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CHAPTER11
Phoenix
The explosion was deafening, the brutal shake of the car we were in getting worse. Within seconds, there were several horrific popping sounds, metal skidding against metal. As the car shifted directions, I pulled Whitney tightly against me, covering her with my body. She was still struggling, taking gasping breaths. The fact she was still trying to crawl away from me was a testament to her resolve.
And her hatred.
I need to act quickly to get us out of here alive.
“Whitney. Whoa. You’re okay.” I’d never been the kind of man who needed to protect anyone, but with her I couldn’t imagine a drop of her blood being spilled.
Murderous thoughts raced through my mind, the need for revenge vital.
No one would ever hurt the woman who belonged to me.
“Just let me go. Just let. Me. Go,” she pleaded, refusing to accept her fate.
“Stop fighting me. I told you before. You’ll need to trust me.”
“No. No!” Her wail was cut off as another car slammed into us from behind. The noise of twisting steel was quickly drowned by several smaller explosions, vibrations pounding the floor beneath us. Then our car was flipped on its side, the window shattering as it started to skid sideways.
The entire scene was pitched into slow motion, debris scattering everywhere, furniture toppling. I felt a sharp pain in my leg as a chair was slammed against my torso.
“Oh, God.” Her scream was muffled by the hard wail of brakes trying to stop the train’s momentum. Seconds passed, the momentum continuing. When the train finally came to a hard thud, the jar slid us both forward. The sudden lack of movement was as unnerving as the previous roll.
Hissing, I glanced around me. Screams permeated the dense air, Whitney’s shaking body fueling my rage to the point I was almost blinded by it. Zakaryan would suffer for what he’d done. There was no doubt he was the person responsible. The act of war meant her father had betrayed my sister, selling his soul to the Armenians. Or had he intended on double crossing both of us all along? The fact Zakaryan had gone to such significant lengths to eliminate his enemy meant he was desperate.
That made him that much more dangerous.
Now I was stuck with the aftermath. There were no options left. My stunning captive was coming with me, obviously a lucrative commodity.
Only I had no intentions of selling her in the open market.
I’d been through several battles, skirmishes in and around Philly over the years. Some enemies were more calculated than others. This hadn’t been a well-planned attack because the aftermath in dealing with various law enforcement entities was a tremendous risk. Why would Zakaryan do something so impetuous?
I wouldn’t find the answers here or anytime soon for that matter.
My gut told me that bombs had been planted on the tracks. The moment we’d run over something, I sensed a decoy had been used, the explosives not on automatic detonation. But that meant they were in close proximity. Far too close. The fuckers couldn’t risk another train being derailed in their attempt to hunt me down.
A cold, brutal thought slipped into the back of my mind.
Or had I been the target? Only Jonas had initially been told about my altered plans, Stavros second, and my soldiers had yet to learn why my return had been held up. But my lovely companion hadn’t feared being tracked. She’d not only walked into the hands of a monster but had also allowed another to trail her.
A few seconds later, she wrapped her fingers around my arm, clinging to me tightly as the car was pitched forward again, coming to a jarring hard stop that rocked the entire metal frame.
I took a deep breath even as acrid smoke rolled in through the broken window.
“Let me go,” she managed, her voice shaking as it should be.
“No.”
“This can’t be… happening.”
I kept her body covered as the hiss of steam crackled all around us. When she shifted, trying to scramble away from me, I shifted until my mouth was pressed against her ear. “Yeah, it’s happening. Let me find out just how much danger we’re in.”
“Iamin danger,” she croaked. “Because I’m around you.”
“Trust me, beauty. There are even worse nightmares. Are you hurt?”
