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billionaires’ mafia.
    â€œThis isn’t in your nature,” Dane told Tom. “If it were, you would have taken the shot when you had it. But you hesitated, giving me the chance to intervene. So put your weapon down and we’ll work this out. Otherwise … You realize you won’t take another breath if anything happens to Ari and my child.”
    His menacing tone made my heart thunder and my insides seize up. I knew how deadly this could get when it came to any threat against me. With our baby involved—and even Kyle—that would make Dane even more determined to win this game. By any means necessary.
    â€œDane,” I nervously whispered. “This is out of hand again.”
    â€œActually, it’s all coming together.”
    â€œWhat?” I couldn’t see around Kyle’s sturdy frame and that frustrated me.
    Dane said, “You only get one shot, Tom.”
    â€œYou’re not going to be able to stop me, Dane.”
    â€œBe glad.”
    I heard Amano’s voice across the room, in the direction from where Tom stood. He was supposed to be with Jackson Conaway, our lawyer, working out some logistics for when the trials started and Dane was fully sequestered.
    In a menacing tone, Amano added, “If it were up to Dane, he’d save the bullets and kill you with his bare hands. I’ll be sparing you the drawn-out agony by simply shooting you in the head.”
    I gasped.
    Amano must have deduced from his grilling last night that Tom was the culprit, our breach in security. Now apparently Amano had crept up behind Tom, but Christ, I couldn’t see a thing! All I knew was that a standoff ensued … and I didn’t expect Tom to amiably surrender and back away. These people didn’t operate that way. It was all or nothing when it came to this precarious endeavor.
    My stomach knotted. I reached out for Kyle, my fingers curling around the material of his tight tank top at his spine. I leaned toward him, needing the support. My knees nearly knocked together and I swayed a little as horror rolled through me.
    Kyle muttered, “Step back, Ari.”
    â€œBehind the counter,” Dane added. “Crouch low.”
    I was afraid to move. Too petrified to move, what with a gun pointed at my husband, and Kyle in the line of fire as well.
    â€œDo it,” Kyle insisted. “He’s got no clear shot of you. Trust us.”
    I did—explicitly. That didn’t keep me from shaking from head to toe.
    â€œAri,” Kyle practically snarled. “Fucking do it!”
    I released his shirt, hunched down, and crept to the end of the island, hunkering further, not daring to steal a peek around the corner for fear there was some small gap between Dane and Kyle that Tom could aim through to get to me.
    Then I remembered there were tall glass patio doors behind me, so I spared a glance over my shoulder and watched in the reflection of the panes as the impasse unraveled.
    â€œStand down,” Dane said to the gunman.
    â€œYou know I can’t do that.”
    â€œIs whatever they’re paying you really worth this?”
    Tom shook his head. “It’s not the money. They have my wife and kid.”
    Oh, my God!
    â€œDane.” That one word wrenched from my mouth and filled the quiet room.
    â€œFuck!” he yelled, enraged. I could practically feel the angst radiating from him. “Who the hell contacted you? Was it Bryn Hilliard?”
    â€œI don’t know. He didn’t say. Obviously he’s high enough up the chain of command to capture Candace and Ruby, and instruct me on what to do in order to get them back safely. He put them on the line briefly and they sounded terrified, so he wasn’t bullshitting me about kidnapping them.”
    â€œGoddamn it.” Dane’s fury reverberated within me.
    â€œYou really think I would have chosen this?” Tom insisted in a low tone. “You really believe I would