Nick was shaking his head vehemently as he shifted uncomfortably in the back seat of the car. Jack was driving, Yuri was in another car, and a patrol car was escorting them back home. The last protection they had for the moment because Detective Norton had bought the story about Miranda leaving the country. But he hadn't. Nick knew Miranda wasn't the type to take the hit and walk away. “I don't like this,” he said, turning half his body toward Valeria. “I don't believe that Miranda's gone. We know how she is.” “This must be a trap,” Valeria agreed. “But what can we do, Nick? Protecting ourselves is the only thing we have left.” “That and wait for her to attack us again... No, Valeria, I'm not going to stand idly by,” Nick declared. “We can't afford to just wait.” Valeria didn't feel good about that either. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly as a sign of support. “What do you want to do?” Nick ran his hands through his hair, weighing his options. “Why don't we leave?” he

Detective Norton pounded the table angrily before running to the precinct IT department and asking them to put a trace on that cell phone. He had also recognized that it was a local number, and that meant two things: First, Miranda had played him like a fool to buy time, and second, she didn't care anymore if she was found, so whatever she was planning to do, she had unfortunately done it already. He gave the number to one of the technicians and waited impatiently as they began their search. “Come on, move it, that call won't last a lifetime!” he said, trying to put a rush to it before getting back to talking to Nick. “We're going to find her, Mr. Bennet, don't worry... Mr. Bennet? Nick!” But Nick had had to put the phone aside to hold Valeria, whose legs had failed her when she heard Miranda's last words. “Loss? What—what do you mean?” “Well, someone you love has just died. Isn't it obvious?” Miranda asked as if Valeria were stupid. “Why else would I give you condolences, you idi

Alice wrinkled her nose as soon as the car stopped. She was in the back seat, with the dark windows rolled up, but as soon as that man had stopped the car and opened a door for her, the smell of mildew and rust had invaded her little nose. “Come on, get out!” Alice looked at him with disgust. She had never looked at him with anything but fear, but this time it was different. “I don't like the way it smells,” she replied loudly. “Look brat, I don't care what you like or don't like,” Baxter growled impatiently. “Come out right now if you don't want me to take you out, and we both know you're going to scream!” Alice plucked up her courage and got out of the car, backing away so her father wouldn't touch her. “Now walk!” Alice looked around. They were in something that looked like a warehouse or a very large storage unit. Everything was empty except for several doors in the back. From one of them she saw a tall, thin woman with an unpleasant face come out. “Is this the girl?” she a

Valeria sat down on the bed, her hands shaking violently. “My God!” Nick pressed her against his body, kissing her forehead. He couldn't tell her to stop crying, he knew she wasn't going to. “Troublemaker, please, make an effort. You have to calm down. You have to think that everything is going to be all right.” Valeria shook her head in frustration. “All right? Nothing has gone all right since—” she interrupted herself, but Nick knew exactly what she was thinking. “Since you met me.” “I didn't want to say that…” “You don't have to say it. I'm not stupid. Your life became a mess from the very day you set foot in Bennet Designs,” Nick muttered, swallowing with difficulty. “And I've tried to fix it, troublemaker, but I just haven't been able to!” “Damn woman! She seems to have more lives than a cat! And you know what bothers me the most? She's always in the shadows; she doesn't show her face even once! And the police seem to be useless!” “You're absolutely right about that,” th

Connor, Jack, Yuri, and the twins went out to get everything ready, and to gather the cash for Valeria to take with her, while she and Nick stayed in the office. “Val, I'm scared. Promise me you're not going to deliberately put yourself in danger.” “You know my brothers won't let anything happen to me,” Valeria said, trying to muster as much confidence as she could. Nick pulled her close to kiss her. He lost himself in her mouth and just for an instant he allowed himself to think of nothing else. He needed her. Every inch of her. Every piece of her heart, every smile. He clung to her body as if it were the last plank of salvation in the middle of a storm, until Valeria abruptly pulled away from him and tugged on his arm. She pulled him out of the office, turned right, a corridor, two doors, darkness, and a lock on a small room they didn't even know what it was. Nick didn't stop her when she reached under his shirt and bit his lips. They both had adrenaline pumping and anxiety boil

