In the Crossfire

by L. P. Dover

  My heart sank, because it was the first time I’d actually realized the full extent of my father’s claim to power. He entrusted me with a man he barely knew just to gain an alliance. It was the kind of shit you saw in movies.

  “Obviously, he didn’t care,” I said, feeling the anger well up in my chest. “He pushed us together for a reason. He thought that by us being together, it’d combine our families’ power and make him unstoppable.” I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I focused on the can of peanuts in my lap. “I just want you to know that my interest in you had nothing to do with my father. I don’t play games like that.”

  He reached for my chin and gently turned me his way, glancing at the road and then at me when he could. “I never thought you did, Layla. If anything were to happen between us, it wouldn’t give him what he wants.”

  “I wouldn’t let it anyway,” I murmured, “especially not after everything I know.”

  His fingers slid from my chin, and goosebumps fanned out across my body, but then a new chill took over when Bryce’s phone rang, and my father’s name appeared on the radio screen. Bryce looked over at me, and sighed. “He’s got to be looking for you.”

  I’d left my phone at the estate, and Bryce did the same with the phone Isaiah had given him from my father. We both knew they could be traced, so we left them behind. “Do you think he knows I left?” I asked.

  Bryce shrugged. “You already told him you were leaving. He’d be a dumbass to underestimate you.”

  And I knew he did, all the time. I’d kept my mouth shut and did what my family thought was best for all of my life, even if what was best completely screwed me over. Taking a deep breath, I waited on Bryce to press the accept button. When he did, I held my breath.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Where the hell is Layla?” my father demanded. “She’s not answering her phone.”

  Bryce looked over at me, and I leaned my head against the headrest. “I’m right here.”

  “Why does it sound like you’re in a car?” He shouted. He was so angry I could barely recognize his voice.

  “I told you I was leaving. I’m safer being away from you and what you stand for. You deceived me, and I can’t forgive that right now.”

  “Bryce, what the fuck are you doing? Take her back home right now.”

  “Can’t,” he replied. “She held a gun to my balls and threatened to shoot them off if I didn’t take her away. Something told me not to test her.”

  “Goddammit, Layla,” my father hissed. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know where you are.”

  I scoffed. “That’s the whole point. I know what you did, and what you were going to do at the gala.”

  The line went silent, and my heart shattered. I didn’t want to believe Bryce when he told me, but everything in me knew it was true. My father was capable of ungodly things.

  My father sighed heavily. “It was the only way, cara mia.”

  “Bullshit,” I shouted angrily. “I’m not gonna lie; I’m happy that Julian’s gone, but what about everyone else? There were kids in there, for fuck’s sake.” Just saying it out loud made me sick. Squeezing my eyes shut, I could still see the pictures of the people who died in the restaurant bombing, all because of him and his vendetta between one man. Tears sprang to my eyes, and they fell when I opened my eyes. “There were so many innocent people in that restaurant, Daddy. How could you do what you did?”

  His silence was deafening. “We can talk about this when you come home. And if you don’t, I’ll find you and bring you back myself.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if there was no remorse or shame for what he’d done. It was like he was a completely different person.

  I blew out a shaky breath. “You’re not going to find me until I’m ready to be found.” I looked over at Bryce. “I’m done talking to him.” I was so angry, my hands shook.

  “Wait,” my father blurted. “Keep her safe for me, Bryce. You’re all she has out there.”

  Bryce placed a hand over mine to keep it from trembling. “I will,” he said, “but I’m not doing it for you.” With those final words, he tapped the end button, and that was it.

  Silence filled the air. It took a few minutes for my body to calm down. “Are you sure he can’t track us?” I asked. It sounded too good to be true.

  Bryce squeezed my hand. “Promise.” Was I a fool to trust him? Maybe, maybe not. All I knew was that being with him was where I needed to be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bryce

  Layla’s father wasn’t going to rest until he knew where she was. I, however, was going to make it a living hell for him. He wasn’t going to find her, and for him, that would be worse than death, even if he was a narcissistic bastard.

