My phone had buzzed in my pocket more times than I could count while I’d been riding, but I hadn’t pulled over. Hadn’t even taken the thirty seconds to check it when I’d stopped to fill up, too focused on getting back on the road as quickly as fucking possible. I was anxious, uneasy, and I wanted to get this over with now.

While I’d been driving here, Gage had been dealing with all the back-end stuff—setting shit up with Aaron and making sure we had the fail-safes in place, if the unthinkable happened … if I didn’t come out of there alive. If they sent someone after Evie.

I wasn’t going to let it come to that, though. I needed to convince Max that he didn’t have any other options than to call off all the guys he’d sent after her. And once I got that confirmation, heard it from his mouth, I’d call Gage and give him the go-ahead to give Evie back her freedom.

I had no idea what she intended to do when this was all over. I didn’t know if she planned to go back to Eric, planned to go back to being Genevieve, and I couldn’t think about it. The thought of her falling right back into her false life ripped my fucking heart apart. Thinking about her doing it despite everything that had happened in the days we’d been together. Despite everything that had happened between us …

I couldn’t focus on that shit now. Couldn’t bog my mind down with what-ifs and possibilities for the future. I needed to focus on the here and now, get my head in the game if we had a chance of pulling this off.

Needing to call Aaron to get a read on when he’d be ready for me, I pulled into a deserted parking lot close to my neighborhood. He was taking a major risk, staying behind and acting as Max’s right hand during the confrontation, but I knew that if anything went bad, he’d have my back.

I hoped he would, anyway.

Slipping my phone from my front pocket, I pressed the button at the top, illuminating the screen. Fourteen missed calls, all from Gage. I reached up and scratched my jaw, my brow furrowed. What the hell was going on? My mind immediately conjured up every possible situation. Had he spotted other guys in town already? Did something happen on Aaron’s end to make it so he couldn’t be there tonight? Even if that were the case, it wouldn’t stop me … not when I was this close. Not when it was Evie’s life on the line.

I thumbed my way to his number, then hit Send and waited as it rang. When his voice mail picked up, I blew out a long breath, then hung up and tried Aaron’s number. Once again, I waited as the phone rang, and then was subjected to the same generic recording. I hung up and cursed under my breath. Knowing Gage would get a text faster than listening to a voice mail, I opened up the screen to send him a message.

Status?

The minutes I stood there waiting for a response were the longest of my life. I tried Aaron once more, to no avail. I’d just thumbed my way to the screen to call Gage again when a text came through from him.

Plans changed. Move now. Get your ass to Max.

My heart stopped, my blood running cold. Gage never switched the plans unless something fucked up was going down.

I tried calling him one last time only to have his goddamn voice mail pick up again. If he was able to text but not pick up his phone, I assumed that meant he was on a call with someone … I just didn’t know who.

I could barely bring myself to type the four little letters, but I needed to know.

Evie?

His response was immediate. Now, Riley. MOVE NOW.

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed, and started the ignition on my bike before I pocketed my phone and revved the engine, then took off. My instincts had been right, knowing now something was wrong. Gage hadn’t answered the question on Evie, and I couldn’t think about what that meant.

I sped toward the old warehouse on the South Side where Max did all of his business, figuring it was my best bet. I was supposed to have gotten confirmation from Aaron on where Max was stationed, but with nothing from him to go on and only a few urgent texts from Gage, I had to wing it.

It seemed like forever before I pulled up outside the dark building. There was only one other car here that I could see—Max’s—and I took a quick survey of the surroundings when I dismounted my bike. Pulling out my phone, I typed out a short text to both Gage and Aaron, letting them know I’d arrived and I was going in. I only hoped Aaron would get the message in time.

The perimeter was clear, no one keeping guard, which meant the time was right. Everyone had cleared out, just like we’d planned. Normally, Max would have two guys posted at each door for security. You didn’t do his line of work without having some protection. He didn’t allow just anyone to walk into his place.

The back door wasn’t locked, wasn’t chained, which reassured me that Aaron had come through, making it easy for me to slip inside. My boots were silent on the concrete floor as I headed toward one of the rooms in the back where Max spent most of his time. I slipped my hand in my pocket, wrapping my fingers around the knife I’d slid in there. It was smaller than the one secured to my boot, but it was handy in a fight. As nice as it was having backups just in case Max made Aaron do a search of me, neither of those blades reassured me as much as the cool metal of the gun at my back, tucked into the waistband of my jeans.

Sporadic lights illuminated my path as I walked toward the back corner, which held one of only two rooms in the entire place that didn’t have an open ceiling. The door was ajar, two masculine voices trailing out from it. I had no way of knowing if that was Aaron in there with Max, but I hoped like hell he was. I slipped closer on silent feet, my back against the wall, keeping an eye on my surroundings, just in case the cleared security had been a ruse.

When I was a couple feet away from the open doorway, I could make out one of the voices as Max’s. His tone was level, almost bored. “What’s the situation?”

“Secured and restrained.” That was definitely Aaron, and I felt the barest hint of relief that at least that part of the plan was in place.

I knew there’d never be a perfect time to walk in, that Aaron wouldn’t be able to give me a signal for when I should walk through that door, and the longer I spent out here, the farther the guys Max had sent out for Evie got. I took the two steps to the door, then walked into the poorly lit room in which Max took care of business. He was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair, his body turned away from the doorway. Aaron was standing in front of the desk, his back to me, but from the stiff set of his shoulders, I knew he heard me come in. Very little was done in Aaron’s presence without him knowing about it.

“Max.” I forced the single syllable out, just barely restraining myself from leaping over the solid piece of wood furniture that stood between us and killing him with my bare hands. All I could think about was the orders he’d given to end Evie’s life. I’d feel nothing but pure pleasure if I snuffed out his pulse.

He turned his chair to face me. His poker face was exceptional, and if it wasn’t for the brief flicker of surprise in his eyes, I would’ve thought he’d almost expected this. “Well, well, well. I should’ve fucking known.” His posture was relaxed, his elbows braced loosely on the arms of his chair, showing me he didn’t find me a threat at all. Didn’t matter that he wasn’t surrounded with his normal level of security. Didn’t matter that it was only Aaron—who now stood off to the side, facing me—in the room.

Taking a couple steps closer to him, I said, “We need to have a little talk.”

He hummed and nodded, interlocking his fingers as they rested over his stomach. “Yeah, I think we do.” Then he flicked his eyes to Aaron and addressed him, “Pat him down and take his gun.”