Page 362 of Don’t Say Mafia

The smoke was so thick it blurred everything into shifting gray shapes. My eyes watered, and I tried to angle my body away from it, my hands straining uselessly against the zip ties behind my back.

Another gunshot cracked through the air.

There was more shouting . . . and then silence.

The smoke drifted slowly, thinning just enough for shapes to begin forming again through the haze. I watched as a tall figure stepped out of the smoke and walked toward me, a dark gaiter pulled over the lower half of his face.

Adrenaline surged through me, and I threw my weight sideways, hitting the floor hard as I tried to get leverage against the bindings.

The figure stopped in front of me, and then he reached up and pulled the gaiter down, and I stared in absolute fucking shock as Lawson’s face appeared through the haze.

“Surprise,” he said smugly.

I blinked at him, unable to form any words.

Lawson jerked his chin toward the chaos behind him where several bodies now lay crumpled on the warehouse floor.

“You know,” he added casually, “I bet next time you’re totally going to ask me to come when you hit someone with your car.”

He seemed to be waiting for an answer because he didn’t make any moves to untie me. “Yes, I fucking am,” I spit out . . . so we could get the rescue part actually going.

My gaze flicked to the dark screen of the TV, my dread only growing as I thought about what was happening. “You can gloat later, Lawson,” I ground out. “Declan has Eden. I have to get to her.”

Lawson’s expression sobered instantly. His eyes widened, and he dropped to his knees beside me, pulling a knife from his boot. The blade flashed once before he sliced through the zip ties binding my wrists.

Across the warehouse, Cruz groaned. Both of us turned toward him immediately. Cruz’s head shifted slightly against his chest, but he didn’t wake. Blood still soaked through the front of his shirt, dark and spreading.

Lawson finished cutting the ties at my wrists and moved to my ankles.

“How did you find us?” I asked, my voice rough as blood rushed painfully back into my hands.

Lawson snorted. “I got an alert when the attack went down. My security systems lit up like a Christmas tree.” He cut through the last binding around my ankles and tossed the plastic aside. “The problem was, I couldn’t get enough firepower together to reach the warehouse in time. Maddox only just got to where they’d dumped Gage and left him for dead. This place is on the complete other side of town.”

My jaw tightened. “How the hell did you find us, then?”

Lawson glanced up at me and winked.

“Cruz had implants put in us years ago,” he said easily. “Little trackers as an insurance policy.”

Once again my jaw dropped.

He stood, stepping back as feeling slowly started creeping back into my legs.

“I fucking knew it,” I muttered, thinking how once again, Cruz’s stalking was something I was going to have to address at a later date.

At this rate, he was going to be able to stalk me forever.

Although, judging by the events of today . . . maybe that was okay.

We both sobered immediately as I tried to push myself upright. The moment I stood, my legs gave out. My numb feet refused to cooperate, and I went down hard again, barely catching myself before my shoulder slammed into the concrete.

Lawson grimaced. “Yeah . . . circulation’s gonna take a minute.”

He crouched beside me again, lowering his voice slightly.

“Quick question while you’re recovering,” he said. “Did you happen to do any stalkery things to Eden so we can find her?”

For a split second, my mind flashed through every obsessive precaution I’d ever taken.