Nothing like getting your face smashed into the hard bed of a truck. I gritted my teeth and struggled into a sitting position, using the side of the truck to maneuver myself upright.
Sirens sounded in the distance, quickly coming closer.
Men climbed into the back of the truck after me, tumbling in like frantic wildebeests into the river. Three. Four. Five of them.
Someone banged the side of the truck—tap, tap, tap!—letting the driver know they were all in.
The engine rumbled as the truck lurched forward, slamming everyone backward.
The rest of the men jumped into other vehicles that now followed close behind us as we raced away.
Splaying my legs out in front of me, I used my feet as traction and wedged myself up against the side of truck to keep from toppling over. My arms were starting to ache from being pulled back so tightly, but there was nothing I could do about that right now. Drawing in a deep breath, I tried to relax and plan my escape. I slowly surveyed the occupants of the truck, taking stock of my captors. I counted six of them sitting up, and another who was lying down in the middle of the truck, obviously injured. Slowly, the seventh man struggled upright. One of the others kicked out at him, landing a hard blow to the ribs. The man grunted, his breath wheezing out, then he determinedly sat up. Even in the dark, I sensed that he was bigger, taller, than all the others. His hands were tied behind his back like mine.
He turned his head, and I let out a soft gasp as I stared into Tony’s familiar black eyes. His gaze stayed firm on mine, unmoving. He was trying to tell me something with that look.
Wait.
Be patient.
I got this.
I didn’t know what he had planned, but he was obviously more injured than I was.
I gave a slight nod of my head, letting him know I understood.
I would wait.
I would be patient.
I would watch for a signal from him.
And then I would assist him in any way I could.
I wasn’t letting Tony do this alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tony
The truck neared the stoplight at the intersection that connected with the highway that led toward Augusta. There were two vehicles in front of us, obviously part of their gang, and several more vehicles behind us. The light turned red before we reached it, and the truck rocked to a halt. The cars in front of us made it through the light, speeding down the highway. The last time I’d been to Augusta, I’d died temporarily in the Spartans’ fighting octagon. It had been Nate and Alissa’s fierce determination and refusal to give up on me that had brought me back. I owed both of them my life.
And now Grace might die because of me.
The woods lined the edge of the road for several miles before opening up with only a few trees here and there. If we were going to escape, we had to do it while we were still close to the woods. The trees would offer cover, a place to hide. The sun would be up in about an hour. We had to escape before then. We had to get away before they reached Augusta.
I wasn’t sure if The Company was behind our abduction, or if the Black Dragons were working on their own, or in conjunction with one of the other gangs.
But if Grace and I didn’t escape, we would both die. For some reason, they’d taken us captive rather than killing us outright. And that gave me hope. It might give us a chance to escape. I’d almost gotten away back at that house, but there was no way I could leave Grace behind, so I’d circled back around and tried to slip closer to help her get away. But one of those bastards had bumped into me before I could move aside. One of the disadvantages of my invisibility was that if I wasn’t completely alert, someone or something might bump into me. I’d been so focused on getting to Grace that I hadn’t been able to jump out of the way in time.
Tripping over my foot was all it took for them to discover where I was. Several of them had attacked me then. I’d killed a few, and wounded a couple more before they’d finally taken me down.
I had witnessed Grace fighting back there, and I had been thoroughly impressed. The girl had kicked some serious ass before they’d tackled her to the ground. She was tough. She’d taken a beating, and she’d likely be sore for a few days. But she was one hell of a woman. She was fucking amazing.
And I wanted to kill all these bastards for hurting her.
I vowed I would get her out of this situation.
I carefully wiggled my hands, taking advantage of my missing pinkie finger and my flexible joints. Slowly, carefully I maneuvered my left wrist free of the zip ties. I kept my arm behind my back so no one would realize I was free. I left the zip tie attached to my right hand. The plastic would be useful as a weapon. It would make a painful slap to a face or limb, likely leaving a nasty welt behind.
I patiently waited to make my move.
Sirens approached. Then the flashing red and blue lights of a police car appeared behind us. Grace’s cop friends weren’t far behind.
The light turned green.
The truck lurched forward, peeling out as we headed onto the highway and picked up speed.
I looked at Grace, trying to tell her with my eyes that it was time.
Then I lunged forward, striking out at the two men who sat across from me.
Smack! Thwack!
The other four thugs jumped up to assist, but the movement of the truck made us all lose our balance, and we tumbled together in a heap of bodies. Loud cursing came from the front of the truck, but the driver didn’t slow, obviously too anxious to get away from the approaching police vehicles.
I fought my way free of the pile of bodies, flinging one man over the side of the truck, slapping another across the face with the zip tie that dangled from my right hand. Whap! Grace kicked her way free of the group, using her legs as weapons. Even with her hands tied behind her back, she didn’t give up. Between the two of us, we kept fighting them back.
Smack. Crack. Grunt. Thud.
The driver slammed on the brakes and the vehicle screeched to a halt. I launched myself over the side of the truck, tackling Grace as I went, pulling her with me.
