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I reach into the car and flip open the glove compartment, pulling out a Glock. I’m just in time to catch a man in the crowd aiming at Brad’s head. I fire, taking him down before he has a chance to engage his trigger finger. “Who the fuck are they?” I ask, taking another scan of the crowd.
“Fucked if I know,” Brad yells. “Get in the fucking car.”
“Where’s Rose?”
“I couldn’t give a fucking shit where your whore is, Danny. We’re being fucking shot at.”
I lose my shit, lunging forward and thrusting the barrel of my gun in my oldest friend’s face. “Call her a whore again, I’ll put a fucking bullet in your skull myself.”
His eyes say everything. “Got it.” He aims and fires without looking away from me, catching a man to the side of us with a tidy-looking Heckler in his grasp. “She’s in the car.”
I yank the door open and find Rose sitting there calmly like there isn’t a fucking shoot-out happening. Then I get to her eyes. Wide eyes. She’s scared, and it’s a fucking relief. I was beginning to think she was a robot. “You okay?”
She swallows and nods, letting me pull her from the car.
“We’re clear,” I hear Ringo yell, and I slowly rise to full height, taking in the carnage. There are five of them, all dead. “Search them.” I glance around the space, looking for cameras. “And have the cameras wiped.” My men disperse, following my orders. One scoops up Rose’s silver purse and hands it to her, and she thanks him, her voice scratchy and broken.
I turn to Brad when he doesn’t acknowledge me, finding him staring forward, forcing me to pivot and check what has his attention.
I find a gun.
Being held to my forehead. What the fuck?
The feel of Rose’s hand constricting around mine forces me to return it, telling her we’re fine. Fine? I’m literally staring down the barrel of a 9mm. I tug her hand, silently ordering her to move behind me. I can hear her strained, panicked breathing. I can hear Brad cursing behind me.
“Shoot,” I order the man before me, curling my lip, pushing my forehead into the end of his gun. “Fucking shoot me.”
“No,” Rose screams, just before I jerk back, knocking her out of the way. I hear the shot fire and blink a few times, waiting for my body to hit the deck. It doesn’t. I’m still standing. But the man before me drops, and I turn to see Brad, his arms braced in front of him. “Any time,” he grunts, quickly turning to his left and pulling the trigger again. “Get out of here, Danny.”
This time, I listen. Maybe because I now have Rose with me. I grab her hand and yank her up, pulling her back into the hotel. I head for the lift, my men following, firing bullets all over the fucking place. “Get in,” I order, shoving her into the lift and backing in, all of us holding back the three men advancing on us. We don’t lower our weapons until the doors are closed, bullets bouncing off the metal beyond.
“In motherfucking daylight in the middle of fucking Vegas.” Brad falls against the wall and looks at me, his shock clear. “Who the fuck is that bold?”
I glance at Rose, wondering if she’s thinking what I’m thinking. “Black’s a dead man,” I murmur, getting no acknowledgment from my repeat of Perry Adams’s words. But would he risk Rose’s life? No, I don’t think he would. Which means whoever Adams is in bed with now knows for certain he was in bed with me first. And that makes them serious players. I’m fucking astounded by their boldness.
I say no more, pulling Rose from the elevator when it opens. The chopper blades whirl loudly, and she looks up at me, eyes wide. “I’m never spontaneous,” I remind her, jogging us to the door and lifting her in.
“You k-knew . . . you knew something would happen?” she asks as I belt her up and Brad gets comfortable up front.
I check that she’s secure before taking a seat next to her. I can feel her eyes on my profile as we take off. “I’m always prepared for something to happen.”
That’s a lie.
I wasn’t prepared for her to happen.
Chapter 10
ROSE
* * *
I could have run. Amid the chaos, I could have bolted, and Black would never have noticed until it was too late. Yet, I didn’t. I also should have wished the gunman aiming at Danny Black’s forehead had pulled the trigger before Brad got to him. But I didn’t. In that moment I was truly terrified, and it’s utterly shocked me. Nox is in Vegas. Was that his attempt to get me back? Because if it was, it was a mega fail. That man doesn’t fail. Would he be so careless with my life?
