42

“I honestly don’t know. He didn’t say anything. As soon as I was outside, I ran toward your soldier but he was already dead. I raced toward my car, managing to get in and lock the door. But he was there, standing in the shadows. He shot the car. My back windshield. I thought I was dead. This is crazy, Joshua. Why? What are they doing, trying to take over the country?”

“Maybe. Do you still have the drives?”

“Yes, but I had to leave my phone.”

“It’s okay. We’ll be fine.” The fuckers had killed one of my men. Hissing, I tried to think this through, loathing being driven into a corner like some fucking rat. Whoever was behind this fucking charade would be hunted down.

“I can’t go with you, Joshua. I’ll lose everything if I do. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Sweetcherie, hear what I’m telling you. You’ll lose your life if you stay. At this point I don’t know what’s going on any more than you do, but I assure you that no one is going to keep you safe if you stay. And here’s the thing. I’m not going to allow you to risk your life because of me. I’ll do anything to protect you.Whether you like it or not, you’re coming with me.” She had no idea the kind of man I was or what I was capable of doing. While she still had some sense of fear of my darkness, she’d soon learn that I protected those I cared about with whatever means were necessary.

Dear God, I wanted so much to spend time with her, shoving all this shit aside. She deserved better. Maybe even than the man determined to keep her.

“Damn you. Damn this horrible situation.” She dropped her head into her hands, her shoulders heaving. At this point, there was little I could do to comfort her. Not until we were safely out of the fucking country.

But so help me God, the motherfuckers would die. A couple of minutes passed, Mikey constantly checking his mirrors.

“Shit. Don’t look now, but we got company,” Mikey hissed, immediately making a turn. “I can’t lose them in all this goddamn traffic.”

I jerked around, seething from seeing the car making a turn right behind us. “Get us to Indiana. We need to lose them. I don’t care how you need to do it.”

“I will,” my soldier snarled, jerking the steEricag wheel to the right, narrowly avoiding getting hit.

“Damien’s parents are rich and influential,” she said almost in passing.

“Let me guess. Even though Damien was a bad seed, they were probably the ones who paid for his alibi.”

“That’s what I’m guessing. That’s sick. How could any parent protect a man so evil?” She lifted her head, seriously asking for answers.

“You might be surprised what parents will do for their children, Selena.”

“Yeah, I guess. We’re missing something. This can’t be all about political gain.” She stared out the window, constantly shaking her head.

Horns were blaring from every direction, tires screeching, but it seemed as if we’d been dropped into slow motion.

Mikey was relentless with his driving skills, almost managing to lose the tail. Then the fuckers found us again moments after we’d made it into Indiana. “Shit. They’re on us again.”

“Yeah, well, I know this area,” he told me. “I’ll find a good stopping point.”

“Stopping? Where are you taking us?” she demanded, doing her best to scoot as far away from me as possible.

“My pilot is in Cincinnati.”

“No. No. No.” Her groan was full of exasperation.

“Haven’t you figured out by now that I’m the only hope you have of remaining alive? Someone wants you dead, Selena. They figured out you’re not a team player.”

“That’s exactly what my boss said.” She laughed bitterly, but I could sense she was right on the edge of losing it. “You killed that man on the street. Do you know what that means?”

“I couldn’t give a shit at this point. It’s kill or be killed.” I yanked out another magazine, ready to switch as Mikey was forced to slow down.

My lovelycherietook that very moment to try to escape, managing to open the door before I could jerk her back.

“Let me go. You might think it’s okay to be judge and jury, but that’s not what others in society believes.”

“That is not going to happen. You don’t seem to understand this is our lives we’re talking about. As far as others in society? Haven’t you seen up close and personal everyone can and will cross the imaginary line of good versus evil at some point? As I learned a long time ago, everyone has a price.”

“Not everyone, Joshua. I’m not like the people you’re used to dealing with and I’m not your prisoner. You’re not taking me away from this fight. I’m not going to run like some scared little girl. That wasn’t how my daddy raised me.”

“It would seem your daddy did just fine, Selena. However, he can’t protect you from the evil in this world.”

“And you can?”

“Yes. We need to work together. You know that inside that big brain of yours.”

She twisted her lips, the fear remaining. How the hell could I blame her? Her entire world had been rocked, everything she believed in shot to shit.

For the next fifteen minutes, the situation remained harried. Once we hit a back road, I had to place my trust in my soldier in being able to get us the hell out of the mess. He was originally from the States, having grown up in the area. If anyone could lose the tail and keep us safe, it was him.

When the driver of the enemy vehicle started to accelerate, my gut told me they were trying to get close enough to ram us. It would appear the fuckers were getting desperate. They were afraid we were getting too close.

“Fuck,” I hissed. “You need to get us out of here.” He knew exactly how I wanted to handle the situation.

“I’m on it,” Mikey snapped, pressing down hard on the accelerator. As he rounded a sharp curve, my lovelycheriewas tossed against me.

“This can’t be happening. Who is trying to kill us?” The edge remained in her voice, but she was finally ceasing to fight me as hard as before. I could also sense she was attempting to put all the jagged edges together. “Why is this happening?”

