by Sybil Bartel
“Oh my God, she started it. And besides, if that shit bothered her, she needs to get a thicker skin.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, woman. In Vincenzo’s world, reputation is everything.” Please tell me she had half a goddamn brain. “You don’t fuck with the mafia. They don’t care who you are. They get even.”
“Then how come you’re still breathing?”
I wouldn’t be for long if Luna didn’t convince Cara to roll over on Vincenzo. “You worried about me, princess?” I smirked.
“Don’t make jokes. And yes, for your information, I am worried about you.”
Christ. “Save it. I’ll keep you breathing, and you’ll be back in your penthouse before the week’s out.” I knew what the fuck I was doing. “Don’t worry, you’re mission priority.” Rain starting to hit the windshield, I turned on the wipers.
She didn’t say shit, but I felt her eyes on me.
Taking the bait, I glanced at her.
Looking at me like I’d committed the ultimate offense, she shook her head. “Really? You’re going there?”
“Not gonna lie, princess. I like the woman side of you better than this nineteen-year-old attitude version.” Way fucking better.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about because there’s only one version of me, but let me be perfectly clear. I wasn’t saying I was worried about you simply because you’re my bodyguard. I was worried because I care what happens to you because for some stupid, unfathomable reason, I don’t hate you. Or I didn’t. But now that you’re being a dick, I don’t know if I really do care whether or not your psycho ex or her husband catch up to you.” Crossing her arms, she leaned back in her seat. “And for the record, I don’t do snow. I hate it. Frozen white shit all around feels like a prison or a death sentence. Which, apparently, is what we’re driving into if, according to you, a mob boss catches up to us.”
“Nice speech.” Christ, this woman. “You done?” She was making me realize exactly how much time I didn’t spend talking to Cara over the past few years. And why I avoided women except to fuck them.
“Screw you, whatever your real name is.”
Sick bastard that I was, I fought a smile. “Good, keep that thought, and listen to what the fuck I’m about to tell you.”
“Oh yay, bossy Shade is back. How fun.”
Ignoring her dig, I addressed what I should’ve earlier. “You didn’t kiss me. I allowed it to happen, but make no mistake, it meant nothing and it’s not going to happen again. Let it go.” If I knew what was good for me, I’d believe my own bullshit.
“Oh my God, seriously?” Turning in her seat to face me, her voice amped up. “You’re that egotistical that you think I’m sitting here pining over you? Which, make no mistake, it was me who kissed you first.”
Lifting an eyebrow as my only response, I turned the wipers on faster as the rain started freezing.
“You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“Now you’re getting it.” I winked at her.
“Oh my God.” Leaning back in her seat, she sighed. “It wasn’t even a good kiss.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I deadpanned.
Her head whipped toward me, and her baby blues gave away her lie.
Dropping my voice, I called her on her bullshit. “It was a fucking great kiss.”
MY SEX CLENCHED, MY HEAD spun, and my heart jumped on a damn trampoline.
He liked the kiss. He liked the kiss.
Oh my fucking God.
Breathe, Summer. Breathe and get a grip.
Not that it mattered, because not only did he say it wasn’t happening again, I’d made the self-preservation decision to never go there again. I shouldn’t even want to. Getting tangled up with Mr. Bodyguard would only lead to me getting my ego or, worse, my heart stepped on. I didn’t need to screw myself over before I’d even had a chance to get home from rehab.
No man was worth that.
But damn, that kiss.
There was no denying it, Shade kissed like a man who knew exactly what to do with a woman. No guy should be that obscenely sexy. And arrogant. And protective. And oh my God, the scent of his skin—Jesus, Summer, pull it together.
Not looking at him, because I couldn’t simultaneously see his full lips and dark eyes and form reasonable words, I made one last ditch attempt at preserving my dignity. “Well, like we said, it’s not happening again.” Keeping my gaze trained straight ahead, I stared at the rain coming down that looked like it was starting to freeze.
“We?” Shade smirked, and his cell rang.
