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The connection ended Nate dropped the phone and the ring to the desk, bracing his hands on the wood to help hier

“He didn’t count on e”

“What do we do?” Tessa asked

“We’re going to do what he asked I want you to stay here,” he said to Tessa, then turned to Gabe “We’ll have one of your guys sit with her up here I want you to come with me”

“What do you need me to do?” Gabe was at his side in an instant, his years of strategic ood use

“I need you to give un”

Annie had one hell of a headache

She’d woken in a dark roo fairly quickly that she was handcuffed to a hotel headboard Thepainfully into her wrists, and the movement made her stomach sith nausea

Turning her head, she could see the light co under the doorway Muffled voices were outside, but she couldn’t tell who it was She didn’t need to be a detective to decide she was in Jerry’s suite The rooarettes and industrial cleaner, and she could hear children splashing and playing in the courtyard pool she’d noticed outside histhe day before

She should’ve taken Jerry’s threats more seriously Somehow she’d believed that if she was out of the tournaer have control over her life She’d been painfully mistaken

Now she would pay She didn’t kno, but Jerry would punish her for her i, but a part of Annie had accepted this outcome the moment she’d chosen to throw the tournament She’d retaken control of her life If this was the price she paid, she only had one regret: that the last thing she ever said to Nate was a lie spoken in anger He ht never know the truth about how she felt

The voices outside the door grew louder as they ca to sit up and put her back against the headboard She ht not have the use of her hands, but she could s and by God, she’d make sure none of them would ever breed