  We’d only been on the road for two hours, and for the past hour I had the feeling we were being followed. My instincts were usually always right. That was what made me good at my job. Looking in the rearview mirror, there was a dark SUV behind us, but I couldn’t tell what kind of make or model it was yet. It’d been following us ever since we left the estate. I never saw where they came from, or how they got behind us, but they were there, keeping their distance but still close enough to tail me.

  “If you need me to drive, let me know,” Layla offered. “I’m not sleepy at all.”

  Hands tense on the wheel, I glanced in the rearview mirror. I didn’t want to scare her, but figured it was best for her to be prepared. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”

  “Why?” she gasped, following my line of sight. She turned and looked out the back window. “Why do you keep looking at the car behind us?”

  I shrugged. “I think someone’s following us.”

  Her eyes widened in horror. “You don’t think it’s one of my father’s guys, do you?”

  I shook my head. “There wasn’t enough time for that. Whoever this is was already around the estate when we left. I kept waiting for them to head to take another turn, but they haven’t.” There were lights up ahead and a gas station on the right, where cars could fill up before getting on the highway.

  Layla kept glancing back at the car. “What are we going to do?”

  I nodded toward the gas station. “We’re going to pull in there slowly to see what they do. If they drive past, we’re fine, but if they stop, we’ll speed to the highway and lose them.”

  She blew out a shaky breath. “Okay.”

  As soon as we got closer to the gas station, and the streetlights lit up the road, I was able to get a glimpse of the SUV. I’d seen the same style in a video not too long ago. It was a black SUV with tinted side windows. “Motherfucker,” I growled.

  “What?” Layla gasped.

  We pulled into the parking lot, and I slowly drove up to one of the pumps. The SUV pulled in as well, and I got a good look at the driver and the man with him. The driver had slicked-back, dark brown hair in a ponytail, and the other had a shaved head. It was the same men who took Michael.

  “Hang on,” I shouted as I pressed hard on the gas. The tires squealed, but luckily, I had good traction. We sped out of the parking lot, straight to the highway. I’d gotten a good head start, but they still charged after us. Once on the highway, I laid on the gas as far as it could go.

  Layla slammed her hands on the dashboard, fully in panic mode. “Holy shit. What’s going on? Who are they?”

  I concentrated on the road, hoping like hell we didn’t get pulled over. Since it was so late, there weren’t many cars on the highway. It worked to our advantage, but it also left us vulnerable.

  “It’s the same men who took your uncle,” I answered quickly. Looking in the rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of their headlights. Even though there was a slight distance between us, they were still too close for me to pull off at an exit to lose them.

  Layla gasped, and looked behind us. “Oh, my God. They are after me. If I’d have left on my own, they could’ve killed me too.”

  I didn’t want to think about t
hat. If Anthony hadn’t called to tell me she was leaving, I might not have caught her in time. “We’re going to lose them, Layla. We have an exit coming up in two miles. I have to lead them away from where we’re actually going.”

  She nodded and hunkered down in the seat, her eyes full of fear. “Okay. I trust you.”

  Adrenaline coursed through my veins. It was dangerous to push the limits, and normally I’d run headfirst into danger and not give a shit about it, but this time I had to be careful; it wasn’t just my life involved. We made it to our exit, which turned out to be a dark, desolate two-lane road. It was exactly what we needed. I sped up the exit ramp, and hooked it to the right. There was an old, rundown gas station on the left that wasn’t in service anymore, and nothing but trees on the other side as far as I could see.

  “Where are we going to go?” Layla asked, her breaths in rapid pants. “Do you think they saw us turn off?”

