood there deliberating, the right door opened. A woman dressed in an ugly, navy dress stood in the doorway with a sour expression. I would need an ally if escape was necessary. Could she be it? I searched her face for signs of kindness.

“Mr. Knight has been expecting you. I presume you are Ms. Ross?”

Nope. Not friendly.

“I presume I am,” I answered with mock propriety. Angel had waged a war when he took my son. Anyone he associated with was the enemy. I guess that included the help.

She lifted her nose higher in the air and stepped away to clear a path inside without losing her pinched expression.

“He awaits you in the common room.”

“Oh, does he? Tell him I await him here, and I’d like him to bring my son who he kidnapped. Ipresumeyou know about that?” She pinned me with a stare unbecoming of hired help and walked off without offering a response. She had to be an employee. I saw none of Angel’s features in her, and Angel didn’t strike me as the type to prefer women twice his age. She was either loyal to a fault, or he paid his help well not to ask questions.

While she was gone, I admired the opulence a second time. Everything was grander in the light of day. I was almost sure the entry was larger than my entire apartment. I used to think my humble home was the stuff of dreams, a castle in its own right, but then the fairy tale ended, and I was left in rags.

It was obvious that Angel hadn’t suffered from the loss of his father. Why Angel would go through so much trouble because of a stolen watch? He even let me go…

I’ll see you soon.

Hewarnedme.

He told me this would come, and I chose not to believe him. I chose to live in the past and ignore the man he was today. I couldn’t give him the watch back since I sold it and now I didn’t even have the money. Would he consider other options for restitution?

Goose bumps spread over my skin.

Angel had been terrifyingly crafty for his age. How much worse could he do as a man?

The possibilities were enough to give me nightmares. The watch I’d stolen was just one of many. I was surprised he even noticed it was gone. Despite all he had, he chose to use an innocent child—mychild—as his pawn. It was beyond cruel. And it will kill him.

Angel Knight was undoubtedly a dead man and this nightmare wouldn’t end until I saw that he truly was.

“Mian.”

Every part of me froze.

The voice that arrested me was deep and commanding and did as designed.

It stole my obedience.

I turned and was slut struck by the sight of his large body dominating the open space.

He seemed taller. He wasdefinitelybigger, and…

Oh god…

Sexierthan he was three years ago.

His hair was shorter and looked much fuller now. The low trimmed beard framing the bottom of his face was new and promised a nice tickle to whatever lucky girl’s thighs he stuck his face between.

“You made it on time. I’m impressed. I was beginning to think maybe sending your son to you one piece at a time would do the trick.”

His sick threat freed me from the brief lapse in sanity his face and body had caused. The only part of me that mattered broke at the thought of my son being hurt.

“Where is he?” I was forced to speak through clenched teeth.

“In due time.”

“I want him now, or I swear to God—”

“Be careful what promises you make.”

“I will find a way to kill you,” I finished anyway.

“No, you won’t.” His confidence was nauseating. “Because if you fail, you die and you’re afraid to die.”

“I’m not afraid to die,” I lied.

“Maybe not. But you’re afraid of what will happen to your son if you die. Your mother is dead. Your father is locked up. Your only known family wants nothing to do with you….” He paused, waiting for me to react. After my aunt and uncle had refused to help me for the sake of my son, they became nothing to me just as I had always been to them. “I think you’ll cooperate,” he finished when I didn’t react.

“I hate you.” The declaration seemed childish in the face of evil. Angel had been guarded when we were kids, but this was more. Something had cut out his heart and locked away his soul just to take over his body.