Page 35 of Double the Redemption

The apartment door opened, the hinges creaking. Terror filled her, so she moved with a practiced ease she had hoped never to use again.

On silent feet, she hauled Asher out of bed. When he stirred, groaning, she placed her hand over his mouth and lifted him so he would look in her eyes. “It’s okay, baby,” she said, so softly it was barely audible, but Asher, well used to this, didn’t utter another sound, going limp in her arms.

Her heart broke, and she was so fucking angry she had to do this again. That she couldn’t bring him to a safe place even once. Tiptoeing to the closet, she was thankful the thick carpet muffled the sound. She put Asher at the back of the closet, handed him the stuffed animal, and put her finger to her lip, the signal she had taught him when he was old enough to understand.

Then she eased back and hurried to grab the gun she had hidden under the mattress. Thank fuck there was a silencer on it; it would hopefully keep Asher from being scared if she had to fire it.

With quick efficiency, she checked to make sure it was loaded before she fell to her belly and crawled to the doorway to get the best view down the hallway into the apartment’s open space.

Two of them. There were two men in her apartment—one moving around the kitchen, the other in the living room. Neither of them made their way down the hall, nor even glanced at it. What, did they think she would sleep through them breaking in?

She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The darkness shielded her, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t spot her. She had to get Asher out of here. Fast.

Images of the apartment ran through her mind, along with the view of the warehouse. The window faced the large open driveway, but there was a fire escape. She could get Asher out and away before they spotted them if she was careful and kept him quiet.

She mapped out the route in her head that would take her into the woods. If she could get there, maybe she could lose them and slip past any security before they could stop her.

The two figures kept moving, searching for something, but she wasn’t going to stick around to find out what it was.

“I’ll go check,” one of them whispered. The voice was deep, but she couldn’t place it. Not that she really wanted to. All she knew was they were coming and her window to get Asher out had closed. She would have to fight.

Her hands grew damp around the gun but stayed steady. Asher. This was all about protecting him. Diego was not getting hold of him. Ever. Whoever these men were, they weren’t expecting her to be ready to take them down. They would think she was being lazy and feeling safe, letting her guard down.

She’d prove them wrong.

She had one chance at this, so she couldn’t be stupid.

She lifted the gun.

“Wait,” the voice said. “Naomi⁠—”

She fired.

The roar of shock and the curses were instant and far louder than the shot itself. Naomi moved fast, using every ounce of power and momentum she possessed to knock the man to the floor.

Maybe it was luck, or maybe the shock of the situation caught the man off guard, but she got him to the floor with a hard grunt and a loud crash. After more cursing, the lights turned on, but she didn’t care. Ready to fire again, she brought the gun up, but it was yanked from her hand, and the man beneath her rolled her then pinned her to the wall.

She fought wildly. Her only thought was to protect Asher, so she fought dirty. Like her father taught her when he worried the boys in her high school would try something. Or so he said.

She clawed, kicked, slapped, and bit.

“Fuck!” the man yelped as she sank her teeth into his hand when he tried to grab hold of her hands to stop her. “Naomi, stop. It’s me. Stop, it’s Ink. Motherfucker!” he wheezed, releasing her then falling away when she landed a knee to his balls.

Scrambling away, she was desperate to get to Asher. She didn’t care where the other man was.

She was almost at the closet when arms wrapped around her from behind. The snarl she let out was feral as she twisted, trying to kick and struggle her way free.

“Naomi, that’s enough!” the man barked, so sharply it startled her into stillness. “We are not here to hurt you,” Savage declared, grabbing her hands and tightening his grip when she renewed her struggles. “Naomi, stop.”

She wasn’t going to listen to or trust him. Trusting them wouldn’t happen again. Asher. She had to get to Asher.

“Naomi, it’s okay,” a feminine voice said, and she whipped her head around to see Glitch standing there, calm, like this was just an everyday occurrence for her. “No one is going to hurt you or Asher, okay? Taz sent us over to make sure you were all right and to collect the SIM card you destroyed to ensure nothing can be tracked back.”

Naomi stilled, but Savage didn’t release her. The tension in the room remained. “Taz sent you?” Naomi gasped out.

“Yes. Karissa and I are members of their team, remember? That means that when you contacted him, he let me know you had reached out to him from the burner phone. I’d have been here sooner, but I didn’t hear my phone.”

“Then why are they here?” Naomi demanded, struggling against Savage’s grip, but he grunted and tightened his arms around her even more. He was like an anaconda; the man was damn strong. “They’re the ones who exposed me in the first place.”