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I locked eyes with Brooke, who was shaking. I needed to make it through this to save her.
“What loose ends?” Lucas asked, his tone alarmingly calm. I was almost impressed.
“You need to tell us what you know,” the tall, slim man said. “About all of this. So we can know how many loose ends we need to wrap up.”
I blinked. Had they really given us the perfect opportunity to stall? I had no idea how Mac’s friends and Brooke’s security detail were going to sneak up on them. And I had no idea if the FBI was even going to get here soon. Their backs were to the rock formation so they could see everywhere in front of them, but were protected from behind.
“Everything we know,” Chase said slowly. “About the casino? About what?”
We played stupid for a while until we couldn’t anymore. We drew out the story of noticing all the criminals in our casino, fudging the details. Without even consulting with each other, we left Brooke being a plant out of it. Lucas threw in a few ridiculous stories about us being completely unfamiliar with the dark side of Vegas for good measure, even though that was far from the truth. I kept eye contact with Brooke the whole time, hoping that she felt better now that we were here.
“Come on, you jackasses,” the tall, thin man said. “You’re stalling.”
I swallowed, my blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding so loud that it overpowered my hearing all the way.
I had to do something. I was tired of looking at Brooke’s terrified face, feeling like I was just waiting for us to die.
“Listen.” The tall, thin man grabbed Brooke and hauled her to her feet again. “Do you need a little motivation? Because we can rough her up a bit to give it to you.”
“We’re thinking,” Lucas said, the cool and calm aura he had before slipping. “There’s a lot. Don’t you want all the answers before you get rid of the only people who can give them to you?”
The tall, thin man’s eyes narrowed, and his grip on Brooke loosened. The faint sound of helicopter blades reached us from far in the distance. The tall, thin man looked over his shoulder, and I took that moment to act.
I dove toward Brooke while shaking the taser out of my sleeve. I shoved the man until he stumbled back and let go of Brooke. With a simple flick, I turned the taser on and aimed it at him, pulling the trigger. It shocked him, making his entire body tense and shake.
The distraction gave Lucas and Chase the moment to take a dive, too. I heard them struggling with the other man and the guards, but based on the tense cries around us, they got them with the taser. The chopper sounds got louder, the shadow of a helicopter coming over us.
I hit the taser again to make sure the thin man was out. I scooped up Brooke, and ran toward the closest rock formation. Her entire body was quivering as she gripped my shirt, latching onto me.
I skidded to my knees behind a rock, my chest heaving. The FBI was yelling something from megaphones, but I couldn’t absorb what they were saying over the sound of the chopper blades. There had to be more than one over there, but I didn’t want to expose us again by looking over my shoulder.
All that mattered was that Brooke was okay.
“Are you insane?” Brooke asked, a tear running down her face.
I didn’t respond. I just kissed her with everything I had. I was trembling all over, even as I held her and knew she was okay. Gunshots hadn’t been exchanged. Brooke was safe.
Brooke melted into my arms as we kissed. Eventually, she broke the kiss and threw her arms around me, just hugging me. I ran my hand up and down her back, steadying her. I was so emotionally raw that just looking into her eyes made my heart pull in five different directions.
“I love you,” I said. “It’s hard for me to be this open with you, but all of that shit made me realize just how much I’d regret not telling you.”
The words tumbled from my mouth like they’d been behind a dam all this time. Brooke cupped my cheeks and rested her forehead against mine.
“I love you, too,” she said. “So much. And I’m so happy that you’ve told me all of this. I just want us to be open with each other.”
“And to not let fear stifle us?” I kissed her forehead. The crunching of boots on sand surrounded us as the FBI came over, announcing their presence. They saw us and gave us space.
“Definitely not,” she said, kissing me again.
I cuddled her against my chest. I was terrified of how opening up was going to feel once I wasn’t experiencing the rush of nearly dying. But with Brooke by my side, I was going to work through it. I couldn’t control anything but myself, and starting with being open was a good starting point.
CHAPTER30
Chase
The wait to get back to Brooke was killing me. She was sitting nestled in Hunter’s arms while the FBI questioned her, and Lucas and I had to sit at a distance, getting questioned, too. I couldn’t believe Hunter had done something so crazy, but he was the only one who was able to see the police and the FBI coming.
I thought we were dead. I was looking at Brooke, hating myself more and more each second for letting it all end on that note. But now we were okay. Aside from the fact that I wasn’t able to apologize to her yet and beg for her to take me back. The scrapes and bruises I had from scuffling with her captors didn’t feel like much.
