Cole had slept for barely two hours—if that. His body knew it, his head knew it, but his mind refused to rest. After what had happened the night before, you’d think Amanda would have stayed. She sometimes did.But no.She had gone back to her room.Now there was a knock at his door.He didn’t need to check. He already knew it was her.Dragging himself out of bed, his thoughts still poisoned by the memory of lace and skin and everything he wasn’t supposed to want, he opened the door.His brain short-circuited.She was wearing tight shorts—so tight they looked painted on—and some excuse for a top that did absolutely nothing to help him stay sane. Not naked. But close enough to feel illegal.“Don’t tell me you’re skipping the gym this morning,” she said, her voice light… almost playful.Gym was the last thing on his mind.He could think of at least ten other workouts he’d rather do with her.Still, somehow, he ended up changing and joining her.On the treadmill beside her, Cole tried—fai

All through the morning, Cole tried—really tried—to pick up where Amanda had left him stranded.He kissed her in the kitchen. She slipped out of his arms a second later, mumbling something about coffee.He reached for her hand in the hallway. Somehow, she made him let go without it feeling like rejection—more like a magician’s trick.Every move she made felt deliberate. Careful. Cruel in the quietest way.“I’ll see you in the evening,” she said finally, already halfway to the door. “I’ve got tons of things to do. First, I’m stopping at the matriarch’s. Then a lot of places.”She didn’t slow down.Cole stood there and watched her walk away like a man watching the last lifeboat leave the ship.Then—like she could feel his stare—Amanda rushed back toward him.His chest tightened. This is it.She stopped a few feet away.“I thought I forgot my car key,” she said, lifting it up between them. “But it’s right here.”She smiled. Just a little.Cole nodded, jaw tight, and watched her turn arou

“The moment Cole gets mad,” Maria said quickly, the words tumbling out of her, “the ring connects to the exact part of the person’s brain that your anger is aimed at. The precise spot that triggers pain. No contact is needed. The body panics because it can’t understand what’s happening—so it assumes the worst.” The guy with the long hair had barely stirred back to consciousness when Cole’s phone started to ring. Amanda? Cole answered instantly. A slow, deliberate breath came from the other end. Not Amanda. “Amanda?” Cole called, sharper now. “No, no, no,” a man said calmly, almost amused. “This isn’t Amanda. This is Wright.” A pause—just long enough to hurt. “But you can see Amanda. She’s spending the night with us. For sure.” The line went dead. No one in the room needed an explanation. The silence that followed was thick, suffocating. Maria looked the most terrified of all. “Cole,” she said, her voice unsteady now, stripped of bravado, “if you want your wif

“I really don’t understand you,” Maria grumbled from the back seat, wedged beside Scarface.Cole sat in the front, silent. And Marcus—well, Marcus drove like he’d taken a lifelong oath to collect every speeding ticket known to man.The air in the car was suffocating. Even on a normal day, Cole’s quiet made people uneasy. He had that presence—the kind that made you hold your breath without knowing why. Now? Now they’d just been told Amanda would be dead in less than seven hours if he didn’t act.Whatever was going on in Cole’s head right now… none of them wanted to be inside it.“Would she do the same for you?”Maria’s voice sliced through the silence so suddenly that Scarface almost jolted in his seat.“Will you just shut up?” Scarface snapped.“You should be talking to him,” Maria shot back. “Unless Cole is ready to become Wright’s puppet, this whole hero act is pointless.”“We’ll talk about that later,” Scarface said tightly. “First, when we get to the compound, you’ll go in there a

Cole glanced at Scarface, then back at Maria.She was shaking her head hard now, eyes wide, mouth forming silent don’t, don’t, don’t, like she could rewind time with desperation alone. But how was he supposed to believe her over Wright?From the moment he’d met her, the ring had reacted. She’d even snapped at him for coming here. For trying to get his wife back.That alone should’ve told him everything.“I need to make sure my wife is okay first,” Cole said at last, his voice steady despite the storm pressing against his ribs. “After that, we can talk.”Wright smiled.“You can just keep calling her number,” Wright said mildly. Then, like an afterthought, “Or maybe… check her GPS.”Cole froze. He hadn’t thought of that.He should have.His thumb moved fast. He pulled it up—phone first, then car.Everything pointed to the same place.The family company.A slow breath left his chest, one he hadn’t realized he’d been holding hostage. She was there. And safe. “Maria,” Wright said, turning