Chapter 1 - THE MEN IN THE SUV
Daniel Carter looked through the rain-streaked rear window.
The black SUV behind us kept coming.
My fingers dug into his coat.
“They’re going to hit us.”
“No.”
His voice was almost bored.
That frightened me more.
“How do you know?”
Daniel took out his phone.
He made one call.
No greeting.
“Call Mercer.”
The driver glanced at him in the mirror.
“Sir?”
“Now.”
Ten seconds later, the SUV behind us slowed.
Then it stopped in the middle of the road.
I stared through the rear glass.
“What did you do?”
Daniel looked at me.
“The men chasing you work for a security company I own.”
My stomach dropped.
I reached for the door handle.
He caught my wrist.
Not hard.
“Don’t.”
“Let go of me.”
He did immediately.
That surprised me.
I pressed myself against the door.
“You own them?”
“Their employer.”
“Victoria sent them after me.”
“I know.”
“You know my stepmother?”
His jaw tightened.
“Unfortunately.”
Lightning flashed.
For one second, his face looked carved from stone.
Then he asked the question I was least prepared for.
“What did Lawrence Ambrose do after Victoria locked the door?”
I swallowed.
“He poured wine.”
Daniel’s eyes changed.
“He told me to calm down.”
My voice cracked.
“He said Victoria had already explained the arrangement.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What arrangement?”
I looked at my bare feet.
“My family’s company owes money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Forty million?”
The driver made a small sound.
Daniel did not.
I continued.
“Victoria said Ambrose could make the debt disappear.”
Daniel looked out the window.
“Ambrose doesn’t own that debt.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“I do.”
The car became silent.
“My stepmother said—”
“She lied.”
I stared at him.
Daniel Carter.
Carter.
The name hit me late.
“My last name is Carter.”
“I know.”
“Are we related?”
“No.”
That should have relieved me.
It didn’t.
“Then who are you?”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression hardened.
“Someone your stepmother has spent six months trying to avoid.”
He turned the screen toward me.
A photograph showed Victoria standing beside Lawrence Ambrose outside a private bank.
Date-stamped three days earlier.
Under it was a message from Daniel’s security chief.
AMBROSE LEFT THE ESTATE FIVE MINUTES AGO.
SECOND VEHICLE HEADING NORTH.
Daniel looked at me.
“Emily, I need you to listen carefully.”
I could barely breathe.
“Victoria didn’t lock you in that room to save the family company.”
He paused.
May you like
“She locked you in there because Ambrose believes you know where your father hid something before he died.”