We hit the gravel and rolled. I took the brunt of the fall, curling inward, wrapping my body protectively around hers as I landed on my left side. She let out a soft moan of pain, but then she determinedly struggled to her feet.
The approaching police vehicles drew closer. Closer.
Angry cursing came from the truck. Doors opened and closed. More shouting. Then the truck peeled away, spewing gravel at us. The other cars that had been part of the gang didn’t stop. They just kept fleeing as fast as they could.
Two police cars gave chase, flying past us with sirens wailing and lights flashing. A third cop car pulled over to the side of the road behind us.
“Go to your cop friends,” I told Grace, knowing they would keep her safe. I had brought danger into Grace’s life. It was my fault she’d been hurt tonight. I had no doubt the Black Dragons had been after me, not her. They’d simply used her to lure me out. I had to stay away from her for her own safety. I couldn’t let her be hurt again because of me.
She hesitated, her gaze searching mine. “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.” I gave her a gentle shove. “I can’t be seen.” I needed to quietly slip away. “Go now.”
“Will I see you again?” she asked, her green eyes standing out in her swollen, bloody face. Anger twisted at my gut. Those bastards had marred her beautiful features. I determinedly forced the anger back. Grace would be fine. Her wounds would heal, and in a week or so, she would be back to normal.
I turned away. “What happened tonight was my fault. My selfishness got you hurt. I can’t let it happen again. So it would be best if I stayed away from you. For your own safety.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she argued. “And I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, Grace, but I won’t have you hurt again because of me.”
Without another word, I slipped away,
guilt eating at me. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had no choice. Not if I wanted to keep her safe.
Though I was wounded by several flying weapons, I still had enough strength to make myself invisible temporarily. Drawing on what was left of my depleted injury, I made myself invisible, quickly disappearing into the trees before the cop approached.
I glanced back once. Grace was talking to the police officer and motioning down the road where the Black Dragons had gone. He must have cut her zip ties, freeing her.
Relieved that she was safe, I headed back into Eatonton toward my car. By the time Grace made it home, I would be long gone.
This was the best way to keep her safe.
Staying away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Grace
The police chief assigned an officer to watch my apartment each night. I was thankful for the extra security, even though those thugs hadn’t come to my house. Instead, someone had lured me away with a phone call. The department had investigated, but had been unable to trace the call. It had apparently come from one of those untraceable numbers.
My instincts told me that phone call had been about Tony, not me. They’d used me to try to get to Tony. But how had they known he would go along with me to that house? What if I’d shown up alone? Would they have taken me hostage and tried to use me to get Tony to come out of hiding?
I had a bad feeling in my gut that Darcy was behind this. I’d let the woman stay with me for four days. She’d witnessed the attraction between me and Tony. Had she used that attraction to try to capture him? If so, why? And whom had Tony heard outside of my apartment, listening in that night? Some pervert? Or someone who’d been making sure Tony was there before they’d placed that call to lure us out?
Though I hadn’t wanted Tony to leave that night, I understood his need to stay hidden. He also seemed to think that staying away from me would keep me safe. When would that man realize I could take care of myself?
I was extra cautious, extremely wary over the next several days. But all was quiet. Normal. Dull. Especially without Tony. I missed that arse, even though he’d hurt me.
Just fucking? Seriously? How could he say something like that?
I wanted to strangle him. And hold him tight. I wanted to show him how good it could be between us. Not once. But always. Why had he turned me down? Was he afraid to get close to me?
Tony was a hard man. I wasn’t even sure if he was capable of love. Just because there was a strong sexual chemistry between us, didn’t mean it could ever be anything more.
I didn’t want to admit that he’d hurt me with those words. Or that I was falling for him.
Falling? Feck, I’d already fallen. The moment I’d seen him patiently entertaining that small boy with magic tricks, I was a goner.
I was an eejit for letting myself care about a man who was incapable of loving me back.
For the next several days, I was a wreck. At work and at home. I wasn’t myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tony. Even though he’d hurt me, I wanted him to return. I fantasized about him coming back and apologizing, saying he’d been wrong, that he had feelings for me. That he wanted more than “just fucking”.
Get over it, Grace. It’s not going to happen.
My partner, Keith, got annoyed with me more than once, telling me to snap out of my depression and do my job. Fortunately, it was an uneventful couple of days, so my lack of attention to my job didn’t endanger myself or my partner in any way. There were no drug busts this week. Only a few traffic citations, and a domestic dispute where we had to arrest the drunken parties and lock them up for a few hours until they sobered up.
Nothing out of the ordinary at my home, either. Each day after my shift, I visited briefly with the cop on watch duty, and each day he told me all was well. No suspicious activity. Life went on as if that action-packed night had never occurred. Except I had the cuts and bruises on my body as proof that it had happened.
