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I cannot open my eyes. I cannot reach for her.

A door slides. Metal rattles. The hands dragging me lift, and my body drops onto a hard surface.

I hear Jax tell someone to get in.

I try once more to move.

The door shuts before I can.

4

LIV

PRESENT DAY

Ithought Jax would have left by now. Instead, a guard tells me his trip has been canceled and brings Ari to my suite that afternoon. I already knew he was here. Jax has kept us apart since the journey from Montana; now he has decided to let us see each other. I’ve spent weeks imagining seeing Ari again, and none of it prepared me for the look on his face.

Ari slams his palm against the reinforced window, the dull thud echoing through the expansive suite. He moves with a frantic, caged energy, his plain dark clothes a stark contrast to the plush cream carpets and silk drapes. He checks the door seams, runs his fingers along the biometric scanner, and tests the locks.

I sit perfectly still on the edge of the velvet armchair, my hands folded in my lap. Jax has finally brought him out of the room where he has kept him since our arrival. I watch him search for another way out, just as I did when we were brought here.

A twisted knot of emotion coils in my stomach. Guilt burns the back of my throat. He came for me. He walked straight into a trap, risking his life, and now Jax holds us both in this gilded cage. Yet, beneath the guilt, a dark, shameful relief washes over me. For the first time since the journey from Montana, I can look at him without a camera or a locked door between us. Ari is here. The man I was seeing before the masquerade, the man who came to save me.

Deeper still, beneath the relief, a sinister curiosity crawls. I track his panicked movements, the tight set of his jaw, the wild dart of his green eyes. How long will it take for Jax to carve that defiance out of him? How many days until Ari Carter learns to sit perfectly still and wait for instruction?

Ari abandons the window and turns to me, his chest heaving. His gaze sweeps over my body, searching for broken bones, for restraints. His eyes snag on my collarbone. The oversized silk shirt shifts, exposing the dark, bruised ring of teeth marks Jax left on my shoulder last night.

Ari’s face drains of color, then flushes with violent rage. He crosses the room in three long strides and crouches in front of my chair.

“Liv.” He keeps his voice low. “Grayson knew where I was in Montana. Hunter and Aurora know I came for you. They will be looking for both of us. We have to find a way to help them.”

A dry, sharp laugh bubbles up in my chest, but I swallow it down. He still has hope. He still thinks the Vipers are the apex predators in this game. I stare into his striking green eyes, seeing the fierce protectiveness there, and I pity him.

“They haven’t found us, Ari.” My voice sounds hollow, lacking the fire he expects.

“Not yet. That doesn’t mean they’ve stopped looking. What has he done to you since Montana? Are you hurt?” His hand reaches out, hovering inches from my bruised wrist, afraid to touch me and cause more pain.

I don’t have the words to explain that pain is no longer the enemy. Pain is just the precursor to pleasure, the currency Jax uses to buy my obedience.

The hidden speakers crackle to life. The soft hum of static fills the room, freezing Ari in place.

“I hope the reunion has been worth the wait.” Jax’s voice slides through the speakers, velvet-smooth and dripping with dark amusement. “I’ll be joining you shortly. Please, take this time to catch up. Liv, darling, why don’t you tell Mr. Carter what to expect?”

The intercom clicks off. The silence that follows is suffocating.

Ari shoots up to his feet, glaring at the ceiling. “Sick fuck. What does he want?” He looks down at me, his fists clenching at his sides. “Liv, talk to me. What’s going to happen?”

I pull my shirt collar up, hiding the bite mark and shielding myself from his intense scrutiny.

“He wants you.” The words taste like ash. “The same way he wants me. Keeping us apart was part of it. So is bringing us together now.”

Ari shakes his head, dismissing the idea. “He wants leverage. He wants the Vipers off his back.”

“You don’t understand.” I lean forward, desperate to make him grasp the reality of the man holding the keys. “He doesn’t just lock you in a room. He doesn’t just beat you. It’s... it’s insidious, Ari. He gets inside your head. He strips away every piece of who you were until the only thing left is what he allows you to be.”

Ari’s jaw hardens. “I’ve been tortured before, Liv. He can’t break me.”

“It isn’t torture.” My voice cracks. Tears prick my eyes, blurring his determined face. “He makes you crave it. He makes you beg for the very things you thought you hated. Sometimes...” I drop my gaze to the carpet, the shame so heavy it crushes my lungs. “Sometimes, I don’t even want to leave anymore.”