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“You kidnapped me.”

“To save you.”

“You tied me up.”

“I already said that won’t happen again.”

“You took my phone.”

“Still have it.”

I hold out my hand. “Give it back.”

“No.” I see him glance at his jacket that’s hanging by the door. Got him.

“Samuel.”

“It stays off until I can remove the tracking risk.”

I lower my hand. “Fine. Then rule one is no more restraints.”

“Agreed.”

“Rule two: You don’t pick me up unless I’m in immediate danger.”

He looks at my injured ankle.

“Or I ask,” I amend.

“Agreed.”

“Rule three: You answer my questions.”

“No.”

“You can’t reject a rule before I’ve finished making it.”

“Just did.”

I glare at him. His mouth shifts beneath his beard.

I point at him. “Was that a smile?”

“No.”

“It absolutely was.”

He turns toward the window. A laugh slips from me.

Samuel looks back, and the expression in his eyes steals the air from my lungs. He watches me the way a starving man watches a table laid for a feast he refuses to touch.

Samuel faces the window again, trying not hide his feelings. I seize the moment to hobble toward his jacket and take the phone out.

“I’m using the restroom.” I say.

He looks at me oddly. “Okay…?”

I’m not used to covert operations and I fear that I’m giving myself away. I hobble to the bathroom and turn the phone back on.