Julio and I spend the whole night piecing together the puzzle – from my father's shadowy involvement to Caroline's betrayal. Learning that she'd actually claimed Rafael kidnapped her when the cops came makes my stomach turn. I feel like such a fool for not listening to Rafael's warnings, but Julio's firm voice cuts through my self-recrimination. "You couldn't have seen this coming. Don't blame yourself."

I leave Julio in Rafael's office, still working the phones, and drag myself to my room. Sleep feels like an impossible luxury right now. My mind keeps circling back to the same thought – Julio means well, but he doesn't understand. Rafael's in danger because of me. The guilt sits like lead in my chest, getting heavier with each passing minute.

I sink onto my bed but immediately jump up when I feel something hard beneath me. A phone lies on the covers, sleek and unfamiliar. Who put this here? As if answering my question, it starts to ring, the screen lighting up in the darkness. I let it ring out, my heart pounding, until a text message appears:

"It's me, darling. Pick up"

Dad?

With trembling fingers, I unlock the phone and redial the last number.

"Such an obedient daughter, aren't you?" His voice oozes through the speaker.

"Get to the point," I snap, wanting this conversation over as quickly as possible.

"Here's the real address. Someone's on their way to your door—they'll help you slip out unnoticed."

"Same person who planted this phone in my room?" I pause, forcing my voice to steady. "Who are you working with, Dad? I hope you haven't gotten involved with people that could get you killed?" The concern in my voice is pure performance – I wouldn't shed a tear if he ended up dead. But I need to know who his partner is, need to leave something for Julio to work with. There's clearly a mole in our midst, someone who needs to be made to talk.

"I'm surprised you still care about me, darling, but no need to worry yourself. My partner and I have the same goals, so everything is fine."

"Who is that?" The words barely leave my mouth when a soft knock echoes through my door.

"Don't worry, you'll see him soon. He's excited to meet you, too. Bye for now." The line goes dead.

I rush to the door, yanking it open. A stranger stands in the shadows of the hallway, his face unfamiliar.

"Let's go," he says curtly, already striding down the hallway. His pace is quick purposeful. My mind races – I can't call out to him to wait without risking alerting Julio. In a split-second decision, I drop the phone back on my bed. When Julio finds it, he'll know it's connected to my disappearance.

The mansion's familiar halls feel different now, longer and darker, as I follow this stranger toward whatever trap my father has laid. This reunion won't be the tearful homecoming he might expect. The bastard probably wants revenge for the years I put him behind bars, but I'm ready—ready to send the motherfucker to his maker this time because I am done being his victim.

The mole leads me through the wine yard, his familiarity with the estate's layout telling its own story of betrayal. We reach a clearing where a car idles in the shadows, its headlights cutting through the darkness. He gestures for me to get in, then turns back toward the house without a word.

As the car pulls away, the driver silent and anonymous, doubt gnaws at me. But I keep telling myself that I'm making the right choice. My father has no real use for Rafael; this must be why he partnered with someone else—to get to me.

The car stops before a hulking shadow of a building, the surrounding area barely touched by the city's distant glow. Each step toward the entrance feels like walking through cement, my heart hammering against my ribs. After all these years, I'm finally going to face him. The question isn't whether I'm strong enough – it's whether I can keep my hatred in check long enough to do what needs to be done.

I step inside, and darkness swallows me whole. The car's headlights vanish, leaving me blind in the pitch black. My heart, already racing, threatens to explode when I feel it – warm breath against my neck, raising every hair on my body.

"Hello, darlin'." My father's voice slithers from behind me. I spin around, meeting eyes so like my own it makes me sick – that same blue that's haunted my nightmares. My body betrays me, trembling with a toxic cocktail of fear and raw hatred. I force back the flood of memories threatening to drown me – the pain, the terror, all the things he did. I can't afford to go down that road. Not now. Not when so much is at stake.

"Where is he?" I manage to keep my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me.

"Who, darling?" His voice curls through the darkness with false sweetness.

"Where is he?" My voice comes out harder than I expect. "I want to see him."

"There's no one here but us, darling." The warehouse feels like it's closing in with his words. "Wait, you thought I had Rafael?" A cruel laugh echoes off the walls. "That's sweet of you to think I could hold the most dangerous man in Mexico City."

"What the fuck—" The slap cracks across my face before I can finish.

"Watch your fucking tone with me, girl." That familiar edge in his voice, the one that used to make me shake.

Not anymore. A wicked grin splits my face as I lift my head to meet his stare. "You haven't changed one bit," I spit the blood pooling in my mouth straight into his face.

"Look who grew a spine since we last met." His fingers tangle in my hair, yanking hard as I fight against his grip.

"Let me go, you bastard!" I thrash as he forces me back until cold concrete hits my spine. He cages me against the wall, blocking what little light remains.

"I don't want to hurt you, darling, but seems like you're begging for it." His hand wraps around my throat, and black spots dance at the edges of my vision.

I rake my nails across his hand, feeling skin tear beneath them.

"Say you're sorry for spitting on me, and we can pretend that was a kiss." His breath hits my face, reeking of cigarettes and hate.

