The cold marble wall of the Dallas mansion pressed against Sadie’s back as her knuckles turned white around the phone.

Every single room in the twenty-million-dollar estate was silent, except for the ragged sound of her own breathing.

Sadie: Please... please don’t hurt him. He’s just a kid. Take whatever you want from me!

A distorted voice laughed through the speaker, cold and metallic.

Caller: You have one hour, Sadie. One hour to deliver the private safe codes from Mr. Sterling’s study, or your little brother won't make it to his eleventh birthday.

Tears spilled over Sadie’s eyelashes, dropping down her cheeks and landing directly on her uniform apron.

Sadie: I don’t have those codes! I’m just the cleaning maid! Mr. Sterling will put me in federal prison if I touch his desk!

Caller: Then pick out a nice casket for little Toby. The clock starts now.

Sadie gasped, clapping her bruised hand over her mouth to swallow a shriek of total despair.

She slid down two inches against the wall, her knees shaking so violently she thought her legs would give out entirely.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the bright hallway, slow, measured, and terrifyingly heavy.

Sadie froze, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.

She looked up through blurred vision and saw Roman Sterling stepping out of the shadows, his towering frame clad in tailored black, his neck tattoos dark against his skin.

Roman: Who is threatening you?

Sadie tried to hide the device behind her back, but Roman was already standing right over her, blocking out the light.

Before she could answer, his huge hand reached down and gripped the phone right out of her trembling fingers, lifting it up to his ear as his dark eyes locked onto hers.