  I pressed on the gas. “I don’t know, but I hope they did. We need them going the opposite way of us.” A small house appeared up ahead on the right, and just behind it was a barn. There were no lights and no cars in the driveway. Turning off my headlights, I pulled into the driveway, all the way down to the side of the barn, and shut the car off. I looked over at Layla, and nodded toward the road. “I’m hoping we see them drive by.”

  It wasn’t cold, but her teeth chattered. “I’ve never been this terrified before. Just think of what would have happened if you hadn’t gotten to me in time.” Reaching into the backseat, I grabbed one of my jackets out of my bag and draped it over her. Lights appeared on the road, and she sucked in a breath. They shouldn’t have been able to see us, but I kept a hand on my gun just in case. Layla pulled hers out as well and blew out a shaky breath. “I can help.”

  I carefully placed a hand over her gun. “We’re going to be fine.” About that time, a car raced by quickly, and it was them.

  “Oh, thank God,” she breathed. “Now we can lose them.”

  Keeping the headlights off, I slowly drove back through the yard to the road. There was no sign of the SUV, so I took off toward the highway. “When we get to North Carolina, you’ll have to go by a different name. You also can’t use your credit cards.”

  She nodded. “I figured that. It’s a good thing I brought a ton of cash.”

  I grabbed my phone out of the center console and pressed Micah’s number. It was late, but he picked up on the second ring. “What’s up, fucker?”

  I transferred the call to my phone before he could say something that’d blow my cover. “Change of plans, man,” I replied. “We’re being chased by the men who killed Layla’s uncle. We lost them, but now we’re headed away from here to Franklin, North Carolina. I know we both have ties there.” Not only did my father and older brother live three hours from Franklin, but I had a cousin, Logan Chandler, who actually lived in Franklin. He retired early from the FBI after going back to his true passion, sport bike racing. His face was too well-known now to continue his undercover work.

  “Sounds good,” Micah agreed. “Are you going to let Logan know you’re there?”

  “Once we get settled in, I will. Right now, I need your help getting Layla a new ID. I’ll text you a picture of her driver’s license.” Layla opened her purse and pulled it out of her wallet. I snapped a picture and texted it to him. “You should have it now.”

  “Got it. Put me on speaker so I can talk to her.” I pressed the transfer button so she could hear over the radio speakers.

  “Go ahead,” I told him.

  “Layla?” Micah called out.

  Layla cleared her throat. “Hi, Micah.”

  “Hey. You doing okay?”

  She snorted. “Not really, but Bryce is keeping me safe. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be dead right now.”

  “You’re in good hands with him. He’s one of the best. Well, other than me.”

  That brought a smile to her face, and I shook my head. “What the fuck ever.”

  Micah chuckled. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be joking around in a time like this. So, Layla, for your new ID, what name do you want to go by?”

  She looked at me and shrugged. “I have no clue. What are you going to do?” she asked me.

  “When he’s not a Collman, he’s a Chandler,” Micah blurted. “Bryce Chandler. I can always give you that name too. It fits in nicely where you’re going.”

  I should’ve known he’d fuck with me like that. Then again, I could go back to being myself, in a sense.

  “All right,” Layla said, “let’s do it. Layla Chandler sounds nice.”

  Micah chuckled again. “Done. What do you think, Bryce? Does it sound good?”

  I was going to kill him. “Yeah. Just get it done. We’ll see you soon.”

  We hung up, and Layla turned to me, staring at me curiously. “Bryce Chandler, huh? Why do you need a different name?”

  I glanced at her briefly before turning my attention back to the highway. “For situations like this, it comes in handy.”

  She shrugged. “Guess you’re right.”

  I looked over at her again at the sly smile on her face. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, I’m just kind of wondering who we’re going to say we are when we talk to people. I mean, we don’t exactly look like brother and sister.”

  The woman was going to be the death of me. Being around her twenty-four-seven was going to be hard enough. She already invaded my thoughts more than was comfortable.

  “What are you saying then, Layla?”

  She cleared her throat, and looked away. “I could always pretend to be your wife. That might be kind of interesting.”

