Page 100 of Arrogant Bastard

“You need to open the door, Miss Carson.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“I’m sorry.”

I glance over my shoulder and see he’s much closer now. And his hand is already raised. I kick him in the gut, and he flies backward. The gun is knocked from his hand, and he wheezes as he struggles for air. But he doesn’t stay down for long. My heart drops when he scrambles for his gun. I stumble backward as he stands. He’s still breathless, but there’s a desperation about him that chills every cell in my body.

Whatever Galveston is holding over him is powerful enough for him to want to see this through. I don’t wait to see if he’ll shoot me so I take the only choice I have. I grasp the door handle and yank it open.

A shadow looms in front of me, blocking out the sunlight.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Fear smashes through me. Galveston.

I don’t see the Taser coming, but I feel it jam into my ribs and hear its sickening sizzle as it electrifies my nerves.

Blinding pain explodes stars across my vision. I’m falling. Falling. Then I sink into nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Killian

The light is off outside Lisa Channing’s office. And I’m not responsible for dismantling it like I did last time when I wanted to get Faith out of here. That thought seeps the first drops of ice into my bloodstream as I walk down the hallway.

Still…panic is counterproductive. There could be a perfect explanation for the light being off and Faith still being inside.

Yeah, right. She may have calmed down about Lisa Channing, but I’m willing to bet she’d rather walk the soulless corridors than spend an unnecessary minute with Lisa.

I knock and throw open the door without really waiting for a response. Lisa Channing is sitting behind her desk, typing up notes.

Her eyes widen when she sees me. “Killian! Is everything okay?”

My frantic gaze darts around the office. My gut grows colder when I don’t spot Faith. “Where is she?” I ask.

She frowns. “Miss Carson?”

“Yes. Where is she?”

“We finished our session forty-five minutes ago. She left to go and find you.”

No. God, no!

I rush to Lisa’s desk and scoop up her phone. My finger shakes as I punch in the number. “This is Killian Knight. Is Miss Carson upstairs? Okay. I need you to lock down the building. Right now. Yes. This. Is. A. Code. Fucking. Five!”

I slam down the phone as an alarm starts to blare. Then I pick it up again and redial. “Mitch, Faith is not here…Yeah, she could still be in the building. Or she could be gone. She finished her session forty-five minutes ago.” Mitch swears, and that uncharacteristic sound drives a knife deeper into my gut. “I hope to God I’m overreacting, but I need you and Linc to search the area. I’ll call back in ten minutes.”

I end the call and round on Lisa.

Her eyes are wide. “What’s a code five?” she asks.

“It mean the woman I love is in danger. And if anything happens to her, I swear to fucking God—”

She cowers back from me, and I realize I’m yelling. I clench my fists and force myself to calm down. “I’m sorry. But I need you to tell me exactly what she said to you before she left and who she left with.”

“We just…I told her the session was over and asked if she wanted me to get someone to escort her. She refused and said she would come up and find you herself.”

“Did Scarsdale fetch her?”

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