Hoodie gestured toward her with his gun. “Get out slow like your boyfriend.” She gave no indication of moving, and as he took a step forward, I backed toward the trunk.

“She’s scared. Pointing a gun at her isn’t gonna help.” I cranked my head and glanced at her pale face from over my shoulder. “It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t okay. I swallowed hard and willed my voice to remain steady. “Get out of the trunk.” Every part of me rebelled at the thought of her crawling from that space and facing these assholes.

As she pushed to her elbows, the other men inched closer. What the fuck did they think we were going to do? Make a run for it in the dark with a bunch of assholes on our tails, guns firing? I was fucking useless, pathetically helpless, and I didn’t like it one bit.

I’d let her down. She’d stood in my living room hours ago, gazing out the fucking window because something had bothered her. She’d sensed this coming, and I’d sent her to my bedroom alone, unprotected. I prayed to God they hadn’t done more than just take her from my bed. A small hand slid into mine, bringing me back from the pit of self-flagellation I’d dived into.

“Good,” Hoodie said. “Now that we’re all here, let’s take this underground.”

“Where are you taking us?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to know what he meant by “underground.”

“Shut the fuck up and move.” Two men came from the sidelines, guns at the ready, and gestured for us to start walking. The guy I recognized from earlier, with the cap and sunglasses, shoved me forward, and my grasp on Alex’s small fingers slipped. Without thinking, I swung around and slammed my fist into his face. He drew back then lunged for me with a powerful blow that pummeled me to the ground like I was nothing. I struggled to my feet, ignoring the sway of the scenery and the gun he pointed at my head, ready to deliver another punch, consequences be damned.

A cold, hard voice froze me to the spot. “Touch my brother again and I’ll put a bullet in her head.”

A skinny guy who looked to have more prep than hired goon in him held a gun to Alex’s skull. I traded a glance with her, struck in the gut by the firm set of her jaw. She’d been conditioned to silently accept hell, even with the barrel of a gun pressed to her temple, and that pissed me the fuck off. She shouldn’t have to accept this shit as normal, shouldn’t have to harden herself against the next fight.