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"Don't," I tell him, surprised when my voice doesn't waver or shake. "Tell him not to get out of his car, Carter. They'll kill him if he does."
Tahani whimpers again, her hand like a vise around mine. I have to pry her fingers off mine so I can undo my seatbelt and turn around to face Carter. I hit the speaker button on my phone so Roman can hear what's going on even though I really want to hang up on him like I did in the house. Just like then, I'm not so sure there is a way out of this. We're blocked in, unable to go anywhere. If we die, I don't want him to hear it happening. I don’t want him to live with those memories tormenting him.
"Roman, Benson says we're blocked in," I tell him, fighting to keep my voice level so he doesn't lose it. If he flips out, I'm not sure what he's going to do. Roman isn’t someone you control. He’s a beast, controlled only through his own will. If he snaps, it’s going to be bad. Right now, I need him in control because we need his help more than ever.
"Motherfucker," he curses.
"Gregory, I've got backing units on the way, but it's going to be at least fifteen minutes before they make it here," Carter says quietly.
Roman's quiet for a long time, and then he mutters something under his breath. "Baby, I love you and Tahani so fucking much. But I need you to give Carter the phone right now," he tells me, his voice soft and commanding at the same damn time. It's that tone I can't ignore, the one that tells me in no uncertain terms that he's in charge and I need to obey.
"Roman," I argue anyway. Of course I do. Because he needs someone to argue with him because I don’t think anyone ever has. They just do what he says, no questions asked. Not me. Never me.
"Now, Mila," he grits out.
I glare at the phone before reluctantly handing it over to Carter. As soon as he has it in his hands, he hits the button to turn the speaker phone off and puts it to his ear.
"What's up, man?" he says, his gaze locked on me. He's quiet for a long moment, listening to whatever Roman says to him. His expression is that same frustratingly blank mask. I think they teach that infuriating look in cop school.
"Are you okay?" I ask Tahani.
For as long as I've known her, she's been talkative. When she's nervous, she chatters. When it's too quiet, she chatters. The fact that she's completely silent worries me. She's terrified out of her mind.
"Yes," she lies anyway, nodding.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the driver's door of the SUV blocking Tahani's driveway swing open. No one gets out, though. The tint is so dark I still can't tell that anyone is even in the vehicle. Clearly, someone is, or the door wouldn't have opened.
"Carter."
"I see it," he mutters to me, his voice grim.
I glance back at him to see that he's watching the SUV, his eyes hard.
"If I get shot, I'm killing you," he mutters into the phone to Roman and then looks between me and Tahani again. He purses his lips and then holds his gun out toward me. "Take this, darlin'," he demands.
When I hesitate, Tahani reaches out and grabs it from him. Her hands are surprisingly steady. She's careful with the weapon, making sure to keep it aimed away from us. She shifts positions in the seat, focusing the gun on the SUV ahead of us without a word.
"I'm getting out of the car," Carter says, speaking quickly. "If anything happens, you find a way out of here, even if you have to ram your way out." Before Tahani or I have a chance to say anything, he climbs out of the Jeep, holding his hands up in the air.
"What is he doing?" Tahani asks.
"Jose Guerrero!" he yells before I have a chance to say anything, his hands still in the air like he's trying to prove that he's unarmed. "Roman Gregory is on the phone for you. He says he has something that belongs to you."
"What the fuck?" Tahani breathes.
I don't have an answer for her. Whatever Roman is doing…whatever he told Carter…I don't think he wants us to know that there isn't a plan. This is an act of desperation, pure and simple. He's trying to save our lives the only way he knows how.
I have to fight the urge to cower on the floorboard and hide my eyes. I'm terrified someone is going to shoot Carter and then come for us and Benson. But for long moments, nothing at all happens. Aside from my breathing, Tahani's, and the soft rumble of the engine, everything is silent. There's no movement in the SUV ahead of us.
"Fuck," Carter mutters after a moment, his voice barely audible even though he left the car door open. He stands there for a split second and then curses again. "Selena Ortega," he shouts into the silence. "Roman has your girlfriend, Guerrero."
"What the fuck?" Tahani whispers again.
I swallow hard, stunned.
"Prove it," a man calls out a moment later, his accent thick but his voice surprisingly cultured. I expected him to sound like a monster, not like a businessman. But I wouldn't even give this man a second look if he walked past me on the street and said hello.
"Check your phone," Carter yells back.
