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“I’m going to use the second tunnel to come at them from behind. It’ll be risky, but Alex will know to spring into action once the attack starts.”
“Attack?” I gasp, stepping forward and placing my hand on his arm.
I squeeze down on his bulging arms, hoping he can feel the urgency moving through me. My desire for him to be safe – for him to live long enough for us to share a family – makes my grip tighten, as though squeezing onto him will stop him from risking his life.
“You can’t go out there alone. Call for backup.”
He nods to the screen. The sound is off, but that doesn’t stop me from seeing the viciousness taking place. Manuel has his knee in Alex’s back, pushing him into the earth, the barrel of a sawn-off shotgun placed against the back of his head.
Manuel has his head thrown back, shouting something we can’t hear.
Rider reaches over and flicks a button.
“If you don’t get out here in the next five goddamn minutes, I’ll blow this traitor motherfucker to bloody little pieces.”
“Traitor?” I whisper as tears threaten to sting my eyes. “What are they talking about?”
Disgust floods into Rider’s face. “Alex is Mexican-American. To Manuel, to the Cartel, any Mexican who works with the cops is a traitor.”
“That’s sick. Deranged.”
“You’re right on both counts, princess. But I have to go.”
“But...”
“No.” The word comes like a whip. “There isn’t time. You’re going to follow me out of the second tunnel. It will lead us an eighth of a mile to the west. If I don’t come to get you in thirty minutes… run, just run. And never stop running.”
Terror stabs into me, shards of it multiplying, spreading through me so my heart feels like it’s icing over.
I can’t bear the thought of Rider losing his life to these lunatics, but I can feel the determination boiling off of him. I know he’s not going to back down on this.
“Trade me,” I say.
He shakes his head fiercely. “Don’t even fucking suggest that. Do you have any idea what that monster would do if he got his hands on you? He wouldn’t hand you over to your uncle right away, that’s for damn sure. He’d want to teach you a lesson first. No, never. Never.”
He grabs my hand, leading me down the hallway, dragging me behind him.
“Let’s go. There isn’t time to argue.”
I want to scream and tell him no, tell him I won’t let him do it.
But even if it’s only been a short time, it feels like we’ve known each other forever.
I know my man.
He isn’t going to back down.
All I can do is pray he comes back to me once the fighting is done.
Chapter Sixteen
Rider
I stand at the end of a tunnel at the bottom of a ladder, my heart pounding heavily in my chest like a war drum, a voice deep inside of me roaring at me to carry Ruby to the top and sprint through the forest with her.
The voice tells me to abandon Alex.
I beat it down, even if part of me wishes I could listen to it, even if part of me roars out that Ruby and the family we’re going to share is the most important thing.
Of course, it is, but what the fuck am I going to do, let my partner die?
I’d never be able to live with myself if I did that.
I’m the one who got Alex into this mess, to begin with, by not thoroughly searching Ruby the moment she showed up at my door.
I could’ve found the tracking device app. I could’ve used it against them.
Fuck…
Even now, the thought of searching her gets my blood stirring, my mind filled with vignettes of her curvy naked body, the way her nipples tasted, the way she moaned as I fucked her voluptuous breasts.
I beat back the images, reaching up and smoothing my fingers along her cheek, stroking hair behind her ear.
“Please be careful,” she whispers.
I shoulder my rifle – taken from the armory on the way here – and nod fiercely. “I’ll be back soon.”
“You better.” She flashes me a sassy pout, fierceness entering her eyes. “I can’t stand the idea of losing you.”
“Don’t worry,” I snarl. “I won’t let that happen. I’ll never let that happen. We were made for each other, princess, and don’t you ever forget it.”
I lean forward and kiss her firmly, growling through the closeness, deep-inlaid instincts telling me to give into my overwhelming desire to fuck her like the primal beast I am.
I step away with an effort, turning to the ladder.
“Remember, if I’m not back in thirty minutes—”
“I can’t think about that,” she says fiercely. “Just come back to me.”
I nod and do a quick check of my weapons. I’ve got a rifle slung over my back, two guns, and an assortment of grenades in a satchel worn across my hip. If all goes to plan, I should be able to make this clean and quick.