“I promised you we’re going to figure it out. But just I told you before. You need to place all your trust in me. Can you finally do that?”

After swallowing hard, she lifted her head to look into my eyes. “I’m trying.”

I wanted to tell her to try harder, but that would only push her further away from me.

“We’re coming up on the only place that might work to handle the situation, boss. Then we need to hit the interstate,” Mikey said through clenched teeth.

“Do it. Listen to me, Selena. You’re going to stay down.”

“What are you doing?”

“Buying us some time.”

“You can’t do that. You’ll get yourself killed.”

I had to grin. “You’re still underestimating me, darling. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Mikey swung around another curve, immediately pressing down on the brakes. Before the SUV came to a full stop, I was out of the door, holding the weapon out with both hands. Within seconds, the fuckers appeared, the driver slowing down initially, the car idling just far enough away. While the lights were blinding, I refused to blink, slowly walking toward the enemy with the weapon in both hands.

Mikey popped out beside me just as the driver started backing up, trying to avoid getting shot. To hell with that. Another thirty seconds ticked by as if this was the OK Corral. Fuck this. When had I ever hesitated before doing what needed to be done?

“You ready?” I growled.

“You know I am,” Mikey answered.

“Then let’s get them.” I started running in their direction.

“You know how to have a good time.”

I laughed at his comment, able to close some of the distance. I started firing, my soldier doing the same. The pinging sounds turned into cracking glass. The driver was frantically trying to weave the car back and forth, but his efforts were futile. Finally he lost all control, and we watched as the car smashed into a tree, smoke rising from the engine seconds later.

“Fucking assholes,” I muttered.

“Do you want me to see if they’re dead?” he asked.

“No. We can’t waste any additional time. We need to get on that plane. I think we’re missing something here.”

“Ya think?”

As soon as I turned around, I noticed Selena was jumping from the car, racing away. What the fuck was the woman doing? “Shit.” I powered forward, shocked she’d managed to make it to the woods before I had a chance to grab her.

“You need to just let me go,” she yelped, dodging and weaving her way further into the darkness.

“That’s not going to happen.” I almost snagged her arm when she jerked away but I was on her within seconds, pushing her hard against a tree. The headlights from our vehicle highlighted the look of horror on her face. “Stop. Just stop. You need to think about this, Selena. I’m not your enemy. But someone is determined to use you against me. I’m not going to allow that to happen. The only thing that I can do that makes any sense is get us far away from here until I can figure this out. Until we can figure out who’s behind this. Does that make sense?”

“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes once again, her expression full of confusion. “I hate this shit. If you run, I can’t stop this madness.”

“Come on, baby. We’ll stop it together. Unfortunately, we can’t waste time. Those men in that car aren’t the only ones trying to hunt us down. You must know that. They’d just hired guns and nothing more.”

She wiggled in my hold, able to get one of her hands free, punching me in the jaw. “I figured that much out on my own, Joshua. But I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do this.” She started to sob then stopped herself.

I yanked her arms over her head, pushing the full weight of my body against hers. “Baby. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. I’m going to say this one last time. Everything is going to be okay. I promise you.”

“How? How is it ever going to be okay? Are we going to be considered criminals our entire lives? Is that what you want?”

“How about I allow you to clear my name when we put all the pieces together.” I released my hold, sensing she was losing the fight within herself. She knew what I was telling her was the only chance we both had.

Selena laughed, pressing her hand against my chest. “Now you have me confused with a superhero. Answer me the question. How are you going to keep us safe and out of jail?”

I couldn’t stand to hear the agony in her voice. This wasn’t something I’d been equipped to handle but as I took deep breaths, I sensed her tension easing. “Because I’m damn good at what I do. Damn good.”

She huffed, kneading my muscles as if doing so grounded her. “Yeah, you are. That almost scares me as much as they do. Whoever they really are.”

Chuckling, I brushed hair from her face. “Let’s get the fuck out here. Okay?”

“I didn’t think you were alive. I thought they got to you.”

“No,cherie. I’m tougher than you obviously think I am.”

Her breathing remained ragged. I couldn’t help myself, crushing her mouth with mine. As always, the taste of her was sweet, a reminder that we were very much in danger.

She clung to me with both hands, arching her back as I swept my tongue past her lips. For a few precious seconds, I allowed the moment of passion to continue.

There was nothing like the feel of having her in my arms, of feeling her long fingers touching me. I was almost crazy enough to take her right here, even going as far as yanking one leg around mine.

She mewed into the kiss, savoring the private moment as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

When I broke the intimate hold, I pinched her chin between my thumb and forefinger.

“Trust,” I said quietly.

“Yes. Trust.”

“Good.” I took her by the hand, leading her back to the SUV, glancing one last time at the crushed vehicle behind us. I hadn’t intended on leaving a trail of bodies, but it was apparent there was no other choice. Now I had to figure out if they were Liam’s men or someone else. One way or the other, I would be returning to Louisville.

I would clear my name.

And hers.

I would hunt down my enemies one by one.

Then I would clean house.