“You get that, Kye?” he asked the man on the other end of his earpiece.
“Ten-four,” Kye replied. “Give me two minutes, then be ready to come out.”
Hunter took a deep breath, forced his heartbeat to slow. He tried to blame his rapid pulse on the adrenaline, but he knew it was more than that. Seeing Dani lying there, practically beneath him, her eyes wide. Someone had tried to kill her. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if they’d succeeded. As much as he wanted to believe that he didn’t fucking care, Hunter knew better. He hated it, but he still knew better.
“I’m sending Max and Courtney through the penthouse,” Leyton informed him. “Dane will keep them safe. And I’ll get ahold of Rock. Have him find someone to patch Max up when we get the boss to him. Take Dani with you and we’ll be in touch.”
Hunter resigned himself to dealing with the situation. He simply needed to get Dani out, keep her alive, and then he could pass her off to Kye. The man would protect her, Hunter knew that much. Hell, he’d been doing it for the past four months.
Dani’s eyes were wide, and he could feel her heart slamming against her ribs. Hunter hadn’t bothered to move off of her since they hit the floor and he was having a difficult time doing so now. If the gunman was still out there, they were all sitting ducks.
“Hunter!” Courtney yelled. “Take her now.”
“Looks like we’re gonna jet, sweetheart. I’m gonna move offa you, but you have to stay right where you are. And don’t scream, for chrissakes. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Max,” Hunter called out. “I’m takin’ her with me. You want me to take Courtney?”
“Not goin’ anywhere,” his sister snarled. “Not without Max.”
“She’s a stubborn one,” Max said, peering over at Hunter from his perch behind the bar. “We’re good. Take her and call me later. Leyton, you’re with us. Have Darius deal with the police, and make sure he takes care of Felix’s body. We were never here.”
A string of curse words followed when Max took a good long look at the dead man Hunter assumed was Felix.
The second Hunter moved off of Dani, her mouth opened. Before she could get a single word out, he silenced her again. “No talking. We’re gonna get the fuck outta here before whoever it is that wants your family dead comes to ensure they accomplished their goal. There’ll be plenty of time to ask questions later.” Not that he intended to answer them.
Hunter could hear sirens in the distance. Any minute now, the police would be rolling up to the club and it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out who had been the target.
“Hunter?” Kye sounded in his ear.
“Yeah.”
“We’ve got three minutes tops before the cops roll up. It’s now or never, man.”
Now or never.
The fucking story of his life.
ONE MINUTE DANI WAS PLEADING her case as to why she had come back to talk to Max, and the next, she was running out a hidden hallway in Max’s club after someone tried to kill her.
They’d freaking tried to kill her!
Twice in one day.
This was getting ridiculous.
It took everything in her not to panic, not to break down, not to give in to the urge to cry. How could this be happening? She’d spent too much time on the run. Was it ever going to end? Would she ever be able to have a normal life?
Truth was, she continued to hold out hope that one day she would be able to come home, settle down, do something mundane like work in an office. She hated this shit and it seemed that trouble continued to follow her. The last thing she wanted to do was be on the run all over again. She simply wanted to pack up her crap, secure a fake ID, stage her own death, and start a new life. Alone. Without the people she cared about. Max’s world was dangerous enough. He definitely didn’t need the problems she brought to the table.
Trying to keep up with Hunter, Dani ran alongside him. Not easy in four-inch heels, but she was up for the challenge. She knew he was purposely running faster, forcing her to keep up, but Dani pretended not to notice. She didn’t complain, but her lungs were burning from the exertion. Teach her to avoid the treadmill, now wouldn’t it?
Without giving her a chance to say anything, Hunter ushered her right through the outer door and into the parking garage, where a big, black, four-door truck sat idling. Hunter grabbed the back-door handle, yanked it open, and shoved her inside. He then hopped in the front.
Before anyone could say anything, the blond-haired man in the driver’s seat put his foot to the floor, tires squealing on concrete as he headed toward the exit. He peered over his shoulder at her and their eyes locked.
Dani’s breath hitched in her chest. There in the front seat was…
“Kye Sterling. Nice to officially meet you,” the man said, his gaze darting between her and the road in front of him. “We’ll make formal introductions later. In the meantime, I want you to get your ass in the floorboard, and don’t get up for any reason. No matter what, Dani. Understand?”
No, she didn’t understand. Kye Sterling? His name was Kye fucking Sterling? Not Joe? Her god-like neighbor who liked to work out on the beach every day at three o’clock, the man she’d gotten closed to, allowed into her bed? What the hell was he doing here?
“I thought your name was Joe,” she hissed, glancing from him to Hunter, then back.
He was a liar.
That earned her a remorseful smile from Kye Sterling and she knew right then that he had played her. His name obviously wasn’t Joe and he damn sure wasn’t a sports store manager.
Dani realized that his name wasn’t the important part of his statement.
“Down, Dani. Goddammit,” Hunter thundered.
She dropped onto the floor, crouching low enough that she couldn’t be seen from the window.
