<b>Chapter </b><b>120 </b>
The sun had long begun its descent by the time Alejandro and Nivera left the restaurant.
The warm afterglow of their intimate dinner still lingered in the air between them as they got into the car.
Nivera leaned back into the seat, her fingers restingzily on her stomach.
She was more than full. That was going to be a problem, as she would be having a photoshoot soon. She couldn’t afford to gain any weight.
“I can’t believe you finished all that food,” Alejandro teased, casting her a sideways nce as he started the engine.
She gave a softugh, still smiling from the earlier conversations. “It was so good, I had to.”
“Right.” He shook his head, and they bothughed softly, the kind ofughter that filled the car with afortable warmth.
。?,”
But that warmth gradually faded as they joined the main expressway–and were immediately greeted by an unrelenting wall of traffic.
A chorus of honking horns echoed into the night. Cars stretched endlessly in both directions, taillights blinking red like a trail of warning signs.
Alejandro’s smile thinned as he muttered under his breath and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Of course. Weekend traffic.”
Nivera looked out the window, exhaling slowly. “How are we going to get home? This could take hours.”
“We’re going to have to take another route,” he said, already shifting into the nextne when he spotted a possible opening ahead.
The sun had fully set now, and the moon was out, casting pale light across the windscreen.
Alejandro turned off the express way and onto a less travelled road. Nivera didn’t recognize it.
There were no streetlights, no other vehicles, and the further they drove, the more thendscape morphed into eerie emptiness.
The trees were tall and bent strangely over the road, as if leaning in to eavesdrop on them.
It was a perfect scene for a horror movie, and this was the kind of road people got killed on.
Nivera’s eyes narrowed as she peered outside. The road was narrower now, winding through patches of thick woond. “Where are we?” she asked.
Alejandro flicked his gaze toward her briefly. “Shortcut.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Since when do you take shortcuts through creepy forests?”
He chuckled lowly. “I’ve been through here before. Rx. We’ll be back on the main road in ten minutes.” He reached over and stroked her hand gently. “Don’t let the trees scare you.”
His touch was reassuring, and she didn’t pull away, even though her chest remained tight. Just as she was about to respond<b>, </b>the car jerked,
A loud thud echoed from underneath, followed by the unmistakable whirr of a slowing engine.
Nivera yelped, jerking upright. “What happened?!”
Alejandro cursed under his breath as he checked the dashboard. The warning light blinked, and the screen showed <b>a </b><b>tire </b><b>alert</b>. “Damn it,” he muttered. “We’ve got a puncture.”
“Are you serious right now?” she said, panic rising in her voice.
The car rolled a few more feet before he let it coast to a stop. He typed a few things into the screen, trying to assess the damage,
The silence that followed was too still. Too quiet.
He narrowed his eyes and scanned the trees surrounding them. “Something’s off,” he muttered.
“What do you mean something’s off?” she said sharply, trying to open her phone. But there were no bars. Not even a flicker of signal.
“Alejandro-”
Before she could finish, movement caught her eye. From the thickets and trees, shadows began to emerge. Men. Five… six… no, seven of them, all in dark clothing with masked faces, creeping forward like predators surrounding prey..
“Shit,” Alejandro hissed, his hand reaching instinctively toward thepartment near the gear.
Nivera gasped, her hand instinctively grabbing Alejandro’s. Her heart pounded in her ears. “We’re going to die<b>, </b>aren’t we!” She began to hyperventte.
He didn’t look at her. Rather, he kept his eyes on the approaching men. “Stay calm. Don’t do anything unless I tell you to.”
He nced at her and then looked back at the men. “We’re being ambushed. Don’t panic. The car is reinforced–bulletproof ss, steel frame. They’ll have a hard time breaking in.”
One of the men stepped forward, a twisted grin on his face, and tapped on the window. “Look what we have here,” he jeered. “This one’s a rich one. Come out, pretty boy. Make it easy. We won’t hurt you… much.”
Alejandro’s eyes darkened, jaw tightening. “You picked the wrong night.”
Nivera fumbled for her phone again, but it was useless.
“No service,” one of the men outside said with a sneer, tapping the side of his head mockingly, “Wee to the dead zone.”
“Come out, pretty boy<i>,</i><i>” </i>another jeered, banging a bat against his open palm. “We won’t hurt you… much.”
“No.”
Almost on cue, a man stepped forward and swung a bat hard against Nivera’s door. BANG!
Nivera let out a sharp scream, covering her ears as her body recoiled. Alejandro turned to her, jaw clenched so <b>tightly </b>the <b>vein </b><b>in </b><b>his </b>neck popped.
The ss didn’t break—it was reinforced, but it didn’t stop it from having any less of a negative effect <b>on </b>Nivera
“Stop it!” She shouted, voice shaky.
The menughed.
<b>2/3 </b>
<b>14:44 </b><b>Fri</b>, <b>Aug </b>
“Think they’re gonna call for help?” one of them sneered.
“They’re not calling anyone,” another replied. “Signal’s dead. That’s why we love this spot.”
Alejandro’s mind was racing. He needed to stall them long enough. If his emergency alert went through, his men <b>would </b><b>trace </b>his signal and find him–if the satellite link was still intact.
Nivera curled closer to him, her breaths shallow. “Alejandro… they’re going to kill us.”
“No, they won’t,” he said quietly, never looking away from the windshield. “I won’t let them <i>touch </i>you.”
“Do something,” she whispered. “You said it’s bulletproof, but they’re going to break something. We can’t stay in here forever.”
Alejandro looked calm, too calm. “I triggered the backup distress signal. This will send a silent ping to my team–they should have gotten the message now and should be on their way. So all we need to do is hold on.”
<b>ff </b>