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stared into his eyes for a long moment before lowering the gun slowly. “I don’t want to hurt you.” She whispered the words almost to herself as she battled internally about whether or not she should trust him. He moved closer to her again, and Carter raised the gun, pointing it toward his face.
    Nope— she didn’t trust anyone. “I said I don’t
want to
, Boss, not that I won’t,” she said as she began to push back every emotion she was feeling. She needed to focus on the goal, and that was getting out of this place and disappearing.
    “Carterina Anastacia Stone … Drop the gun…”
    When Carter looked in the direction of the firm, heavily French-accented female voice, her eyes shot open in horror. She dropped the gun and began backing up, her head shaking back and forth, as the woman— her mother— moved in her direction. She continued inching backwards till she suddenly lost her balance and fell to the ground. The woman shot forward and Carter scrambled back, pushing her body with her legs.
    “No, no, no. Please don’t. I don’t understand,” the words rushed from her mouth frantically.
    “Carterina. Be calm, baby girl. You should be in bed resting. This stress is too much for you.” There was panic in her hazel eyes.
    “Anastacia?” Carter whispered.
    “Yes, I am your mother.”
    “Why are you here?” Carter couldn’t stop her tears.
    “For you, baby girl. I can’t be apart from you anymore.”
    Carter shook her head firmly. “I-I can’t be here. I have to go. Please let me go,” she cried. She tried to stand, but a sudden wave of dizziness hit her hard and she fell back down. Everyone moved toward her, and she scrambled back again, “Please, stop. Please. I-I have to leave here. I have to …” Her pleading trailed off. She couldn’t talk anymore. She was on the verge of a panic attack.
    “Carterina, you must let us take you back to the house, honey. This is too much for you,” Anastacia said.
    “Please stop talking. This isn’t real— you’re not here!” Carter said as her dizziness began to wane.
    “It’s very real. You should not be out of bed.”
    Carter’s hand went to her head, “What the hell is wrong with me?” she whispered to herself.
    “Carterina, you need to listen to me.” She looked back to the boss, he gave a nod, and she turned back to Carter. “Do not panic when I tell you this, honey. You’re recovering from a very bad injury, and you need to let us take you home.”
    Carter looked into eyes identical to her own and frowned. “What the hell are you talking—” Her sentence went unfinished when she noticed a flash of light reflecting from her left hand. She lifted her hand and stared at the huge diamond ring on her finger. Carter frowned and blinked rapidly, “What’s this?” she whispered. “Where—”
    She stopped talking at the sight of a black SUV stopping in the distance. The passenger door burst open and relief rushed through her at the sight of a familiar face.
    “Carter!” Kyle yelled as he ran to her. Once he made it to her, he dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms.
    Carter held on to him tighter than she’d ever held on to a person in her life, crying, “Kyle, I don’t know what’s going on. Please take me away from here … Please.”
    Kyle pulled back from her and cupped her face in his hands. A tear fell from his blue eyes, and Carter shot up on her knees. “Kyle, what’s wrong?” she asked, panicking at the sight of his tear. She’d never seen him cry before.
    “Nothing, angel. Nothing’s wrong anymore,” he said softly as he tenderly stroked her hair.
    “What’s going on?” she asked, hoping Kyle hadn’t betrayed her. “I don’t know where I am. Help me … please. I thought … I thought we cared for each other. I need you to tell me why I’m here. You’re the only person I trust.” She moved closer to him. “You’re my best friend,” she said softly, hoping to God he still was.
    Kyle smiled,