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“Fifteen, maybe.” The driver was speeding down the freeway. We were lucky it was so late and not many cars on the road.
“Tell them to go.” York got on his phone as I sent Norris the order.
Axel: Go.
Norris: K
My fucking stomach was tight, fearing what they might find. If anything happened to Miranda, Will would fall into an even darker place than before, a place I knew all too well. He’d blame himself as I had. The only difference between us was Jennie hadn’t been pregnant. She was a wild mess who’d fallen into drugs to numb the pain while I was gone. She didn’t want me involved in dangerous missions as a Ranger. It was too stressful for her, and I knew it but did it anyway.
Cocky, stubborn, and selfish were what I had been, still was. I’d destroyed a good, loving woman. I wasn’t there to save Jennie. The guilt I carried every fucking day for letting her down had kept me numb and dead inside the last four years.
And then Simone St. James breathed life into me. She kick-started my heart when she wasn’t even trying to.
I’m so fucked.
After everything that had gone down with Will and the fake affair, and now Miranda, Simone hated me. It was for the better. I wasn’t right for her, and she was too damn good for me. But none of that mattered when she was around. I wanted her more than the air I breathed, more than the hate and grief dwelling in my gut. And I couldn’t have her.
I needed to get the fuck out of L.A. and away from Simone before I destroyed another woman.
“Five minutes,” the driver announced.
Scout and Jones were in the SUV behind us. I drummed my fingers on my knees, praying to the God my Jennie had believed in to keep Miranda safe.
36 Miranda
A LOUD CRASH jolted me from my semi-conscious state. I’d been in and out ever since Jason locked me in the closet. When I’d wake, I stayed quiet, afraid to let him know I’d come to. I didn’t know what he’d do to me, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be pleasant.
Being in the dark unnerved me, but I think it helped not seeing how small the closet actually was, which warded off my claustrophobia. For that alone, I was grateful.
Yelling bled through the wooden door, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. I pushed myself into a corner, but my left leg and hand were of no use to me from the glass embedded in them. Still, I needed to protect myself.
Three pops made me cower away in fear. I covered my ringing ears as best I could with my shaking hands.
What was Jason mixed up in?
More yelling. I thought I heard my name. I lowered my hands to hear better but my ears were still ringing.
“Miranda!”
Derek?I banged on the door after recognizing his voice. “Derek!” Tears cascaded down my face. “I’m in here! Derek!” My heart thundered in my chest. Was he really here, or was my mind playing tricks on me? “Derek,” I cried out.
The doorknob rattled, and a loud sound of metal hitting metal made me scream. The door flew open.
“Thank God.” Derek was on his knees. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Derek,” I whimpered. “You’re here…”
He reached for me, and I hissed from the pain. “My leg.”
He shined a flashlight. “Oh shit. What in the hell did he do to you? Let me get a towel.”
“No.” I grabbed his arm. “Don’t leave me,” I begged through my tears. I clawed at his arm. “Don’t leave me.”
“Norris, I need a towel. She’s bleeding.”
“Norris is here too?”
“Yes, honey.”