What the fuck was going on? Why was Hunter helping her to escape what looked to be an assassination attempt? Did they really call it assassination? Sure, if she were royalty, or a president, maybe they would. She didn’t know. It sounded funny, though. Not ha-ha funny, because there was nothing funny about this. Then again, she didn’t know for sure that those bullets had been meant for her. Max had been there, too. To be fair, however, no one had tried to kill Max for quite some time now. Not that she knew of, anyway.
Shit. This was surreal.
“Dani? You with me?” Kye asked, his tone calm, although he was still driving like a madman.
“Fuck you,” she ground out, still trying to catch her breath. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Take me to the office,” Hunter demanded. “I’ll get my bike. I want you to disappear with her. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Roger that,” Kye answered, obviously used to taking orders from the man. “Dani? Stay down, beautiful,” Kye said. “We don’t need anyone seein’ your pretty face.”
Hunter growled.
It was only then that she realized she’d been trying to peek out the window. Not wanting to endure Hunter’s wrath, she dropped back down, putting her forehead on her knees and closing her eyes while she braced her arms against the back of the seat to keep from being thrown to the other side of the truck.
She wanted to ask why they couldn’t trust the police to take care of this. It seemed like a fairly simple solution. Then again, Max didn’t trust the police, and if they dug deep enough, she knew they’d find out who she really was. Probably not a good thing, considering.
Dani remained crouched on the floor for what felt like an eternity. She couldn’t see a damn thing out the window other than the brilliant, cloudless blue sky. Once the sirens faded in the distance, she figured she was safe. Still, she didn’t get up from where she was, afraid Hunter would yell at her. The only thing she cared about was getting away from Hunter and Kye Sterling—the lying snake—as fast as she could.
Oh, and staying alive. She really cared about that.
“Drop me here,” Hunter mumbled.
The truck came to a stop. Dani he
ard the door open, then slam closed. A motorcycle rumbled to a start as Kye was pulling away.
“Can I sit up now?”
“Hop on up here, doll,” Kye answered, a smile in his voice.
“Don’t you dare call me that,” she demanded as she unfolded herself from the floorboard, then slid over the console into the front seat. Good thing she’d opted for pants today. She pulled on her seat belt as Kye was pulling out of yet another parking garage. “Where’re we going?”
“Vacation time,” he said with a quick smile, although it appeared somewhat sad.
Did he feel bad that he’d used her?
Asshole.
“I don’t need a vacation,” she told him. “And I damn sure don’t want to be alone with you.”
“Dani…”
“No!” she shrieked. “You don’t get to talk to me.”
He sighed heavily. “I’ll explain everything when we get to our destination.”
She didn’t bother to tell him she didn’t want to hear it. “What about Hunter? Where’s he going?”
“Trust me, he’s not far behind us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s Hunter. He’s never that far behind me.”
Dani got the sense he was joking, but she was out of the loop.
“Relax,” he said, his voice soft as he reached over and squeezed her hand. She jerked out of his reach. “Seriously, Hunter’s fine. He’ll probably get there before we do.”
God, she hoped so. Right now, she feared for Kye’s safety.
Because she wanted to kill him.
WHEN THOSE BULLETS HAD STARTED flying, Kye’s entire life flashed before his eyes.
He’d nearly hyperventilated waiting for confirmation from Hunter that they were both all right. The thought of something happening to either of them…Kye couldn’t even think about it now. It made his chest hurt.
As he drove, he cut his eyes over to Dani briefly. He needed to assure himself that she really was all right. Even if she was angry, even if she wanted to kill him—which he suspected she did—Kye merely needed to know that she wasn’t hurt.
“Are you okay? Really okay?” he asked softly.
She glared at him momentarily, then turned her attention to the passenger window.
He would take that as a yes, but he still couldn’t stop stealing glances her way.
Dani looked a little rumpled as she was staring out the window. Her long, auburn hair had slipped out of the ponytail, causing some of the strands to trail down her back. She had the longest hair he’d ever seen, all the way to her ass. But even disheveled, it was sleek and shiny, and he remembered how silky it felt against his skin.
Unlike at the beach, when she’d sported mostly shorts or bikinis, Dani was wearing a pair of black slacks, custom fit to cling to her curves nicely. She had on an off-white silk blouse that showcased her impressive rack.
To his shock, she hadn’t said anything since they hit the highway. He figured for sure she would lay into him, making accusations, insisting that he explain why he had been at the beach with her. Nope, she’d kept to herself, watching their surroundings almost as diligently as he was.
She didn’t ask him who he was or why he’d been stalking her or why he’d given her a fake name. Since she’d seen him with Hunter, she had probably figured that one out. She didn’t ask why someone had been shooting at her—she probably knew the answer to that already, too.
But it was a good thing she wasn’t asking a lot of questions, because Kye wasn’t sure he was ready to give her any answers. Certainly not about where they were going. Hell, Hunter had given him the bare minimum as far as details of this op went. He hadn’t verbally told him where to take her; instead, Hunter had pulled up the GPS coordinates on the truck’s navigation system while Kye drove. Hell, he was lucky Hunter had thought to jot down the alarm code for the safe house before he got out of the truck.
