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I glance at her and then find her hand with my own. “It was because I realized who Cal is, and the kind of access he had to you, when you introduced us at the gala. God, it killed me to push you away like that. Every day without you was my own personal hell, but I had to protect you. I needed to make him think that you weren’t important to me. Otherwise, he would use you as leverage every chance he got.”
“So, it wasn’t because you lost interest in me?”
“Not even a little. Fuck, Bambi, I’ve always been so fucking gone for you.”
She doesn’t say anything else, but I don’t expect her to as I pull down the hidden dirt road. When the trees open, I see two of Cal’s men standing at the door. Delaney’s breathing starts to speed up again, and I know I need to get that under control before getting out of this car.
“Laney,” I say as I put it in park. “You have to realize, they feed on fear, baby. So, the stronger you look, the better off you are. Okay?”
She nods. “But what’s to keep him from killing us all once we’re inside?”
Honestly? Nothing, but I’m not about to tell her that. Instead, I place my hands on her face.
“I’m not going to let anything hurt you. Do you hear me? Nothing.”
“But who’s going to keep something from happening to you?”
Not knowing what exactly we’re walking into, the last thing I’m going to do is lie to her. So, I ask the only question I need an answer to.
“Do you trust me?”
She blinks then brings her hands up to cover my own. “Wholeheartedly.”
The feelings that come from her answer are like
something from out of this world. My entire body tingles as I lean in and press my lips to hers for the first time in far too long. Her breath hitches, but it doesn’t stop her from kissing me back. Does she forgive me for all the messed-up shit I’ve done? I’m not sure. But am I going to enjoy this moment anyway? You’re damn right.
When we finally pull away, I pray to God that isn’t the last time I get to do that.
The two of us get out of the car, and she waits for me before walking up to the door. Javier has a snide look on his face as he pats us both down. Then he opens the door and lets us inside. Delaney grips my hand tightly while the two of us walk down the long hallway toward the arena, following the lights. As soon as we step through the door, Laney whimpers slightly.
Cal is standing in the middle of ring with Tessa tied to a chair. It looks like she must have been putting up a fight or pissing him off, because she’s in anything but good shape. A part of me wants to roll my eyes at how typical it is of her, but the bigger part is too focused on how to get the three of us out of here alive.
“Well, look who decided to join us after all,” Cal says, and Tess looks at us with her mouth duct-taped shut and fear in her eyes.
She tries to scream something, but Cal turns around and backhands her across the face. Delaney screams, making a move to run toward her sister, but my grip on her hand keeps her from going anywhere. She struggles against me, but as soon as her eyes meet mine, she stops.
“All right, you got me here,” I tell him. “Let the girls leave. This is between you and me.”
He starts to laugh, making the two goons with him laugh, too. “The boy thinks he’s some sort of comedian.” His eyes find mine, and there’s something sinister in them. “What do you think, that I’m just going to let them walk out of here? I can’t do that. You all know too much.”
I swallow harshly as everything starts to make perfect sense. “What happened to Ashton?”
“What?” The question catches him off guard.
“You needed me to replace Ashton because he ‘met an unfortunate fate,’ but you didn’t say what happened to him.”
Cal smirks. “Just figuring that out now, are you?” He holds his gun up and points it at me, pretending to shoot. “He was a lot like you. Wanted to stop fighting. Didn’t like the amount of people who were dying by his hands.” He snickers. “The only way out of this is in a fucking body bag.”
Shit. He didn’t lure us here to get what he feels is owed to him. He did it so he can kill us all, and I led Delaney right into his trap. My blood runs freezing cold, the reality setting in. If he wants to kill me, so be it, but he’s going to have to go through me to get to her. I just hope to hell I can get her out of here, even if it isn’t with me.
“Listen, you don’t want to do that,” I tell him. “There’s a guy. He’s completely in love with her and the son of the district attorney. He’s obsessed. I guarantee you he won’t stop searching until he finds out the truth about what happened to her. And he was there last night.”
“Just another name on my checklist.”
I give him an incredulous look. “The DA’s prized son? You really think that’ll be easy to get away with?” I carefully move so that Delaney is behind me. “It would be so much simpler to keep her alive. Tessa, too. You know your brother. Is he just going to accept that both his daughters died?”
It looks like I have his attention as he raises a brow. “All right, wise-guy. What brilliant idea do you have in mind?”
