Chapter 4 - The Debt Was Never the Real Trap
Audrey woke at 2:17 a.m. to someone pounding on her apartment door.
She reached for her phone.
“Who is it?”
“Declan.”
Her heart dropped.
She opened the door only halfway.
Declan stood in the hallway without a tie, his black coat damp from rain.
Two security men waited near the elevator.
“What happened?”
“Get dressed.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“You cannot show up at two in the morning and order me around.”
“Someone visited your father.”
Every trace of irritation disappeared.
“What?”
Declan entered and placed a photograph on her kitchen counter.
William Carter.
Audrey recognized him immediately.
“Why was he there?”
“That’s what I’m finding out.”
She grabbed her coat.
Declan stopped her.
“Where are you going?”
“To my father.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
Twenty minutes later, Declan’s armored SUV cut through empty streets.
Audrey sat rigidly beside him.
“Is my father in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t lie to you.”
She turned sharply.
“You withheld the fact that my father’s debt contract charged interest at a rate designed to keep me working for you.”
His expression tightened.
“That was written in the agreement.”
“You knew I was desperate.”
“Yes.”
“And you used it.”
“Yes.”
His answer stunned her.
Declan looked through the windshield.
“I could invent something prettier, Audrey. It wouldn’t change what I did.”
She looked away.
At the care facility, her father was unharmed.
But his bedside drawer had been searched.
A nurse remembered Carter claiming to be an insurance representative.
Declan’s men reviewed security footage.
Audrey sat beside her sleeping father.
Thomas Collins looked smaller every year.
She took his hand.
“You’re supposed to be the difficult man in my life,” she whispered. “One is enough.”
A voice behind her answered.
“I heard that.”
She turned.
Declan stood in the doorway.
For once, he looked almost human.
Audrey faced her father again.
“Why would Hale care about me?”
“Because of what you know.”
“What do I know?”
“Everything.”
She laughed without humor.
“You made me dangerous by making me useful.”
“Yes.”
“And now I’m leaving.”
“Yes.”
“So your enemies assume I’m vulnerable.”
Declan came closer.
“They assume you might talk.”
“I won’t.”
“They don’t know that.”
Audrey stood.
“What happens now?”
“I move your father.”
“No.”
“A secure medical facility.”
“No.”
“Audrey—”
“You don’t get to rearrange my life every time you become frightened.”
“I’m not frightened.”
She looked directly at him.
“You came to my apartment at two in the morning with an armored car.”
He said nothing.
“You’re terrified.”
His eyes hardened.
“Fine.”
The admission came quietly.
“I am.”
Audrey froze.
Declan glanced toward her father.
“Not for myself.”
Something shifted between them.
The next morning, Thomas was transferred—with Audrey’s consent—to a private facility owned by neither Mercer nor anyone connected to him.
Audrey chose it.
Declan paid nothing.
That mattered to her.
For the first time, he seemed to understand why.
Back at Mercer Holdings, Audrey found Nathan waiting downstairs.
“You vanished last night.”
“How do you know?”
“I called.”
She checked her phone.
Six missed calls.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan studied her face.
“Are you okay?”
Before Audrey could answer, Declan approached.
Nathan’s expression changed.
“You again.”
Declan ignored him.
“Audrey, upstairs.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“She’s talking to me.”
Declan stopped.
The lobby became silent.
Audrey immediately moved between them.
“Both of you stop.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What is going on?”
She hesitated.
Declan answered.
“Someone threatened her father.”
Nathan’s anger disappeared.
“What?”
Audrey glared at Declan.
“That wasn’t yours to tell.”
“No. But you need protection.”
“I need choices.”
Nathan looked between them.
“I can help.”
Declan’s expression became icy.
“With what?”
“My company handles corporate risk.”
“I know what your company handles.”
Nathan stared.
“You investigated me?”
“Public records.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
“Unbelievable.”
Then Nathan said something unexpected.
“Actually, Audrey, there is something you should know.”
He reached inside his coat.
Declan moved instantly.
His hand caught Nathan’s wrist.
Nathan froze.
“Easy.”
He slowly withdrew an envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Audrey leaving work.
Audrey visiting her father.
Audrey entering her apartment.
Someone had been watching her for weeks.
On the back of the final photograph was a handwritten message.
YOUR DEBT WAS THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU SAFE.
Audrey’s blood ran cold.
Declan took the photograph.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
Then Audrey noticed something.
A reflection in a storefront window.
The photographer.
She knew that face.
“No.”
Declan looked at her.
“What?”
Audrey pointed.
“That man.”
Her voice shook.
“He worked for my father.”
Declan stared at the reflection.
Audrey whispered the name.
“Elliot Crane.”
Declan’s expression changed completely.
May you like
Because Declan knew him too.
Elliot Crane had supposedly been dead for four years.
