“All of them?”
He nods. “Three of them were trying to abduct another woman at The Dice Club. I managed to stop them. They’re in custody now. The man hired to take you is in the basement.” Thor pauses. “We have reason to believe your ex-husband hired him.”
The floor seems to tilt beneath my feet.
“Terrance,” the name comes out like a curse, bitter on my tongue. My legs suddenly feel unsteady, and I reach for the doorframe to steady myself. “He found me.”
“We're handling it.”
“Handling it how? By beating people up? By keeping prisoners in basements?”
“By doing whatever it takes to keep you safe.” He steps closer, and I can smell the soap on his skin, see the water still beading on his shoulders. “This isn't a game, Charlotte. These men were trafficking women. Selling them.”
The words hit me like ice water. “Selling them?”
“Your ex didn't just hire someone to bring you back. He hired someone connected to a human trafficking ring. Do you understand what that means?”
I can't breathe. The hallway feels like it's closing in around me. All those months of looking over my shoulder, of jumping at shadows, and it was worse than I imagined. So much worse.
“I need to sit down.”
Thor's hand shoots out to steady me as I sway. His touch burns through the thin fabric of my shirt, anchoring me to the present moment. “Come on.”
He guides me toward the living room, his towel riding dangerously low on his hips. I should tell him to get dressed, but shock has stolen my words. I sink onto the couch, my hands shaking as I try to process what he's telling me.
“Human trafficking,” the words taste like poison. “Jesus Christ, Thor. What kind of man did I marry?”
“A monster.” He disappears for a moment, returning with a pair of jeans slung low on his hips, the towel abandoned. “But he's not going to get you. I promise you that.”
“You can't promise that.” I look up at him, this man who's turned my world upside down. “You don't know Terrance. He has money, connections. He doesn't give up.”
“Neither do I.” Thor sits beside me, the couch dipping under his weight. “The man we captured—he's going to tell us everything. Where your ex is, who he's working with, how deep this goes.”
“And if he doesn't talk?”
Something dark flickers across Thor's features. “He'll talk.”
I've seen glimpses of the violence he's capable of, but this is different. This is cold, calculated. Professional.
“You're going to torture him.” It's not a question.
“I'm going to do whatever it takes to get the answers we need. Answers that will keep you safe and permanently remove your bastard ex-husband from your life, Charlotte. That’s the only way this ends. You understand that, right? Men like him haveenough money to pay off judges, make witnesses disappear. The only way this ends is with him taking his last breath.”
The finality of that statement should terrify me. It should send me running for the door, calling the police, doing something normal and rational. Instead, I feel a strange sense of relief wash over me. For the first time in years, someone is willing to go to the same lengths Terrance would to protect what matters to them.
“You're talking about murder,” I say the words quietly, testing how they sound.
“I'm talking about survival. Yours and mine. Because if we let him walk away from this, he'll never stop coming for you. And eventually, he'll succeed.”
I know he's right. I've known it since the day I ran. Terrance doesn't accept defeat, doesn't accept loss. In his mind, I'm still his property, and he'll spend whatever it takes to reclaim me.
“The man downstairs—Vincent. Will he suffer?”
Thor's jaw tightens. “Do you care if he suffers?”
The question hangs between us like a loaded gun. Three days ago, I would have said yes. I would have believed in justice, in the system, in doing the right thing. But three days ago, I didn't know that my ex-husband was connected to human traffickers. Three days ago, I still believed there might be a normal life waiting for me somewhere.
“No,” I whisper, and the admission feels like stepping off a cliff. “I don't.”