As usual, Kye felt a little left out. Especially regarding why someone would be gunning for the woman. Hunter hadn’t seemed to be surprised. Kye found it hard to believe that for the four months he’d followed her, never once had someone opened fire. In fact, he didn’t remember seeing a gun on the intruder last night.
Yet she was in Max’s presence for less than ten minutes and someone was using her as target practice? Nah. He wasn’t buying it. Kye got the sense this had nothing to do with the guy he’d encountered at her condo. This was something else entirely, something aimed at Max.
“Did Hunter assign you to follow me? Is that why you were at the beach?”
Kye glanced over at Dani. She was trying to fix her ponytail, pulling the elastic band out and clenching it between her teeth while she ran her hands over her hair.
“Actually, no,” he told her. “Hunter didn’t know about it.”
“What?” She frowned his way. “What do you mean he didn’t know?”
Kye kept his eyes on the road. “Hunter thought I left Sniper 1.”
“Why?”
“Because I turned in my resignation.”
“You’re not making any sense,” she accused.
“I know.”
Rather than pelt him with more questions, she glanced out the window again.
So, there they were, driving in silence to a private cabin in some small town on the Texas-Oklahoma border while Hunter was going to do a little digging of his own. It would’ve been easy enough for him to disappear with them, but Kye knew Hunter. The man wasn’t going to leave this up to the police. He would do some investigating first and try to get some answers.
“Who are you?” Dani questioned, her voice raspy yet smooth.
“Kye Sterling,” he told her again.
“Yeah, I got that,” she snapped. “I want to know who you are. Why you told me your name was Joe. And why you were…at the beach.”
“I promise, I’ll give you all the answers I can,” he told her honestly. “But not right now.”
Dani snorted. “Right. Like I’m gonna believe anything you say. I’d have a better chance getting the truth out of Hunter.”
Kye glanced over at her. “Maybe.”
Dani snorted. “I was being facetious. Do you not know Hunter? I’m probably number one on his worst-enemies list. I’m the last person he’d be honest with.”
Kye fought the urge to grin. Yeah, Hunter wanted everyone to believe that Dani was on his shit list, but Kye knew a few things about Hunter that others would never have a chance to know. For one, Hunter talked in his sleep. And two, Hunter talked about Dani in his sleep. Based on what Kye had heard, Hunter didn’t consider her an enemy. Not by a long shot.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.
“No. Hard to have an appetite when someone tried to kill you.”
True. He’d been there a few times himself.
“Do you think this was the same guy from my condo?” she asked.
“I have no idea.”
She glanced his way and nodded toward his busted lip. “I take it you’re the one who tipped me off?”
Kye didn’t respond. He’d purposely set up the alarm clock so he would have a way to tip her off if necessary. Damn good thing, too.
“That was kinda smart,” she said, her voice low. “Did you get a look at him?”
“Not really, no. It was dark. And he wasn’t in a chatty mood.”
“Was it one guy? Or more?”
“Only one.” Which was surprising. Had it been Kye attempting to surprise Dani, he would’ve had someone covering the other exit. However, Kye figured whoever it was had hoped for the element of surprise.
She didn’t say anything more, so they drove in silence for a few minutes.
“Once we get closer to the cabin,” he finally said, “we’ll stop and grab some stuff. Food, drinks.”
“I’m gonna need some clothes,” she told him, not bothering to look his way.
“I’ll add it to my mental list.”
Dani sighed and Kye knew thi
s wasn’t easy for her. He was impressed, actually. Plenty of women would’ve broken down at this point. Erupted into a slobbering, snotty mess of tears.
Not Danielle Davidson.
He hadn’t thought he’d be able to like the woman any more than he already had.
He’d been wrong.
TEN
AFTER CIRCLING BACK TO DEVIL’S Playground, Hunter realized he wouldn’t be able to check things out for himself. The place was surrounded by cops.
Not surprising considering the bullets.
He figured they would linger longer than normal due to the fact that this had to do with an Adorite. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI showed up, looking for a way to inch their way into the fold. They’d been trying to take down the Southern Boy Mafia for some time now. How he managed, Hunter didn’t know, but Max Adorite was proving to be untouchable just like his father.
No way did Hunter want to be associated with the mess, so he had parked a couple of blocks over and attempted to get into the bank building to check out the shooter’s nest. No luck on that front, either. Cops had been crawling all over the place, obviously figuring out where the bullets had come from.
So, rather than risk it, Hunter had headed back to his house to grab a bag, then hit the road, roughly three hours behind Kye and Dani. For some godforsaken reason, he was desperate to get there.
He tried to tell himself it was because he needed to see for himself that Dani was all right. Or, which he really wished was the case, he was eager to get settled because the near-death experience had him so worked up.
The truth was, Hunter didn’t want Dani to be alone with Kye. The minute he’d learned that Kye had been assigned to watch Dani, he’d nearly lost his shit.
What had they done in the four months they were together?
It was clear by Dani’s reaction that Kye hadn’t remained in the shadows while he was with her. And for some stupid fucking reason, Hunter was feeling territorial. If something had happened between them, Hunter wanted an explanation. He wanted to know what, when, how, and why. And he wanted to know if it was serious.
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