Thest of the thugs had fled, but he still hadn’t brought his team inside.

    Elissa had already surveyed the factory earlier–there was no way out through the front door. Struggling to her feet, lungs burning from the thick smoke, she pointed to a high window above them. “You–you need to climb out through there,” she gasped.

    The window was high up and she was far too weak ito /imake it herself. But if Frank could get out, he could unlock the door from the outside.

    Frank hadn’t expected this. After everything he’d done to her, she was still thinking of his safety in a life–or–death moment. “Elissa, I’m the one who wronged you before, I—”

    “I don’t have time for this,” Elissa cut him off, urgency tightening her voice. “Can you just climb out already?i” /i

    If he didn’t move, the bomb would go off and they’d both die here.

    “Alright.”

    Frank knew this wasn’t the time for apologies. He grabbed a chair, propped it under the window, and with a practiced push, vaulted himself out with ease.

    He’d always been athletic–this was nothing for him.

    But then, strangely, the bomb didn’t go off.

    Bang!

    Frank had barelynded outside when, behind him, the heavy metal door was kicked open from the outside.

    Whoever it was, it wasn’t Frank.

    A group burst in. One of them swept Elissa up and rushed her toward the exit. She was half–delirious from the smoke, only vaguely aware of fresh air hitting her face as she staggered, then was lifted into someone’s

    arms.

    12.08

    “Elissa!”

    Frank eyed the neers warily. “Who are you people?”

    “Move!” barked the leader, not bothering to answer. Satisfied that Elissa was safe, he signaled the rest–men in dark uniforms, clearly highly trained–and they vanished as quickly as they’de.

    On the way to the hospital, Frank couldn’t shake the feeling they were being followed.

    Up front, Bernard was still apologizing. “Mr. Atwater, I’m sorry. I should have been quicker. I was so focused on chasing down those kidnappers, I didn’t realize you and Mrs. Atwater were trapped.”

    Frank ignored the exnation. “Forget whoever’s tailing us. Just get to the hospital,” he ordered the driver.

    A private jet touched down on the runway, gliding to a halt under the gray Meridia sky.

    Rowan, seated beside him, pulled off his eye mask, his sharp gaze

    cutting over.

    Noticing Rowan’s attention,n didn’t even bother to hang up before lowering his voice. “Sir, there’s been an incident with Miss Elissa.”

    “Give me the phone.” Rowan’s face was icy, not a hint of warmth in his eyes. He stretched out his hand, andn quickly passed the phone over.

    Rowan’s voice was dangerously low. “Didn’t I tell you to protect her? Where is she now?”

    “Sir, it was our mistake!” came the anxious reply.

    Before leaving the country, Rowan had tasked Nash with Elissa’s security. He never expected trouble to strike on the very first day.

    12:09

    “She’s not badly hurt,” Nash reported quickly, then exined, “She was abducted from thepany’s underground parking garage. We realized it immediately and gave chase, but not knowing what was going on inside, we couldn’t just storm in. I managed to scale the outside wall to the second floor and disable the bomb while they were distracted. We waited until the kidnappers left before rushing in ito /irescue her. But we did manage to detain all of them.”

    Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “Bombs and arson? They were trying to kill her.”

    Nash replied, his voice grim, “That’s what it looks like.”

    “Where is she? Put her on.”

    “She’s…” Nash hesitated, immediately understanding who Rowan meant. “She’s in Frank’s car.”

    Even separated by thousands of miles, Nash felt a chill crawl down his spine.

    Rowan ended the call abruptly, his expression like a winter storm. He turned ton. “Book the next flight home. Now.”