Page 5 of Taking His Heart

The moment I step out onto the street, I’m hit with the heat of Nevada. I love it. It’s a different kind of heat from home. Not an in your face, take your breath away kind of hot. But a nice warmness that runs over your bare skin.

I’m on the Strip, deciding which way I want to go, when the hairs on the back of my neck rise. You know that feeling that you’re being watched? Yeah, I have that. And within the same breath, I know who's watching me.

“Going somewhere?” CJ steps in front of me.

I tilt my head to look up at him. “Yes.”

“Where you going? A clothing store because you forgot to pack any?” he asks while running his glare down my very-exposed body.

I roll my eyes at him. “Okay, well, this was… whatever this was. But I do have somewhere else to be, as I’m sure you do,” I say as I step around him.

And then CJ’s arms are circling my waist and my body is being pulled down to the ground. He must have moved his hand to my head because it doesn’t hit the concrete. My back, however, does, and CJ’s body slumps over the top of mine.

“Don’t move,” he hisses out.

Chapter Three

The second I saw the glint of a silver barrel catching in the streetlight above the car, I jumped on Daniella. Pushing her body behind mine and then to the ground. The sound of a gun firing once fills my ears before the screams of the surrounding crowd and the spinning of rubber as the car speeds off replace it.

And then the searing, burning pain hits me. I somehow managed to catch a fucking bullet in my abdomen. Fuck. I look down at an ashen Daniella.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask her, not moving my body from covering hers.

“Wh-what just happened?”

“Someone just tried to fucking shoot you,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

Who the fuck would try to take out this woman? She’s not even from here.

Ignoring the searing pain tearing through my abdomen, I keep my focus on her. “Are you hurt, Dani?” I repeat.

She shakes her head. “Are you?”

“A little,” I groan. “I’ll be fine.” I roll off her and stand, hissing in pain as I hold out a hand to help her up.

“What the hell, CJ?” Daniella screams as she jumps to her feet. Her top is dangerously close to falling down over her breasts, not that I would call that tiny scrap of fabric she’s tied around her a top.

Shrugging out of my jacket, I go to wrap it around her shoulders, only to have her swat my hand away.

“You’re bleeding. Shit, what happened? Oh my god, you were shot. Shit, CJ, you’ve been shot!” Her wide, scared eyes meet mine.

“Yeah, I’m aware.”

“We need to get you to a hospital, or an ambulance. Shit, what do I do?” she asks.

“No. I’ll be fine,” I grunt. “I need to get to Alfie’s.”

“Alfie’s? You’ve been shot, CJ, and you want to go to your cousin’s house? What the hell is wrong with you!”

“Dani, my car is with the valet. I need you to drive,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “You need a bloody hospital, CJ. Not to go visit your cousin.”

I smile. It’s hard to take her seriously when she’s yelling at me in that damn cute-as-fuck Australian accent. “Come on, I’ll be fine. It’s just a little hole.”

Reaching out, I tug her top up to cover her breasts more, since she’s not going to put on my coat. Drape my arm over her shoulder and lead her towards the valet stand.

Minutes later, my car is in front of me. Taking the keys from the valet, I hand them to Daniella and then climb into the passenger seat as I pull my phone from my pocket.