Both hands on the wheel, he answered on speaker. “Shade.”
“I tried to reason with Cara again.” Andre’s voice filled the cabin. “No go. I don’t know if she’s refusing to come in because she knows Vincenzo’s tapping her phone or if she’s really that stupid to turn down the offer. Either way, Feds aren’t going after her. They said she can come to them, so I’m sending Ronan up solo for retrieval. She can say no to the Feds in person.”
“Bad idea to send him alone.”
“He’s the only one not on assignment at the moment, and he knows what he’s walking into. You know his capabilities as well as I do. But he won’t get to Cara before she catches your six, and it looks like Vincenzo’s sent more backup your way. So, you’ve got two choices.”
Shade glanced at the side mirror. “Whatever it is, I’ll take the lesser shit one.”
“Candle can be on the road in thirty,” André replied. “He’s only an hour forty-five behind you.”
“Are you fucking shitting me?” Shade practically barked. “Since when is he L&A? Or even stable. That fuck has a screw loose. He’ll shoot me in the back before he’d take out any tangos.”
“He owes you a favor, and he was a Ranger. A good one,” André added calmly. “He’s geared out and ready to roll.”
“No,” Shade clipped. “Second option?”
André paused. “Harm.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Shade shook his head. “You’ve lost your goddamn mind.”
André ignored his insult. “He’s in the mountains up by Asheville. He could make it to your destination in three hours.”
“Could.” Shade snorted. “Have you talked to him? Does he fucking talk these days? Christ, when was the last time he was around a warm body that wasn’t animal?”
“He owes me,” André stated.
“No fucking way,” Shade countered. “I’m not a goddamn halfway house for lost causes. I’ll handle my side of the situation. Get Ronan up here and have him deal with Cara. Tell Roark to fly him.”
“Tried. Weather’s already set in. Roark couldn’t even get him to Jacksonville.”
Shade muttered a curse under his breath. “Give me a sitrep. What am I looking at, weather wise?”
“Nor’easter. Two to three days. Seventy mile per hour winds, heavy snowfall predicted.”
“Good,” Shade stated, surprising me. “There’s no way their vehicles will make it up the mountain, and Ronan can intercept.”
“That’s the plan, but I caught Cara on your six in one of the highway patrol traffic cams, only fifty miles behind you. Vincenzo’s men are behind her by an hour, and two more are on their way. You sure your end point is still secure?” André asked.
“I’m not sure of anything when it comes to the Vincenzos.” Glancing in his rearview mirror, Shade pulled his gun out of his holster. Holding the wheel with his knee despite the now freezing rain, he checked the magazine before slamming it back home. “I’m low on ammo until I get up the mountain. Tell Ronan to come stocked. Vincenzo’s men had semiautos. I’ll rendezvous with him if I need more firepower in case of an alt evac.” He shoved his gun back in his holster.
“Candle or Harm could get there quicker,” André argued. “Both could bring you ammo.”
“Not repeating myself.” A gust of wind blew against the SUV, making it swerve, but Shade quickly corrected. “Tell Ronan to hurry the fuck up. If Cara is on my tail and k
nows where I’m heading, I don’t know how long she’ll linger at the bottom of the mountain once the roads become impassable. There’s only one motel in that area, and she’s smart enough not to stop there and wait for Vincenzo’s men to find her. If she can’t get to me, I don’t know where she’ll head, and I don’t want her in the wind. I want this wrapped up as fast as possible.”
“Ten-four,” André agreed.
“One last thing. If you can get a hold of a woman’s winter coat, have Ronan bring it. Once he’s neutralized his end of the situation, we’ll all head back. Powering the burner down now. I’ll check in when we get there.”
“Copy that,” André replied.
Shade hung up and turned off his cell phone.
The freezing rain was hitting the SUV now in earnest, and anxiety feathered across my nerves. “Can the Escalade make it up whatever mountain we’re heading toward?”
“Yeah,” Shade answered absently, easing off the gas and getting out of the passing lane.