  The thought made my dick twitch. I wanted her so fucking bad I couldn’t think straight. Pretending to hate her was torture enough. Pretending she was mine was going to be ten times harder.

  “It’s all up to you,” I ended up saying.

  “Sounds good,” she replied, stretching her arms out. “It’ll be nice to be someone else for a change.”

  I kept my eyes on the road, but I could see the smile on her face. There was no way in hell I could keep my distance anymore. I didn’t want to.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Layla

  We’d arrived in North Carolina unscathed and without being followed. The only time we stopped was to get gas, at least until we got to North Carolina. The mountains were beautiful, and the air was fresh and clean. Bryce stopped numerous times on the Blue Ridge Parkway so I could get out and just enjoy the time I had. I’d never felt so free.

  It was closing in on nine o’clock, and I was still high from the freedom. We were almost to the cabin, but we stopped in town to grab a few groceries first. Nobody even looked twice at us, which was nice. I was recognized too much in New York, and I hated it.

  We arrived at the cabin, but it was too dark to see the view of the mountains behind it. There were three levels, perfectly perched on the side of the mountain. Bryce had shown me pictures beforehand, but it was so much more beautiful in person. I couldn’t wait to see what everything looked like in the morning.

  Bryce pulled up to the front steps and parked, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “We made it,” I said, leaning my head against the seat as I looked at him.

  He nodded toward the door. “Go on inside. I’ll get everything brought in.”

  “Forget it. I’m not leaving you alone with the food.” I pointed at the groceries and winked. “I don’t trust you with my red velvet cake.” We’d bought enough food to last us weeks, and I wasn’t about to let him bring everything in on his own.

  His lips pulled back in a sly smirk, and he held up his hands. “Trust me, I know not to come between a woman and her sweets.”

  Grinning wide, I opened my door. “Good. I’d hate to have to bring my gun out again.” I got out and reached into the back to grab some of the groceries while Bryce opened the trunk to get our clothes.

  “I kind of want to keep my balls,” he teased back. T
hat made me smile more. Ever since we left New York, his whole demeanor had changed. It was as if he was a different person which I could absolutely relate to. I didn’t have to be someone I wasn’t now that I was on my own.

  I made it to the door first, and typed in the code he’d given me on the door handle. When I opened it, I breathed in the scent of lavender and pine. The living room was spacious, with one whole wall nothing but a giant window. The couch and chair were dark brown leather with a large whiskey barrel in the corner that had one of those big checker sets on top. There was even a loft that had a spiral, wrought-iron staircase that led up to it and also down to the floor below. From the pictures I saw earlier, there was a full bed and a card table up in the loft, and below there was a queen-sized bed in a room, and a game room. On the middle floor was the master bedroom, with a giant, king-sized bed.

  Bryce came in behind me, carrying my luggage. “Which room do you want?”

  I took the groceries to the kitchen, which was just on the other side of the living room. I met his gaze from across the room and nodded toward the staircase. “I’ll take the one downstairs. It’s smaller.”

  He nodded. “Okay.” And just like that, he went straight to the king bedroom.

  I set the groceries onto the kitchen counter, and marched through the living room to catch up to him. “Dammit, Bryce. I told you I’ll take the one downstairs.”

  He dropped my luggage on the bed, and faced me. “And I want you to have this one. It’s safer.” Tilting his head to the side, there was an audible crack from his neck. “Once I have everything out of the car, I’m getting in the fucking hot tub.”

  Now that was a great idea. “I told you I’d drive some,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “You didn’t have to do it by yourself.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, but I didn’t want to end up in a ditch.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that bad.” Then again, he probably had a point. For most of my life, I always had someone take me everywhere I needed to go. And when I was in college, my friends and I took the subway. Bryce lifted his brows, and I sighed. “Okay, fine. I haven’t driven in a while. I’m sure I’m not that bad.”