I raised my eyes, opened my mouth to say something, but could hardly form a coherent thought, let alone a sentence. This must be a crazy dream.

Lucas Perrone didn’t smile, didn’t seem smug. In fact, he seemed bored, and that expression struck me hard in the chest because he’d often worn that look while we dated. Even the night he’d asked me to marry him, he’d lacked excitement. I’d always assumed it was because my dad had set us up. Now, gaping at him in utter shock, everything I thought I’d known about Lucas was a lie, nothing more than dust on the ground.

He gestured to the guy standing sentinel at my back. “Leave us. She won’t be a problem.”

The pressure of the weapon disappeared from my skull, and I sensed Lucas’ henchman moving away. I let out a breath at the absence of his gun. A few seconds later, the door clicked shut. But reality crashed in, and I wrestled beyond my state of shock to say something.

“Did my dad put you up to this?” My heart thundering behind my breastbone, I drew in a deep breath through my nose, determined not to give in to a full-blown panic attack.

Five in, hold, five out.

The twitch of his mouth interrupted the repeat part of my breathing ritual. He rubbed his chin, thumb whisking over the patch of hair sprinkled with gray, and folded into the leather seat on the other side of the desk. “Why would your father have you and Mason kidnapped?” Raising a brow, he ran a palm across the gleaming brown surface that matched the color of his eyes.

I glanced around the room, but my focus strayed to those unsettling photos displayed behind him. “If he didn’t do this, then why am I here? Why did you take us?”

“The two of you took something from me.”

“I-I don’t understand. I barely know you. The only reason I know you at all is because of my dad, and Rafe…” I glanced at my lap, only then realizing how I twisted my fingers in a display of unease. “He’s been in prison for the last eight years.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m not following.”

His brow furrowed, the one with the scar severing the perfect arch. “There was a time when I wanted you.” He rose and slowly rounded the desk. I kept my attention forward, but in my periphery I spied the strong build of his thighs at my side, hidden underneath the perfect fit of his slacks. He grasped my hair and tilted my head back until I returned his gaze.

“Rafe Mason is going to pay for what he did. You will too, for your part in this, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting you still.”