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Sonny was classically handsome and clean-cut, like the blond version of Rhys but with less muscle. Even from where I sat, I could still see the definition in his biceps as he clutched the steering wheel. All of The Knights had a polished look that screamed money. Even Cole’s usual cargo shorts and tight T-shirts looked expensive, the fabric a much higher thread count than anything I wore before arriving at Fort Marshall.
Sonny drove at an average speed past the harbor, and once we were in the residential part of Beacon Bay, he floored the gas. He took turns checking the mirrors. I turned my head to see what had gotten his attention. Two men in a black car peeled down the street.
“Motherfuckers,” Sonny cursed. “Get ready, Cole. If they get too close, take out their tires.”
I clung to Rhys’s side and put my head on his chest. “I don’t want to go back to him.”
My father.
The terrorist.
“Keep your head down until I tell you it’s safe.” Rhys pushed down on my head, and I lay on his lap. He slipped his fingers through my hair to calm me. “It will be over soon, princess. Close your eyes and think of your favorite song. Can you do that for me?”
“Uh-huh.”
Cole fired a bullet out the window at their tire.
“Sing it for me,” Rhys said in a calming tone.
I couldn’t hold a tune, nor could my adoptive father, so I hummed a song he sang for me when I moved in with him. “Let It Be” by The Beetles helped soothe me at night, especially after another nightmare of the past. Flashbacks of my former life.
Cole turned in his seat and fired his gun out the window. I hummed even louder. The Colonel had taught me how to shoot, but the sound never bothered me.
Not until now.
It felt like the SUV was about to tip over when Sonny overshot the turn, the tires screeching. And with Cole dangling out the window, I tried not to look. I tried not to think about those men hurting him. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to him because of me.
A bullet sank into the bumper.
I screamed.
“You’re okay, Grace,” Cole said with his head partially out the window. “Keep singing for us. We’ll be home soon.”
Rhys covered my ears. “Listen to Marshall, princess. Don’t stop singing until I tell you.”
I started at the song’s beginning, humming the familiar tune. My dad loved that song, and it just so happened to calm me down whenever I had a panic attack.
Our first few years together were rough. I was traumatized, but he was patient and cared for me. The Colonel even enlisted help from his doctor friend to stop my nightmares.
Another bullet hit the bumper.
Cole fired more shots.
Sonny drove like a maniac.
Rhys stroked my hair.
I didn’t stop singing.
Everything began to blur together, and I retreated to my happy place inside my mind. I was so angry sometimes about not having friends or boyfriends. But until now, I hadn’t felt like I was in danger. The Colonel kept the target off my back. Whenever he thought my father was on to us, we moved again.
He gave up everything.
For me.
After Sonny took another rough turn, Cole sat in the passenger seat and rolled up the window. “We lost them.”
Rhys removed his hands from my ears and rubbed my back. “You can sit up, princess. We’re at the safe house.”
