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“Oh, God, Liam.” I start to move, forgetting the gun at my head in an effort to help him. But my captor doesn’t let me forget.
He shoves me back against the tree. “She shot you, Boss.”
“She didn’t know it was me. It’s my fault.” Liam pulls himself up, his hand over his abdomen. It’s dark, but not so dark that I can’t see blood oozing. “I told her to shoot first and worry about it second.”
The second man who I now realize is Robbie puts his gun down. I run to Liam.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” I chant.
He presses his palm on my cheek.
“We’ve got to get going.” Artyom shows up from somewhere. “What the fuck happened?” he asks when he sees us.
“She shot him.”
Artyom’s gun rises, but Robbie puts a hand on his arm. “Boss says no. I’ll deal with her. You get him to a doctor before he bleeds out.”
“Liam, I…” But before I can finish, Robbie is dragging me out of the woods. “I need to help him.”
“You’ve done enough.”
“I didn’t know. Please, let me help.”
“You a doctor? A nurse?”
“No, but?—”
“Then you’re coming with me.” He manhandles me into an SUV I don’t recognize. It must be from the men who showed up. At first, I try to get out, but the child locks are on. Stuck in the back, I fully take in the scene. Liam’s home is up in flames. There are dead men strewn about. I’ve been in the middle of a war. And I just shot the general.
After barking out a few orders, Robbie climbs into the driver’s seat.
“Please, can’t I stay with him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t want you.”
The words feel like stabs. Had Liam told him that? Was it because I shot him? Or had Liam’s desire to have me gone manifested because I broke the rules and called Lucy? Horror fills me at the idea that perhaps I’d brought this all on Liam. Had I done something that revealed his location and created this ambush?
The car peels off, and once we’re on the road, he hands a bottle of vodka back to me. “Have some of this. It will calm you down. You’re safe now.”
I take the bottle, not really wanting it but also not wanting to upset him. I take a sip, feeling the heat of it burn down to my stomach.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
He doesn’t respond. His eyes are focused on the road as we drive away. It isn’t long before I realize that we’re likely going to be in the car for a time. The lull of the drive brings intense sleepiness that I work to fight off, but eventually, I lose and I fall asleep.
When I wake, it’s still dark out, but I can see to the east a subtle lightness that suggests the sun will be rising soon. As I look about, it takes me a minute, but I realize we’re around Tarrytown.
“Are we going back to Manhattan?” I’m not sure how I feel about that unless I’m going to Elena’s. Maybe Liam and his men have had enough of me and are just going to dump me off somewhere. That might not be too bad except I don’t have my purse or money or a phone to call for help. Who would I call, anyway? I haven’t heard from my father in months. If whoever is after me isn’t dead tonight, I could be a danger to others. My only recourse would be to reach out to Lucy and Donovan.
“No.” Robbie takes the turn that crosses the bridge from New York to New Jersey and then heads south along the river. Does the Bratva have safehouses here?
Finally, we pull up to a large gate. A man with a gun steps out, and he and Robbie exchange words. The man at the window nods toward someone else, and the gates open.
My nerve endings are on high alert. Where am I? Am I safe?
