Page 65 of Tempest’s Torment

There's no hesitation, she doesn’t ask questions, but I hear her footsteps instead.

Fuck. She trusts me. My chest tightens at the realization.

I pull my phone from my pocket and snap three more photographs through the gap in the curtains before calling Ghost.

He answers on the second ring. "Ghost."

"There’s a black SUV outside the apartment." My voice is low and steady; I don’t want to frighten Lilah—I know she’s listening.

His voice hardens immediately. "The same one?"

"Looks like it."

I hear music getting louder and know that he’s on the move. "Still there?"

My gaze is focused on the vehicle; I’m not letting it out of my sight. "Yeah."

"Don't engage."

"I wasn't planning to."

"I'll send Savage and Rogue. Sit tight." The call ends and I realize that Lilah’s quiet, but I don’t turn to see if she’s okay. I keep my eyes on the street where the vehicle is.

“Your brothers are coming?” Lilah asks after a few moments.

I glance back at her. “Yeah, Savage and Rogue’ll be here soon.” She’s sitting on the sofa, her gaze on me, but I don’t see fear in her eyes, just patience.

I hear an engine turn over and glance back out the window, the SUV’s headlights are on and the fucker pulls away slowly, and I know that the fucker is watching this apartment hoping to catch a sight of Lilah.

It reaches the corner just as the growl of two Harleys reaches my ears, then the SUV disappears around the corner.

"Shit," I mutter in its wake.

Two bikes pull up at the curb, but Rogue's already turning his bike to follow after the SUV, while Savage gets off his bike and makes his way over toward the building.

The knock comes less than two minutes later. I stride across the apartment, frustration burning low in my gut. Just as we got close, the bastard disappeared. I unlock the door; Savage steps inside without wasting time. "Rogue's following him."

Another rumble of pipes sound, and I know instantly that Ghost’s arrived. Savage has the door open for him.

Ghost steps inside, his gaze finding Lilah first. "You alright?"

She nods. "I'm okay."

He studies her for a second, then looks at me. "You?"

"Fine," I say through clenched teeth. I’m anything but fucking fine. This bastard is tormenting Lilah; he’s already fucking tortured her, and when she finally thought she was free, he’s back and playing his games.

Savage closes the door behind him. Ghost walks straight to the window but stays off to the side, the same way I had. "What've we got?"

I hand him my phone and he flicks through the photographs in silence. "Same SUV?"

"Looks like it."

He zooms in on the plate. "Rogue'll confirm." As if on cue, Ghost's phone vibrates and he answers immediately. "Talk." His gaze is on my cell where the picture of the SUV remains. "How long?" he asks. "You lost him or did you choose to lose him?" Ghost's expression doesn't change. "Good." He ends the call and pushes his cell into his pocket before turning to me. "Rogue stayed with him for six miles, but the SUV doubled back through traffic. Rogue made the call not to force it."

I'd have done the same thing. "He wanted us to follow."

Savage speaks for the first time. "He knew we'd send someone."