"Fuck you!" The words barely squeeze past his grip, my lungs burning for air.

"Love this new attitude. Can't wait to beat it out of you." His grin stretches wide as he finally releases my throat. I double over, dragging air into my starved lungs.

"You would have to catch me first," I rasp, and then I bolt into the darkness. I have no clue where the exit is or which direction I'm running. I just move, feet hitting concrete, heart pounding against my ribs. Now that I know he doesn't have Rafael, I need to get out – but this just makes everything worse. His partner must have Rafael. The thought burns in my gut, but I can't stay here trying to beat answers out of my father.

Moonlight suddenly cuts through the darkness ahead – the exit. Freedom is three steps away when a hand locks around my neck like iron, dragging me back into the shadows.

"Not so fast, darling." His breath fans my neck that sickening mix of whiskey and familiar cologne making my skin crawl. Bile rises in my throat as childhood memories threaten to paralyze me.

"Let me go, you bastard!" I twist against his grip, but he yanks me down. My head cracks against the concrete floor, sending stars exploding behind my eyes. The impact echoes through the vast space, a cruel reminder of how isolated we are. Before I can roll away, his weight pins me down.

"Sure, once I am done with you, and there's nothing left for that bastard to have." His words drip with venom, and suddenly, I'm drowning in memories. The darkness pressing in, his suffocating weight, that cologne that burns my nose and churns my stomach.

For a moment, I'm thirteen again, frozen in terror as my world shrinks to pinpoints of pain and fear. But something deep inside me cracks open, spilling rage into my veins. I'm not his victim anymore. Not that scared little girl hiding under her sheets. I'm stronger now, hardened by survival, and like hell, I'll let him break me again.

I thrash wildly, my legs kicking out, my body twisting with desperate energy. "I said, GET OFF!" My voice bounces off the warehouse walls, strong and defiant.

"You've grown feisty. Good. I'd hate for this to be boring." He smirks, eyes glinting in the dim light. I try to kick him off, but he presses his knees harder into the ground, steadying himself.

"Fuck you!" I spit in his face, struggling to free my hands. The slap comes fast and hard. A metallic taste fills my mouth as my lip splits. He seizes his chance, tearing at my dress. The cold night air hits my skin, and my heart plummets as reality sinks in.

"Wow, they are bigger now and what's this on your precious skin?" His eyes fix on the blade marks, still healing.

"I believe they fucking tell she's mine." The new voice cuts through the darkness like a blade. I crane my neck, my heart nearly stopping at the sight.

"Hello, little rebel. Miss me?" Rafael's voice is ice-cold as he levels his gun at my father's head, moonlight glinting off the barrel.

The sound of a gunshot rips through the darkness, followed by my father's scream of agony as the bullet tears into his arm.

"I'm giving you five seconds to get off her before the next one goes in your head."

Dad scrambles away from me, leaving a trail of blood. I push myself up and stumble toward Rafael but freeze when I get close enough to see him clearly. Blood spatters his face like war paint, his white shirt soaked crimson. It drips from his hands, fresh enough that I know whoever had him didn't live to regret it. My eyes scan his body for injuries but find none, thank God.

"Put this on." Rafael shrugs off his blood-stained button-up. I'd never normally wear something so gore-covered, but the cold bites at my exposed skin, leaving me no choice.

"Now." He turns to my father, voice dropping to ice. "We do this easy or hard. Tell me who your partner is; I kill you quickly. Waste my time? I'll make you beg for death."

"Might as well kill me now. I talk, I'm dead anyway."

"Sure, no problem." I see Rafael aiming the gun at my father's head. I turn away, unable to watch. It's too personal, too much to bear. A shot rips through the air, and I should feel something – horror, grief, anger – but all I feel is numb, like I'm not even in my own body.

The sound of gunfire keeps ringing out, each shot louder than the last. Then, silence. The monster of my nightmares dies with pathetic whimpers, and all I can think is: he seems smaller now. My father's dead. Finally dead. The relief that floods through me should probably shame me, but it doesn't.

Rafael's hand lands gently on my shoulder, turning me to face him. Tears blur my vision as our eyes meet. He's here. He's really here before me. God, I was so stupid not listening to Julio and staying put. What if Rafael hadn't made it in time?

"You look ugly when you cry, little rebel." His thumb catches the tears spilling down my cheeks.

"No, I don't," I say, rolling my eyes even as more tears fall. I missed him so much – how is that possible after only hours? It terrifies me what my heart is trying to tell me. It's not supposed to be possible. Is it?

"Come here." He pulls me against his chest, and I break completely.

"You're crying like something happened to me. I'm the one covered in their blood," he murmurs into my hair, making me cry harder.

"I'm fine. I came back untouched." He pulls back just enough to meet my tear-filled eyes.

"Please never do that again." Even as I say it, I know it wasn't his choice.

"I promise, Francesca, I won't." His lips press against my forehead as I burrow back into his embrace. He guides us out of the building to where a car idles in the darkness. Julio stands by the door, and I manage a weak "sorry." He just shakes his head.

"Let's go home." Rafael settles us in the backseat, and I cling to him, not ready to let go. Not ready to face what my heart already knows.