Valeria felt the car begin to slow down. She couldn't see anything, but she knew she wasn't alone. It was dangerous playing bait, but more important than anything else was locating where they were holding Alice. She felt the change in the surroundings as they entered a darker place, and the car soon came to a stop. She listened as Samuel opened the car door and dragged her out. He made her walk at least fifty paces before Valeria heard the latch of a deadbolt as it slid out. Samuel pushed her into the office and removed the ropes from her hands first and then the black hood. He left her there and walked out, closing the door. Valeria's heart skipped a beat when she saw Alice sitting in a chair, her eyes wide with an expression she couldn't believe. “Mommy?” “Alice!” Valeria squatted down and opened her arms to welcome Alice in them. She couldn't help the tightness in her chest and the tears that betrayed her, but at least she felt the relief of seeing her alive. “Are you all rig

Nick got out of that car as if someone was chasing him with a whip. On the side of the road was the van, and the twins got out to try to calm him down. “Did you lose her?” Nick shouted, bringing his hands to his head. “How could you lose her?! The only reason I let you do this was because you told me you would protect her at all times!” “We didn't lose her! Calm down! We simply couldn't continue to follow Baxter's car,” said Elliot. “They entered the industrial district and there wasn't a single car on the road, he would have noticed us following him.” Nick looked out at the dozens of streets in front of them. Nick felt like he couldn't breathe. “There must be hundreds of warehouses and factories in the industrial district. How the hell are we going to find her?” “Yes, but most of them are in use,” Connor said as he dialed a number on his cell phone. Detective Norton responded with well-deserved protests since they had all escaped from the house, but he didn't take long to get ev

Valeria put Alice behind her, but she knew it would be impossible to hide her, there was nowhere to do it. She had heard the gunshot, the screams, and through a crack in the door she had seen Samuel run out of the warehouse engulfed in flames. Miranda had killed him for betraying her, or for believing in some twisted way that he was. The office door suddenly opened and her gaze met that woman's. She looked furious, on the verge of hysterics. She was pointing a gun at her and breathing heavily, as if she didn't know exactly what she was supposed to do at that moment. “Move,” she snarled contemptuously, looking at them as if they were insects. Valeria took Alice's hand and they left the office. At one end was the body of Mr. Jones, in the middle of a pool of blood, and Valeria knew instantly where the bullet that had been heard had gone. Leaning over him, Mrs. Jones kept screaming. It seemed as if all glamour and arrogance had disappeared at the sight of that corpse. Valeria covered

Valeria hugged Alice even more when she heard him say that. You could hear the accusation and anger in the tone of his voice. “Aaaah! You thought I wouldn't find out...” he continued. “But apparently you're not very good at math, because the dates don't match. You have too many weeks into the pregnancy and nobody buys the story that we slept together in Aspen.” “Nick!” “You can stop playing games now. I know the kids are Alan's. It's a shame he's gone, but I can't be responsible with other people's kids anymore,” Nick shrugged as if he didn't care. “But Nick—” Valeria was about to retort when Miranda interrupted her. “Is it true, Nicky, that they're not yours?” Her tone was so hopeful that Nick looked up at her. “We got married six weeks ago and Valeria is nine weeks pregnant. Does that math add up for you?” Nick hissed, and Miranda's face lit up. It was finally happening. “You told me you were going to support me no matter what!” Valeria shouted at him, and Nick rolled his eyes

The screams suddenly became second nature. Valeria scrambled in Elliot's arms to look into the warehouse when she heard the second gunshot. People were running in and out of the warehouse, and Valeria felt a lump in her throat. She tried to go back inside, but Elliot wouldn't let her. “I have to know what happened, Elliot!” “Then let's go ask, but you won't go back in there!” her brother exclaimed. “Wait here.” Connor ran to one of the officers, leaving the warehouse to find out what was going on. He returned a few minutes later with a grim expression. “Let's go,” he said, taking Valeria's hand. Richard tried to stop him but Connor refused. “Everything is under control inside, but you have to go in and see Nick for a moment before they take him away.” Valeria's legs failed and Elliot hugged her to hold her up. “What do you mean, take him away? What do you mean? They killed him... Oh God! Did they kill him?” “No, no! But he was wounded. Looks like Miranda shot him,” Connor sa