A glance behind me revealed nothing but an empty alley where dumpsters sat in a long row, souring the air.Farther ahead was the glow and glamor of the Strip.So many people were out there, living in a fantasy world, high off the lights and the sounds and the potential of striking it rich.Few people ever did, but that didn’t matter.It was all about the dream.Those dreams would die awfully fast if those people knew what was going on here, not so very far away.
As soon as the two guards moved deeper into the lot, I tiptoed closer to the corner of the building.This was where I’d seen them before and where a black van now waited near the loading dock.I didn’t want to find it, but there it was.Plain as day.
“Keep it moving,” an armed man muttered, and the group of women clustered close together in a trembling, whimpering group began moving as one toward the van’s open door while my heart dropped like a rock.
Now I knew.What I witnessed last weekend was not a one-off thing.These were other girls, different girls, but the situation was the same.They had no choice but to get in that van, herded at gunpoint.Forced.And what would happen once they arrived at their destination?
How could I stand here and watch this without trying to stop it?How could I expect to make a difference?I had to do something.Even if I regretted it, I would regret my silence so much more.
I opened my mouth, sucked in a breath.“Wait?—”
That was all I managed to get out in a weak, trembling voice before a hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me.I squealed behind it, but the sound went nowhere.A thick, steel band snapped around my waist, pulling me in close against what felt like a brick wall but was more likely a chest.
This was it.
I went one step too far.
I never knew when to leave well enough alone.I had spent a week telling myself I was wrong, that I had misunderstood when deep down inside, I knew the truth all along.And now, because I was so damn determined not to accept what was right in front of my face, I was about to pay the ultimate price.Dragged away, unable to scream for help.I would disappear, just like these girls.
“Shut up.Stop it!”The voice was a rasp against my ear, fierce yet soft.“It’s me, goddammit!Be quiet!Stop kicking!”
That wasn’t Nico’s uncaring voice, nor was it Nico’s wiry body I was pressed against.It was a body I was intimately familiar with, large and firm like granite wrapped in flesh.
That, plus the spicy, musky scent of Vaughn’s cologne, instantly made the fight drain out of me.I was shaking in relief by the time he let me go, the two of us cloaked in an inky shadow.Still, he held me against the wall, but at least I could breathe without his massive hand over my face.
“What are you doing here?”I whispered.
“I was going to ask you the same question,” he snapped in a voice as soft as mine.Like silk, only dangerous.“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I…” It was all over.I knew it, even if I didn’t want to admit it.Answering him honestly would be the same as admission.“I had to see.I had to be sure I was right.”
“That’s what you saw the night of the wedding?”His head snapped to the side, his eyes narrowing as he stared through the darkness toward the parking lot.The men’s voices were still faintly audible with an undercurrent of anger and threats running beneath them.
“Yes.”Finally, I could admit it.I had to admit it.He had caught them in the act the way I had.And now, he was in just as much danger as I was.“Why did you have to come here?”
Again, his head snapped around, this time so he could glare at me.“Are you seriously doing this now?I was across the street and figured I’d take a look around,” he whispered.“Good thing, too, since I just kept your ass from making a stupid mistake.What did you think you were going to do?Stop them?”
“I… I don’t know,” I had to admit.What was it about this man that made admitting I was wrong so painful?This wasn’t me.I didn’t normally act this way, only with him.
I also didn’t normally marry complete strangers, so maybehewas the problem.
A problem still holding me in place with his arms on either side of me, with his unrelenting, rock-solid chest against mine.My heart was pounding, my breath came in short gasps, and that was probably why I inhaled so much of that addictive cologne of his.
And I was supposed to believe he was my salvation?The answer to the danger I was in?“Let me go,” I whispered.Because if I stayed this close to him for much longer, there was no telling what sort of stupid thing I might do next.He had a way of making me forget I was supposed to be intelligent.
“No.”That was it.A single grunt.
“It wasn’t a request.You need to let me go.”
“Not until they’re gone,” he insisted, his mouth close to my ear, close enough that goose bumps erupted everywhere.It had to be the adrenaline still coursing through my system.It would pass soon.It needed to, or else I might not have any choice but to hump this man half to death against a brick wall.Of all times for my body to betray me.How was I supposed to think when I was too busy trying to keep my legs closed?
“I really wish you had told me the truth before now,” he grunted out, his breath teasing my skin.I closed my eyes, wishing more than anything I could forget the world falling apart all around me in favor of what was happening right here and now between us.I was only human.I was also terrified, heartbroken, and completely unsure of what to do next.Vulnerable, in other words, and he was right here, so strong, commanding, and someone I could rely on.It was an intoxicating combination.How was I supposed to resist?
Pulling his head back slightly, his brilliant green eyes met mine.“I could have made sure you didn’t risk your neck like this.”
“Why do you care about my neck?”I challenged, both confused and annoyingly painfully aroused by the possessive tone he took.
“Because it’s a nice neck, holding up a nicer head.And if you don’t care about it…”