“You sure?” I didn’t know anything about nor’easters, but the weather had quickly deteriorated.
“You’ll be fine.” Turning the wipers on a faster setting, he didn’t glance at me.
“Thank you for asking about a winter coat.”
Glancing over his shoulder, he moved to the right lane. “You got any warmer clothes in your suitcases in the back?”
“Some.” It hadn’t been cold when I’d first arrived at rehab.
“Before the roads get any worse, climb in back and put something warmer on.”
Alarm spread. “We’re getting out of the car in this weather?”
“Not planning on it until we get to the cabin, but we need to be prepared.”
Oh, God. “Cabin?” That sounded remote. And shitty. And cold and desolate and like a really, really bad idea. “I’m thinking now is a good time to turn around.” This was insane.
“Babe, trust me when I tell you, driving right into the hands of Vincenzo’s men when I’m low on ammo isn’t a great idea.”
“So let’s go somewhere else. Anywhere else than a cabin up in the mountains.” I could be reasonable. “I’m flexible.” I had my credit card. “There’s a Ritz Carlton just north of Jacksonville on Amelia Island. We should go there. They won’t find us. We can check in under a different name.” I’d done that shit a hundred times before. “We let their hotel security know not to tell anyone we’re there. We tip well and no one will be the wiser. They’ll even have room service. And we won’t need winter coats.” And there wouldn’t be any snow.
Concentrating on the road, staring straight ahead, he didn’t say anything.
“Shade.”
“What?”
“Ritz Carlton. Amelia Island. No snow. Turn around.” Sounding like him, I barked out short orders in rapid succession. “Let that Ronan guy deal with your psycho ex and her husband’s men.”
“No.”
“Shade.”
He threw me a warning glare before looking forward again. “The plan is set. The road up the mountain is a controlled funnel. Capture will be easier, and our position at the top is defensible.”
Oh my God. “This is insane.”
“Insane would be hanging out at a five-star hotel with a dozen different points of egress that Vincenzo’s men could use to ambush us. They shot at us in broad daylight in front of a restaurant.” He glanced at me. “You think they wouldn’t shoot at you in a hotel?”
Oh, God.
I didn’t answer. There was no point.
He tipped his chin toward the back. “Go put on the warmest clothes you have.”
Anxiety pressing on my chest, I undid my seat belt and climbed in back.
TWO HOURS SINCE SHE’D CLIMBED in back and changed.
Two goddamn hours, and I was still sporting wood.
The fucking visual of her lace thong as she’d stripped and given me an accidental ass shot before pulling on pants was playing on a loop in my head.
That fucking ass.
Goddamn.
Except the teenager and her ass were the last things I needed to be focused on.
The roads had been iced up since we’d gotten off the main highway an hour ago. Rain had turned to sleet, then snow. Despite the heavy weight of the armored SUV, the tires kept hydroplaning from the shit conditions and gusting winds.
Gripping the wheel, I eased us into the next sharp switchback on the access road up the mountain, and the Escalade swerved.
Summer gasped, grabbing her seat belt. “Shade!”
Cutting our speed, I corrected the Escalade and pulled us back from the steep drop on the single lane road. “Relax, we’re fine.”
“Fine?” Her voice pitching to panic Mach ten, she glanced at the fall away on her side of the road. “If we go over that edge, we’re dead. That’s like a two-hundred-foot drop.”
More like two thousand. We were already halfway up. “I’m not going to let that happen.” But I needed to get us the rest of the way up the mountain before any more snow dumped down.
“You can’t control ice and snow,” she argued.
“I can control how I drive.” If she would fucking shut up and let me concentrate.
The road already barely passable, I didn’t tell her we were minutes out from having to hike the rest of the way in. Which would’ve been the safer alternative at this point, except I’d been holding off on making the decision to abandon the SUV because she wasn’t properly outfitted and didn’t have decent boots. In this weather, she’d be hypothermic in minutes, but if I couldn’t keep the Escalade on the road, and if the nor’easter kept coming in as fast as it was, we’d have to risk it.
