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“—no . . . body . . . yes.”
Ashton’s voice was registering with me, slowly. In pieces.
He was motioning to me, pointing at my book on my nightstand.
“What?”
“Do you need this?”
“Need what?”
He held something up. I didn’t know what it was. None of this was making sense.
A body—a body was in my hallway! I gasped, turning to go and look. Had I imagined all of that?
“No.” A firm hand had my arm, and I was being held back.
“No. I need to—”
“No, Molly.” He stopped in front of me, his hands holding my shoulders in place, and he gently walked me back a step until I was against the wall in my own doorway. “That man was trying to pick the lock, but he’s not the one who blew your door. I think that was someone else.”
“Who?”
His mouth was in a firm line. “I don’t know. I missed it. I didn’t see it either so it must’ve been small.”
His phone was ringing again.
Oh—that was mine.
“How do you know that guy didn’t do the door?”
Ashton stepped back but took my hand. He entwined our fingers, pulling me from the room. My Happy Earth bag over his shoulder. “Because he was just as shocked as us. Do you need anything from in there?”
He motioned for the kitchen.
Need? Like I was going somewhere. I shook my head, starting to tell him that was silly, but he took that as the answer to his question, and he led me back to the living room and entryway.
Another guy was there, bending over the man.
I gasped, braking, but the guy lifted his head, speaking to Ashton.
Oh, good. It was Elijah.
“—dead . . . her?”
Ashton stepped in front of me, responding to his man before he lifted his hand, moving so he was half hugging me to his chest again. His hand went to cover my eyes, and he spoke, surprisingly gentle. “We’re going to step around the body. Don’t look. You won’t get that image out of your head.”
I readied myself as we were walking past. I couldn’t help myself. I looked, though Elijah was there. He was moving as we did, an extra barrier between us and the body.
Body. As in deceased.
Jesus.
Ashton had killed a man in my apartment. And I’d seen the whole thing. I was a Mafia witness.
But—this was at my place.
My home.
That guy was trying to pick my lock. If Ashton hadn’t . . . I started shaking. My knees were knocking against each other, and my legs were getting all wobbly.
I was going down. I’d fainted enough times to recognize the signs.
Suddenly, Ashton stopped running in front of me. He muttered a curse before bending and sweeping me up in his arms.
I gasped, my hands flying out, grabbing for his back. He kept moving, hitting the emergency door exit, and we were running down the stairs fast.
The door below opened, and Ashton paused until a male voice called up, “Boss?”
We kept going. Or I mean, Ashton kept going. I was carry-on luggage.
Another two men met us as we ran down the last set of stairs. They didn’t say anything. Ashton didn’t either. We got to the main floor, and Ashton carried me out into the side alley.
Two vehicles were waiting for us. The back door opened. Ashton deposited me inside before shutting the door and hurrying to the driver’s side. He got behind the wheel. Just as he was putting it into drive, the front passenger door opened. Elijah threw himself in, and he yanked the door closed as Ashton was peeling out of there.
There was a slight pause when we got to the street, but just barely. There was a small opening in traffic, and he used it, gunning the accelerator again.
Elijah looked back at me. “How’s she doing?”
I could hear him this time! Go me.
“In shock.”
Elijah gave me a small smile before turning to face the front. “She saw a lot tonight.”
“Don’t start.”
He glanced at Ashton. “I’m not. Just saying . . .” He shrugged. “You know.”
Ashton’s jaw clenched. “I’m aware.”
I had no clue what they were talking about, and then I didn’t care.
Everything went dark.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ASHTON
Molly fainted in the car, which turned into sleeping. I let her be.
The plan had been to take her to my place and stash her there. No one, or very few, actually knew where I lived. I could name them on one hand, but when she passed out, I decided to go a different route. I was bringing her to a compound very, very few knew about. She’d be safe.
We met with two of my men.
While she was in the back, all bundled up, I went over the plan with Elijah.
Elijah’s phone buzzed. “Body’s been handled, and I checked with our men. There were no 911 calls from her neighbors. Police were not notified.”
Even better. “I want her place cleaned out within the hour.”
