THE MAID'S FORCED VOW

Chapter Six

The message carried a location I didn't recognize. An old warehouse near the docks, twelve hours to arrive, no one else allowed to come.

Damon read it over my shoulder and reached for his phone.

"No police," I said quickly. "If they see anyone coming, they'll hurt him."

"I wasn't calling the police," Damon said. He was already dialing. "I have people who can watch the location without being seen."

"People."

"Security I trust. Former military, not company staff. My father doesn't know they exist."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. It was the first plan since the phone call that morning that sounded like it might actually work.

"We go together," I said.

Damon paused. "It's safer if I stay back."

"He wants you married to me. That's the whole point of this. If I show up alone, what's stopping him from deciding he doesn't need to let Micah go at all?"

Damon didn't have an answer for that, which told me I was right.

We left the tower separately to avoid drawing attention, meeting two streets over in a car I had never seen before, plain and unremarkable, nothing like the ones usually parked outside Ashworth Tower.

"Whose car is this," I asked.

"Mine. The one nobody photographs."

The drive to the docks was quiet. I watched the city change outside the window, glass towers giving way to warehouses and empty lots, and tried not to think about what waited at the end of it.

"Tell me about your father," I said eventually.

Damon kept his eyes on the road. "There isn't much to tell that will help you tonight."

"Try anyway."

He was quiet for a moment. "He built this company by making sure everyone around him owed him something. Your mother included, I think. I don't know the full story. I only know he doesn't let debts go unpaid, even after decades."

I filed that away without responding. The car slowed as the warehouse came into view, dark and silent against the night sky.

"Once we're inside," Damon said, "follow my lead."

I nodded, though my heart was pounding too hard to trust my own voice.