On the fourth day, I was in the grocery store when I spied new wanted posters on the bulletin board. My cop instincts told me these new flyers were the result of us escaping the other night, and that whomever was after Tony would vigilantly renew their efforts to catch him. I figured the dregs would want me to remove the flyers, so I took them all down and stuffed them into my purse. Alissa had said the dregs were good guys, and I’d witnessed that for myself the night they’d gone into Paine College to try to find my foster girls. What had they done that would make someone willing to pay $50,000 for each one of them? And why was someone after Tony so desperately that they’d used me to lure him to a dark place so they could catch him?
I finished my grocery shopping and headed home. I had to go on duty in a half hour. What should I do about the flyers? Should I tell the dregs about them? They still hadn’t come and taken the other flyers, so I’d stuffed them back in my kitchen drawer.
Should I call Tony and tell him about the new flyers? I couldn’t deny I longed to see him again. To talk to him. But I was stubborn and proud. No. I wouldn’t call him. I refused to. Just fucking? He could feck off.
Instead, I called Alissa.
As expected, it went to voicemail, so I sent her a text message telling her about the flyers, and that if the dregs wanted to see them, I had them at my apartment.
Then I unloaded my groceries and headed off to work.
It was another slow night, and by the time five a.m. rolled around, I was more than ready to head home. A text had come in from Alissa around midnight saying that the dregs would like to see the flyers. I texted back that I got off at five a.m. She replied that someone would come pick up the flyers after I got home.
I paused briefly in the parking lot while the officer on watch duty informed me it had been another uneventful night. I thanked him and headed toward the building.
Assuming it would be Nate and Alissa who showed up to collect the flyers, I was more than a little shocked to spy Tony sitting in the shrubs with that stray dog as I strolled up the walk at 5:08 a.m. I paused, my heart slamming into my ribs, as he lifted his head, his gaze locking on mine. He was hidden in the shrubs, yet he suddenly became visible as I approached. Had he done that on purpose? Made himself visible for me to see him? I hadn’t had a chance to ask him about what’d I’d witnessed that night—him disappearing into thin air. I assumed the invisibility was the dreg talent he’d spoken of, but I had no idea how it worked.
The very sight of him made my breath catch. He was so handsome with that lean jaw freshly shaven, those sexy, masculine lips that I’d longed to kiss from the start, those smoky black eyes that focused on me with such intensity I wanted to squirm, that thick dark hair I ached to run my fingers through, again and again, to mess it all up. I wanted to mess him all up. The way he was messing me up. Tony was dressed in black jeans and that dark gray jacket like he’d worn the other night, with a baseball cap pulled low over his face. My heart gave a lurch in my chest. He appeared almost boyish sitting there with that dog, feeding the poor, starving creature. Something in my chest loosened. I was more than a little in love with him.
But he’d hurt me. And I wasn’t about to give him the chance to do that again.
I lifted my chin, eyeing him where he sat. “I forgot to call the dog catcher,” I blurted, unable to think of anything else to say.
“I figured you might, so I brought some dog treats for Amigo.”
Despite the fact that he’d hurt my feelings, I couldn’t stop my lips from twitching. “Amigo?” Tony was so thoughtful, bringing treats to a stray dog. I hadn’t even thought about the dog since Tony had left.
“Yeah.” He held my gaze. “That’s what I call him.”
“And amigo means ‘friend’ in Spanish?”
Again, a quick nod. Tony had befriended a stray dog. I wasn’t sure what to think about that, but I couldn’t deny that it touched something deep inside me.
I cleared my throat and looked away. “I’ll go get the flyers for you. Stay here.” I didn’t want hi
m in my apartment. I didn’t want to be alone with him. I was afraid that if he touched me, I wouldn’t be able to resist him. And then I would fall even harder for him, and when he left, I would end up with a broken heart.
He rolled gracefully to his feet, stepping into my path as I started to walk away. I halted, my heart thundering in my chest.
“I didn’t come for the flyers.” He spoke quietly, a seriousness in his tone.
I tilted my head back, looking into his eyes. “Then why are you here?”
He swallowed, the sound audible in the silence that followed. “Because I can’t stay away, Grace. I wanted to make sure you were okay. And I…still want you. Once wasn’t enough.”
Seriously? He thought he could come back whenever he wanted sex and that I would just give in?
“Well, too bad!” I shouted. “You don’t get to have me again, you big arse! I don’t want you anymore,” I lied, shoving against his chest. “Get out of my way.”
He flinched, but instead of letting me pass, he stepped closer, again blocking my path. “I’ll give you what you want.”
I froze. My breath caught. What the feck did that mean? I lifted my chin. “And what is it that you think I want?”
“You want it your way,” he whispered, his voice soft and husky. “You want mouth-to-mouth kisses. You want touching. You want passion. You want to feel cherished. Desired. I will give you all of that. And more. Whatever you want, Grace, I will give it to you this time.”
This time. What about all the time? If I let him in tonight, would it be the last time I saw him? Or would he return again and again, whenever he wanted sex? Would I be nothing more than his personal whore?
Whatever you want, Grace, I will give it to you this time.
Desire stirred deep inside me. Then hope. I did want those things. But I was scared. This man had already hurt me once. If I let him in, he could easily hurt me again.
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