Chapter Four

A high-resolution photo soon landed on Eric's phone.

Nothing staged about it. The antique necklace that carried a sixteen-year-old's promise lay cold on black velvet in a box, and there were even tiny scratches at the clasp where it had been torn apart by force.

Eric stared at the picture, his eyes flooding with something close to bloodshot rage.

He typed furiously, pressing so hard he nearly cracked the screen:

I saw through your fake kidnapping, so now you're returning the necklace to force my hand?

Chloe, you sent the necklace back. Now we're even. Completely.

Drop the cheap hard-to-get act. From now on, I never want to see you again!

The message went through. But the chat that always answered within three seconds stayed deathly silent.

Eric scrolled up irritably. The screen was full of years of one-sided messages from Chloe: reminders to take his stomach medicine on time, the guest list she'd organized for his gallery opening, the porch light she'd left on for him on a stormy night on the Upper East Side...

Message after message, so humble it was almost pitiful.

That strange, suffocating feeling washed over him again, but then Eric laughed coldly.

As if. She'd loved him for eight whole years. How could she just let go? She was only using some extreme stunt to make him give in!

To kill any hope she had once and for all, Eric held down the power button and shut his phone off.

He hurled it onto the sofa, turned, grabbed the model beside him around her slim waist, knocked back half a glass of liquor, and laughed hoarsely like a madman. "I'm finally free! Pour the drinks! Keep the party going!"

•   *   *

The next morning,

when harsh sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Manhattan penthouse and into the bedroom, I finally woke up.

My whole body ached as if I'd been run over by a truck. Even lifting a finger was hard.

I looked around. The room was empty.

It was the first time I'd ever been kidnapped, and the first time I'd ever ended up in a crazy situation like this with the man running the kidnappers. If this were a mob movie, what came next? Did I keep waiting for a ransom, or was I about to become his secret captive, never to be seen again?

Or... had he already forgotten about me?

I looked at my shredded clothes scattered across the wool rug, gritted my teeth, and pushed myself up. I picked up the oversized dark gray shirt that belonged to Victor from the armchair, put it on, and tiptoed barefoot toward the door of the suite.

But before I could touch the cold brass handle, a man's low, icy laugh came from the half-open balcony behind me.

"...Those three pieces of garbage were old-timers loyal to you. They weren't my men."

The morning wind carried Victor's rough voice into the room. "Under my rules, kidnapping a socialite without permission and trying to get involved with drugs means they crossed the line for the family's new direction. Letting them live was already a favor to you."

The balcony door opened, and Victor walked in with his phone in hand. The person on the other end was clearly furious. Even from a distance, I could hear an old man roaring.

Victor's expression didn't change. A cruel smile even surfaced in his eyes. "Father, don't forget, I run the Caro family now. Since I've decided we're going legit, anyone who touches dirty business, I'll pour into the foundations of the East River bridges. You'd better keep your temper in check too."

With that, he hung up without giving the man a chance to answer.

When he glanced up, he saw me frozen by the door.

After two seconds, the dark, violent look in his eyes turned instantly playful. "What's this? You've had your way with me, and now you're trying to run?"

He scared me so badly I flinched and shook my head over and over. "N-no, I'm not running..."

By now I'd figured out exactly who Victor Caro was. The youngest boss in New York's underworld, a living devil who had dragged his family into a new direction over the blood of countless enemies.

After getting tangled up with a gangster like that, running would be suicide. Doing what I was told was the only thing that would keep me alive.

Victor raised an eyebrow and walked toward me on his long legs.

His presence closed in on me, step by step, until my back was pressed against the door and I had nowhere left to go.

His eyes swept over my bare legs below the shirt, and they darkened. Suddenly he grabbed my waist and lifted me up.

I gasped on instinct, and my bare feet landed on top of his spotless custom-made shoes.

"There are twenty armed bodyguards outside that door." His cool fingers pinched my chin, his voice dangerous and intimate. "And you were going to walk out dressed like this? I don't think you were trying to run. I think you were trying to die."

I couldn't keep my balance like that.

I could only cling to his neck, close to tears, leaning weakly against the door, and lower my head to try to negotiate with him in a small voice. "My parents are in the Amazon rainforest doing ecological research. They're the kind of people who have a lot of academic standing but don't actually have much cash. By the time they find out I'm missing and scrape the money together to buy me back, it could be a really long time..."

Victor paused, a flash of surprise in his deep eyes. Then he laughed softly.

"If you're with me, you won't need to pay a ransom. And you'll never be short of money."

At that, I was completely lost.

No ransom? Then did he mean I'd have to pay him back by being his secret mistress forever?

"I... this is my first time with anyone. I don't really know how things work in your line of business," I stammered. "Do I have to stay locked up here forever? Or, or..."

Before I could finish, something warm covered my lips.

Victor kissed the corner of my mouth gently. His big hand stroked down my back soothingly, and his lips curved into a lazy smile. "Do you know how to date someone?"

I was stunned. I blinked at him, completely confused. "Huh?"

Suddenly my feet left the floor. Victor swept me up into his arms.

When he laid me back down on the soft bed and leaned over me, he murmured in my ear, his voice deep and pleased, "We'll do this the way people do when they're dating."