NOAH
Through the window, I saw him.
Alex.
He was standing in the center of the garden path. He wasn't the man I had danced with.
He was standing with his suit off, his sleeves rolled up, surrounded by at least half a dozen men.
They were moving in an organized search pattern, blocking every gate and every exit route. It was a trap. A perfectly executed perimeter.
We huddled together just inside the door, the stone wall providing a slim barrier. The glass was old, and as a guard approached Alex, their voices carried through the frame, muffled but audible in the quiet night air.
"We lost her, sir," the guard said, his head bowed. He hesitated, then added with a disgusting, nervous chuckle, "We just wanted to have a little fun with her first. We didn't think she'd be that strong and fast."
The implication was a physical blow to the gut. They hadn't just been capturing her; they had intended to rape her before doing whatever Alex had intended for her.
