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“Fine,” he spits out the word and pulls two things from the pockets of his jacket—a handgun and a prepaid card phone, which he hands to me. “Have it your way. Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can do about the triad. She only owes the money, right? That’s all.”
Oh fuck. He doesn’t know the new development. Raylin shivers at my side, and I tug her closer, as if that way I can protect her.
“As a matter of fact, something else came up. Listen…”
***
Ten minutes later Hawk is cursing under his breath, his face red, and not in a flattering way. I mean, I like it when Raylin blushes—holy shit, just the thought of it gets me hard and aching—but on Hawk it only tells me one thing: he’s two seconds from either self-combusting or punching me in the face.
Or maybe both.
Probably both.
“She did what?” he finally manages, and dammit, we’re still on the sidewalk, in plain view of everyone.
Raylin moans low in her throat, and I pull her all the way into my arms. “You heard me. Can you do something about it?”
“The fuck, Storm. This isn’t a card game. If she killed one of theirs…”
“Be quiet, goddammit.” My heart is slamming against my ribs. This has to work. “Can you, or can’t you? I thought nothing was beyond you.”
“Yeah, well, that was before you dropped this bomb on me.”
Our driver is standing next to the car in the alley, pretending not to look at us. The bodyguards are standing between us and their car. My skin crawls. There’s an itch on the back of my head, as if I can feel the red dot of a rifle aimed at me.
There’s nobody else here, dammit. We’re in a narrow alley with a smell of cat piss where hospital staff come out to smoke and make phone calls. We’ll be safe for another two minutes.
“Can you do it or not?” I’m not staying out in the open a second longer. “Tell me now, and I’ll see what to do.”
“You can’t do this without me.” He’s waving his hands again. Hawk rarely gets nervous, and this is one of those rare times. “You know it.”
“Are you in, Hawk?” Because he’s right. He’s the only person I know—and trust—with connections with the triads.
“Fuck you.” He glares at me, makes me wait. Then he sighs. “Yeah, goddammit, I’m in. Need to save your fucking ass—again. Like I have a choice.”
“We all have choices,” I remind him as I open the car door and gently push Raylin inside.
Playing my last card and hoping Hawk won’t let me down.
“And I choose to make sure you and your little girlfriend keep breathing. But you know what, man. That’s not a fucking choice at all. Like I’d choose anything else.”
With that he, well, storms away, leaving me light-headed with hope and fear, and Christ, I really hope I haven’t just signed the death sentence of yet another brother, my other best friend. I have so few real friends I really should be more fucking careful.
But despite what I told Hawk, it’s not like I have a choice, either. How can I leave Raylin in the hands of the triad?
I can’t, and that’s a fact.
RAYLIN
Everything’s a whirlwind right now, moving too fast for me to keep up. To think that I considered traveling all over the country as I ran from my pursuers, reaching as far south as Florida, to be a wild ride. Breaking into a mansion, seeing the ocean, watching a handsome man jog down the beach…
And now here I am, in Baltimore, with a bad-boy millionaire and his demented friends, trying to figure out a way to get the triad off my back and wondering what his secrets might be. The secrets that may or may not be the reason behind the attempts on his life.
Attempts everyone else sees as accidents. Attempts not even his best friends regard as such. But I believe him. I’m done doubting. And this secret he says he’s about to tell me… If my jangled nerves are any indication, it’s going to be a big one, an important one.
One that might change the whole picture. Not because I’m smarter than he is, or better at solving riddles. No, I’m just more suspicious, made wary by life. Plus, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. We’ll weather this together.
I’m staying with him, and I’ll do my best to protect him, until he sends me away. And even then… even then, I know it, my heart will stay with him.
