Chapter 20: When Love Turns to Poison

Zane didn't listen.

Of course he didn't.

The moment I stepped outside the compound to meet an informant, he was waiting.

A black car. An ambush.

One second I was alone…

The next, a cloth was over my face.

And everything went black.

When I woke, I was tied to a chair.

The room was damp. Cold.

Zane sat across from me, legs crossed, smiling like the devil himself.

"You really thought you could threaten me?" he asked.

"I warned you."

He laughed. "You warned me? You think Kyler makes you strong, baby? He's just using you. Same way I did."

I stared at him, jaw clenched.

But my hands were shaking.

Not from fear.

From betrayal.

"Did you ever love me?" I asked.

He stood, walked to me, and knelt.

"No," he said.

And then he slapped me.

Hard.

I didn't cry.

I didn't beg.

I just looked him dead in the eyes.

"Then you're even dumber than I thought. Because I would've fought for you."

He locked me in that room for three days.

No food.

Just water.

He said he wanted to break me.

Said Kyler wasn't coming.

That he didn't care enough.

But he was wrong.

Because on the fourth day…

The walls shook.

And I heard the sound of gunfire.

The door burst open.

And there he was.

Kyler.

Bloody. Breathing hard.

A demon with fire in his eyes.

He ran to me, pulled me into his arms.

And whispered, "I told you. I will always find you."

Later, after we escaped, I sat in the back of the car.

Silent.

Kyler held my hand.

I looked at him through swollen eyes.

"He said he never loved me."

"I did," Kyler said. "Enough to kill for you. But never to hurt you."

That night, I cried.

Not for Zane.

But for the girl I used to be.

The one who thought love meant pain.

Now I knew better.

Love didn't bruise you.

Love healed you.

And I was finally ready to be whole again.