Kate POV:
I stared at Judy's perfectly made-up face, my first instinct was to roll up the window and drive away. But I knew she wouldn't have tracked me down just to gloat; she must have another purpose.
"Are you following me?" I asked, my voice flat.
She let out an exaggerated, theatrical laugh. "Oh, honey, I have better things to do. Daddy sent me. He figured his pathetic little charity case would be hiding in her car, crying her eyes out."
The mention of Fabian Carlisle sent a chill down my spine. He was the one person in that house I truly feared.
Judy sauntered to the front of my car, leaning against the hood. She looked at me like I was a bug she was about to squash. "You almost ruined a very important business deal tonight, you know."
I just stared at her. "What deal?"
She examined her perfectly manicured nails, feigning boredom. "The merger with the Chicago Raptors, of course. Or, more accurately, the marriage. I was supposed to be the one marrying Dylan 'Dill' Kowalski."
My mind went blank. Dylan Kowalski? The enforcer for the Raptors? The man whose reputation was built on brutal fights on the ice and an endless string of trouble off it? The Carlisle family wanted Judy to marry him?
"But I have no interest in marrying some savage," Judy said with a flick of her hair. "I have Josh. So, Daddy and I came up with a brilliant new plan."
She leaned in close to my window, her blue eyes glittering with malice. "You," she said, drawing out the word, "are going to marry him for me."
A roaring sound filled my ears. It felt like the world was tilting on its axis. They wanted to trade me. Like cattle. Like a piece of property.
"You're insane," I choked out. "I won't do it."
Judy's smile widened. "You don't have a choice, Kate. Your mother's medical bills? The lease on this sad little bakery of yours? Who do you think pays for all that? And how many cupcakes would you have to bake to pay it back?"
Rage, hot and blinding, surged through me. I twisted the key in the ignition, and the old engine roared to life. The sudden noise made Judy jump back with a yelp.
I didn't spare her another glance. I slammed the car into drive and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving her standing there. I had to run. I had to get away from this toxic, monstrous family.
My mind flashed back to a few days ago. Fabian and Maddie had called me into the study, telling me with condescending smiles that they had "arranged" a wonderful match for me with a sports dynasty. I'd laughed it off, told them it was absurd, and refused.
I thought that was the end of it. I never imagined they were serious. And I never, ever imagined the groom was Dylan Kowalski.
I was on the highway now, flying past the city limits, with no idea where I was going. Just away. I sent a quick text to Norah, my only real friend. "Need to get away for a while. Trouble."
The sky began to lighten in the east, and my gas gauge hovered just above empty. Up ahead, I saw them. Two men in dark suits, leaning against a black SUV, their eyes fixed on my approaching car.
Fabian's bodyguards.
A jolt of pure panic shot through me. They'd found me already.
I swerved at the next exit, my tires screeching, and turned onto a deserted side road. I had to lose them.
I drove frantically, twisting and turning through a decaying industrial park. The buildings were skeletal remains of factories, rusted and forgotten. It was the perfect place to hide.
I spotted a massive, derelict warehouse and pulled my car behind it, cutting the engine. I ducked down, peering through the side mirror.
Minutes later, the black SUV sped past on the main road without slowing down. They hadn't seen me. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.
I decided to wait here until nightfall. I checked the warehouse doors and found a small side entrance unlocked.
I slipped inside. The air was thick with the smell of dust, rust, and old sweat. The cavernous space was filled with abandoned gym equipment—weights, benches, climbing ropes hanging like ghostly nooses from the high ceiling.
I found a corner shrouded by a heavy tarp, a small, dark space where I could be invisible. I curled up, my body screaming with exhaustion. Everything that had happened in the last twelve hours had drained me completely.
Just as my eyes were closing, a dull, heavy thud echoed from the other side of the warehouse.
It sounded like a body hitting the floor.
I was instantly awake, my heart pounding against my ribs.
Someone else was in here.
I held my breath, straining my ears, my eyes fixed on the direction of the sound. In the deep shadows, I thought I saw a large figure struggling to get up.
