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Then I was jerked from behind, an arm wrapped around my neck, squeezing until stars floated in front of my eyes.
Unable to speak, I coughed as I tried to struggle, kicking out. Dozens of people had to see but no one was coming to my rescue.
“You’re coming with me, bitch.” The voice wasn’t one I recognized, dark and foreboding.
As he dragged me toward a parking lot, I tried to scream for Cruz. I was lightheaded, No. No. This couldn’t be happening.
I continued fighting, scratching the man’s arms.
“You fucking whore. You’ll pay for that.”
The words reverberated in my mind, some the same ones Cruz had used. But this was entirely different. The man I loved wasn’t trying to hurt me. This son of a bitch would kill me.Cruz. Cruz. Help me.
He threw open a door of a vehicle, prepared to toss me inside when I heard a hard thud and was suddenly freed. I almost fell to the ground but managed to push myself against the car, turning around just as Cruz pressed the barrel of his weapon against the man’s forehead.
I turned my head away, closing my eyes as the two muffled pops ended the assailant’s life.
“Come on, baby. We need keep going.” He pulled me closer, wrapping his arm around me, guiding me through the parking lot.
I was stunned, maybe in shock, my vision still foggy as I allowed him to guide me down another street. When I noticed the sign for the bar, I felt a sense of relief.
Until we tried to cross the street.
Maybe it was his instinct or a flash of a muzzle, but as a vehicle raced around a corner, he covered my body, pitching me down to the sidewalk. As the car roared by, everything seemed to go into slow motion.
Without any hesitation, he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder and making his way across the street into the darkness of the bar’s parking lot. As soon as we were shadowed, he eased me onto my feet, cupping my face.
“Are you alright?”
“No. I’m not alright.” I pressed my face against him, allowing the tears to flow.
Nothing would ever be alright again.
* * *
New York
Two days later
I stood at the window overlooking the ocean and couldn’t stop shivering. He’d saved my life, carrying me to safety. I could barely get the events out of my mind, unable to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time.
At least the waters were calming, pulling me back to a few times in my past when my life hadn’t been in turmoil. Jameson had arrived, able to get us out of the city without another incident. From there, I’d been taken to a private plane, landing in New York only hours later. Now I was locked away inside Cruz’s house in the Hamptons. While it was a beautiful home with lush furnishings, the view incredible, I was still in a perfect, gilded cage.
I hated feeling that way, but I was an emotional wreck, unsure of anything any longer.
To think my uncle had every intention of killing Cruz, ending whatever shared vendetta they had was horrifying enough. To know the length to which the man would go in order to drag me back was paralyzing. I heard the door and smiled. For all the craziness we’d been through, every time Cruz came close, some of the tension eased.
Maybe it would never make any sense, but I’d stopped trying. My life had never been intended to be about finding normalcy. Pretending to be something I wasn’t had been a beautiful but temporary façade that I’d known would be ripped away one day.
I noticed his reflection in the window and bit my lower lip. He had the presence of a caged lion, just like always. When he placed his hand on my shoulder, I shuddered visibly.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Come with me.” He rolled his fingers across the back of my neck then backed away.
As I turned to face him, my smile grew wider. He was dressed casually, the long-sleeve polo shirt in cobalt blue accentuating his eyes and the sly smirk on his face.
