Page 23 of Too Broken to Love

Relief and adrenaline sharpened her instincts and resolve.

And made her devious.

Spinning to the fake agent, she rose onto her toes. “That guy running towards us is my ex.”

She slid her fingers inside his vest and skimmed his waistband. “Help me put on a show for him and I’ll come easy with you.” As she hooked her finger around the pistol, she grazed her thumb lower against a spot she hoped would distract him. He inhaled and relaxed his grip. Ripping her arm free, she spun.

Hudson ran to her side. Catching her around the waist, he yanked her against him as the bastard fled.

Hudson’s heart thrummed as violently as Tessa shook. “Are you okay?”

She nodded against his shoulder. “He tried to force me to go with him.”

He set her back. “Stay here.”

Breathing in another painful gulp of air, he ran in the direction of the scumbag who’d grabbed Tessa. He caught sight of him a quarter of the way down the side street.

“Shit.”

A dark sedan with tinted windows tore out of a parking spot. The guy jumped in the passenger side. As the car turned the corner, he dialed 9-1-1. “This is Dr. Hudson Langley. “He spat out the information. “Send someone to Tessa’s house to take our statements. We’ll meet you there.”

He hung up, certain his family’s name was enough to do his bidding without question.

Out of breath, he bent over and placed one hand on his knee and wrapped the other around his ribs.

“Fuck.” He shouldn’t feel so broken. His lungs burned like he’d run for miles, but they were only a few blocks from the duplex.

A shadow lengthened next to him. Tessa’s heavy breathing scraped his ears as she placed her hand on his back. “You okay?”

He grimaced as he straightened. “I haven’t even known you for twenty-four hours and we keep asking each other that?”

“Yeah. It’s gotta stop. You should sit.”

He shook his head, holding out his hand. “You should give me the gun under your jacket.”

“Oh crap.” She looked down at the tip of the barrel peeking from the hem of her windbreaker.“I thought I hid it.” Stepping close to him, she pulled the gun from its hiding place and pressed it into his stomach.

His fingers grazed her bare skin where her jacket rode up. Gripping her hip, he wrapped his fingers around the weapon and tugged her closer to hide the exchange. Her breath caught. Something sparked inside him, like the charge he felt before a challenging surgery.

He tucked the gun into his waistband. As he covered it with his hoodie, he tracked her attention to the end of the street where the sedan had disappeared.

“Hey.” He ran his hand up her arm and settled it on her shoulder. “He’s gone.”

“He came out of nowhere. One second I’m running, and then he was just…”

Her breath snagged. Hudson felt the fractured hitch down to his toes.

“He was just…there.” She rubbed her arms. “How did you know where I was?”

“Malcolm and I went to your house. Lia said you were up here.” He tapped the weapon under his shirt. “Mind telling me how you lifted a gun from an assailant?”

Tessa’s shoulders quaked as she shrugged. “If he didn’t want it taken, he shouldn’t have threatened me.”

He placed his finger under her chin. As he tipped up her face, her lips tilted into a smile. “You’re not just a pretty little thief. You’re a talented one too. Did you get your skills from your father?”

Her smile drooped. “He’s not my father. He’s Frank.” She recapped the events as she pulled something from her pocket. The breeze lifted the edges of a photo.

He smoothed it with his thumb, not bothering to ask how she’d procured it. She wouldn’t answer anyway. He’d let her get away with avoiding his questions—for now. “This is Frank?”