The tires spun on the next curve, and she shrieked.
“Woman,” I snapped, taking my foot off the gas as the vehicle slid backward. “We’re fine.”
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she chanted in a panic. “We’re going over the edge!”
Tapping the brakes and taking one hand off the wheel, I grabbed the back of her neck and spared her a glance. “I got us. We’re going to be fine. You don’t need to panic.”
Her eyes welled. “We’re sliding.”
I held both her and the wheel steady and let the SUV drift. “Put one hand on your seat belt and the other on the release. If I tell you to, undo the seat belt, no hesitation. Understand?”
Her lip quivered.
I put force into my tone and hold on her. “Understand?”
“Y-yes,” she stuttered, moving her hands into position.
“Good. Now let me drive. I’ll tell you if there’s a problem.” Releasing her, I checked the side mirrors and gave the Escalade a little gas.
“Shade?” She started to shake.
We didn’t move.
“What?” I gave it more gas.
“I don’t want to die,” she whispered.
The wheels spun but didn’t engage.
“I told you I’m not going to let that happen.” Giving the SUV still more gas, I undid my seat belt.
She freaked out. “Oh my God, what are you doing? Are you going out there? Don’t do that, you’ll fall down the mountain. The road isn’t wide enough for both you and the SUV.”
Ignoring her, keeping it slow and steady, I pressed my foot down.
“What’s happening? What’s that noise? Oh, God, are the tires spinning?”
I didn’t answer her.
The tires caught, and we lurched forward.
She let out a cry of fear.
“We’re good, we’re good.” Correcting the steering, keeping my foot steady, I checked the side and rearview mirrors to make sure we were staying on the road.
“Oh God, it’s steeper ahead. We’re not going to make it up that.”
The tires gripping, the Escalade moved. “We’ll make it.” At least part of the way, which was fucking fine with me at this point. Any progress the SUV made meant a shorter hike for us.
“Please,” she begged. “Don’t let us die. I don’t want to die out here. W
e’ll freeze to death, and no one will find us.”
Fucking Christ. “Woman,” I snapped. “I’m a Force Recon Marine. If I can survive five tours, I can get us up a goddamn mountain.” The SUV made the sharp turn in the switchback. “You’re not gonna die. Sit back, take a fucking breath, and keep that hand on your seat belt release ready.”
“Okay, fine,” she snapped, before inhaling deep and letting it out. “But that doesn’t sound good. That sounds like I need to be ready to release it in case we start to go over the cliff.”
That was exactly why, but I didn’t tell her that. If we started to roll, I was either going to pull her out or shove her out. Fractions of a second mattered, and she needed to be ready. “It’s only precautionary. We’re not going over the edge.” Hoping like fuck I wasn’t lying, I got us through the next turn.
“Okay.” She inhaled deep, then her voice came out calmer. “How much further?”
“As a crow flies, less than a mile.” The Escalade acting like a damn plow at this point, we made it another half klick.
“And as a swerving, tire-spinning SUV, how much further then?”
It wasn’t lost on me that she’d pulled herself out of her panic, or at least was pretending to, which was more than I could say for a few Marines I’d encountered on my first deployments.
“Fifteen, twenty minutes.” If I could keep us moving forward.
She gripped her seat belt harder. “Just keep us on the road.”
“That’s the plan,” I answered absently, checking the side mirrors as I took the next turn.
Her knee started to bounce. “So, is this your place we’re going to?”
“Yeah.” No fucking traction, we started to slip again.
“Does it snow a lot up here?”
The tires spun. “Every winter.” Halfway through the turn, I didn’t ease off the pedal.
She glanced around nervously. “You like that? The snow, I mean?”
Come the fuck on, Escalade, pull your weight, motherfucker. “Yeah.”
“What do you like about it?”
“You talk when you’re nervous, princess?” Watching the drop-off, I hit the second-to-last switchback before my place.
“I’m not nervous. I’m fucking terrified,” she admitted.