I raced to the entrance of the hospital, with only Taylor, my best friend, on my mind. Connor, her older brother, walked in first and held the door open for me. My heart thumped so hard I could hear it echo in my ears as I followed in with Matthew, Taylor's bodyguard. Only a few days before, someone had gone to astounding lengths to kidnap Taylor. He had caused an accident that had knocked Matthew out so he had been unable to stop him from taking her without anyone seeing anything.

For days we had tried everything to find her but there had been few leads. The cops hadn't been able to figure anything out either.

I gripped my handbag to keep myself from getting emotional as the hospital's sterile smell hit me. I hated that smell; it reminded me of death.

Connor went straight to the information desk.

"I'm here to see my sister, Taylor Price," he said anxiously. His jaw was tense. I stood beside him, looking expectantly at the nurse behind the counter. I gripped the edge of it, trying to keep my emotional feelings from taking over.

"Taylor Price," she murmured to herself as she tapped at the computer keyboard. Every second that ticked by seemed to take so much longer than usual.

"She's in ward C," the plump nurse told Connor. "Down the hall, second right, and then first door on your left."

He was gone before she'd even finished the last sentence. Matthew and I hurried behind him, trying to keep up.

In my mind I tried to calm my nerves. My relief at hearing the news that she had been found had been overcome with the fear at learning she was in the hospital. We had no idea what she had endured in the few days she had been held against her will. I shut down the thoughts that her kidnapper had done irreparable damage.

Few details had been given when Connor had received the call from Sin, Taylor's ex. They hadn't exactly dated; it had been more of an arrangement of benefits, which had gotten a little more complicated.

It was confusing. Sin had known before the hospital had called Connor a few minutes later. All we had been told was she had some injuries, but nothing life-threatening.

I wasn't surprised to see Sin leaning against the wall as we entered the ward. He pushed off the wall when he saw us. Then, beside him, I caught a glimpse of the person who had the power to stop the world around me.

Slater.

His silvery blue eyes found mine. His sandy brown hair hung across his forehead. Sin's best friend. He came to stand beside Sin, who had pitch-black hair and deep blue eyes. Both of them sported tattoo sleeves. Sin had a lip piercing and Slater had an eyebrow ring. It wasn't just their outward appearance that was intimidating, it was the air around them that warned people off—the same aura that made the girls swoon in their direction.

They both had heartache written all over them. But even knowing that hadn't stopped me from getting involved with Slater. It shouldn't have been a surprise to see him but the sight of him hit me square in the chest. It hurt. I hesitated for a moment before I pushed myself on. I could do this. I had to.

The last time I had spoken to him had been the brief phone call to tell him Taylor had been kidnapped. I hadn't been able to reach Sin. After a fight with Taylor, he had left town.

Ignoring my inner emotions about Slater, I concentrated fully on my friend and her situation.

"They won't let me in to see her," Sin told Connor. His shoulders slumped in defeat when we came to a stop.

"They didn't tell me much over the phone," Connor said. "Is the doctor still assessing her?"

Taylor's brother looked awful. His usually perfectly kept blond hair was messy and his usual clear green eyes were slightly glassed over from a lack of sleep. We were all pretty tired with worrying over Taylor. There had been more than a few times I couldn't stop the thought that the only way we would get her back was lifeless and in a body bag.

Sin nodded. "He has been in there for a while."

Was it that bad? I hated the feeling that uncoiled in the pit of my stomach. We had no idea what kind of injuries she had sustained.

"How did you know she was here?" Connor asked, dragging a hand through his hair. "How did she get away? How did she get here?"

He shot the questions out one after the other, leaving little time for Sin to respond.

"Jeff—a guy who works for me—managed to find her," he began to explain. He rubbed his temple. It was something out of a movie or something. This stuff didn't happen in real life. "He was on his way to check out Eric's house when he found her in the street."

"Eric?" I asked. I searched back through my memory, trying to place him. Just when I was about to ask, I remembered who he was and my jaw dropped open. He didn't seem to be the type that would do this.

Sin nodded. "He was the one who took her."

I closed my eyes for a moment when I thought about her alone, injured, trying to deal with the emotions of protectiveness that assaulted me. Sin hesitated.

"She was badly beaten and..." Sin's eyes flickered to Matthew's.

"And what?" Connor snapped. The stress of worrying about Taylor had eaten away at him and he was running on empty. The murder of his parents had placed the heavy responsibility of his much younger sister on his shoulders.

"She was found in her underwear."

Oh, my God. I put my hand to my mouth at the horror. In my mind it could only mean one thing. I felt an arm wrap around me to give me comfort, and I looked up at Matthew. His dark green eyes mirrored mine.

"He wrapped her up in his jacket and brought her here. He said she stayed awake the whole journey like she was too scared to let go until she knew she was going to be...safe." Sin's voice broke slightly on the last word. Matthew hugged me tighter as I felt the sting of tears, pressing my hand to my mouth.

"Did Eric...?" Connor couldn't finish his sentence but the panicked expression on his face left Sin with no doubt about what he was asking.

Sin briefly closed his eyes as he rubbed his head before answering in a defeated voice, "I don't know."

Connor looked momentarily stunned.

"We won't know anything until the doctor finishes examining her," Sin offered.

I didn't want to think that something like that could have happened to her, but it was the reality of the situation that refused to allow me to push it to the back of my mind and forget about it.

"How did Jeff know where she was?" Connor asked, still needing to know how exactly this all happened.

"I asked him to find her so he started his investigation by looking at the people closest to us," Sin began to explain, rubbing the back of his neck. Eric was Sin's roommate, although they weren't really friends; they were more like acquaintances. "He discovered Eric had rented another house. It was suspicious, so he decided to check it out."

We still had no idea what his motive was. He had been stalking Taylor for a while, following her in the dark corners of our dorm. He had broken into our room and left her a message. When he'd attacked her in the staircase it had been the final straw. Scared and having no idea who it was, Taylor had finally informed her brother, which had led him to hiring Matthew.

But even with that, it hadn't been enough. I took a deep breath, still trying to process everything.

"She's okay," Matthew murmured softly to me.

I swallowed hard as I looked up at him. His toffee-colored hair hung across his face, hiding half the bandage on his forehead where he'd been injured during the car accident that had left him unable to protect her. I nodded my head. Unlike him, I knew the wounds you couldn't see were sometimes the hardest to cope with.

She had been found semi-undressed. I couldn't get that thought out of my mind.

When I pulled away from Matthew, I caught Slater's eyes, which were fixed on me. His expression was unreadable. I felt a shiver that shook me to my core. He had that way of looking at me and seeing so much more than anyone else did.

But even he didn't know what I kept hidden from everyone.

I was the first to look away. It hurt too much. To see him and remember how it had ended between us... I still didn't know what had gone wrong. He had broken things off, leaving me confused and hurt.

We all waited patiently outside the hospital room. Eventually feeling exhausted, I walked to the wall and leaned against it. I held my bag, my eyes fixed on the door while waiting for it to open. Matthew came to stand beside me once more.

Connor, Sin and Slater refused to budge from outside the door. They wanted to catch the doctor as soon as he was finished with her.

I bit my nail as I waited, watching Sin and Slater talk quietly to Connor. Secretly, I allowed myself to let my eyes take Slater in while his attention was elsewhere.