I stood, glaring at Sid. “That was so rude! He’s one of Caden’s friends. He was just being nice.”
He growled. “Guys are never just nice.”
“Even if he was hitting on me, who cares? It’s not like I’d do anything about it! You didn’t have to be so rude, Sid,” I seethed.
“Let’s go,” he ordered.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No. Not if you’re going to keep acting like this.” I shook my head. “You either shut down or run the other direction when something’s bothering you—you always have. You can’t do that with me, not anymore,” I told him firmly.
“Oh, so you wantmeto share, huh?” he scoffed. “That’s so fucking typical.” He stepped closer, pointing a finger at me. “I’ve poured my fucking heart out to you time and time again. Hell, I’ve told you I love you. I asked you to move in with me, and what do I get?” he demanded, his expression flashing the hurt that had clearly been gnawing at him all day.
I took a step back in surprise. This wasn’t about the incident last night. I’d been way off base. This was about me.
Tears burned my eyes at his cruel tone. “Learning curve, remember?” I whispered, swallowing hard, desperate not to cry in the middle of Cade’s party. “You were just saying how we’d help each other. Do you think freezing me out and then growling at anyone that talks to me is helping?” I demanded.
“Sometimes that curve… it’s just steeper than I’d realized,” he replied gruffly.
His words hit me hard. I’d been trying but obviously in his eyes, I was still falling short.
“Hey, uh, guys? Everything okay?” Cade’s confused voice interrupted our heated conversation.
The damned tears I’d been fighting won their battle and cascaded over my cheeks. “Sorry, Cade,” I rasped as I pushed past him, desperate to escape.
“Sam!” Sid hollered after me.
I shot a murderous look over my shoulder. “Don’t you dare follow me,” I hissed.
I pushed past the crowd, keeping my head low, not wanting to draw attention to myself, or at least notmoreattention. I made it to the front porch where I knew there would be less people. I wanted some time to collect myself before I figured out what to do.
Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t alone.
CHAPTER 15
Osip Ivanov appeared from the side of the house with his gun pointed at my chest.
For a moment, it felt like a dream—or rather, my worst nightmare—come true. It took a second for my brain to register that it was real.
“Hello, little one. One of my men has a gun pointed at your boyfriend back there. If you want him to live, don’t say a fucking word,” he warned.
He could have been bluffing, but I couldn’t risk it. Obviously, he’d been casing the house. It was more than likely he hadn’t come alone.
I nodded woodenly, feeling an odd numbness take over.
He took my arm roughly, pulling me toward a black car that appeared at the curb. “We’re going to go for a little drive,” he informed me coolly.
I eyed the car with raw terror, knowing that once I got in it, I might never make it out.
Osip shoved me into the car, pushing in next to me as another man slid in. We tore away from the curb before his door was even shut.
The car drove at high speed through Caden’s neighborhood to the nearest freeway on-ramp. It was ironic that one of the few times I prayed for traffic we were met with a nearly deserted freeway. The car flew down the freeway at terrifying speed.
My breath sounded incredibly loud in the small space as I fought for control. I knew Sid would come for me. I just needed to hang on.
I couldn’t believe we’d spent the night arguing. I’d be damned if that was the last time I got to speak to him.
Osip spat something in Russian to the driver, who immediately slowed down a bit. I guessed he didn’t want to risk being pulled over.
I, on the other hand, had never wanted to hear sirens so badly in my life.