Page 114 of The Villain

My footfalls felt heavy enough to dent the flooras I went to the back of the room where the door led to the private part of the building.

“Glenn.” I grabbed the gallery owner’s arm, releasing it when I saw her wince. “I’m sorry, have you seen Athena?”

She blinked and then nodded. “Yeah, she just went to the back,” she said, and my shoulders sagged. “A previous client of hers stopped in to purchase some other paintings he’d seen before.”

“Before?” A chill gripped my heart.

“Yes. A Mr. Henry.”

Mr. Henry.Ryan Henry.

I stilled. The only reason Athena would give that name was because she was in trouble.The man in the sunglasses had been a distraction for whoever had approached Athena and forced her to go with him.And she’d given him Ryan’s name to warn me.

“Tell my brother,” I ordered and bolted for the back.

Glenn’s voice followed me as I yanked open the door labeledPrivate,pulling out my weapon as I hurried into the space.Empty.It was my first instinct, but my eyes whipped around the space.

“Athena?” I called, scanning the room over the barrel of my gun.

And then I saw it. The spilled yellow paint—and the footsteps leading to the back door. Two sets of them.

I took off, charging through the space in seconds and throwing open the door. As soon as I was outside, I saw her.

She was in a black sedan—driving—with Lloyd Wenner.

A thousand questions landed like a blitz.Wenner? How? Why? What had we missed?But their answers didn’t matter until she was safe.

“Athena!”I shouted, breaking into a sprint for the car.

“No!”I saw her mouth move—her expression—and it waslike I could actually hear her scream before Wenner clearly shouted at her to drive.

She hit the gas, the sedan burning rubber onto the asphalt as she turned right in front of me and pulled out of the lot, heading out of town.

“Fuck.” I didn’t have time to get my brother. Didn’t have time to call Ty. I didn’t have time for any-fucking-thing except to go after her.

I headed for my bike. In seconds, gravel kicked behind the wheels as I tore out onto the road, my heart pounding in my chest.The wind burned my skin as I tipped over a hundred on the speedometer to catch up to them. My head craned at every passing road, afraid they’d turn off before I reached them, and with every second that passed that I wasn’t reaching the car, I worried I’d lost them.

I lowered the bike, taking the next turn dangerously fast in my frustration.

And then I saw her.

Jesus.The needle pierced one-hundred-fifteen on the gauge for me to catch them.She was flying.

My mind scrambled to figure out why. She knew I was coming for her. Wenner wouldn’t risk shooting her since she was the one driving.So why the hell was she speeding like she was trying to get away from me?

I picked up speed to catch them, but so did she, speeding to keep a distance between us.What. The. Fuck.I let off a little, settling at a hundred, and she slowed, too.

“Slow down,”I muttered, my hot exhales of frustration filling my helmet.

I tried to slow again, but this time, she maintained her speed, so I quickly revved my bike to catch my original position.This stretch of highway ran along the ocean, so there was no way I’d consider shooting out a tire to stop the carwhen it risked sending her over the guardrail—and over a cliff.

Wenner must be telling her she had to drive this fast—to keep a certain distance. Or maybe she was afraid if I got close enough that Wenner would shoot me.

I wished I could tell her I didn’t care about getting shot again. I’d take every bullet that came my way if it got her out of his grasp.

Fear injected into my veins when we bared to the left and I saw the turns in the upcoming road. There was no way she could take them at the speed she was. She would have to slow down.

Except she didn’t.

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