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Theo turns to me, his expression burning with love and hard determination. “This was always just a contingency plan, kid,” he says.
“Contingency…?” I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you trust us?” Tristan asks me abruptly, his expression unreadable but smoldering, and the question carries serious weight.
My mind takes me back through the course of the past weeks, the past months, reeling through all that’s happened. Lucas’ evil remains in the forefront. It towers over everything else like a shadow, one that has extended over my life since before Theo was even in it. Callie’s friendship was always the one bright light in the darkness that surrounded me. Now he’s gotten to her, but there’s another light in that darkness—three of them, actually—and I can’t shake the feeling that these men could be my saving grace in the face of someone who wants to damage me more than he already has.
And as they look at me now, their eyes—silver, green, blue—burning with love, there’s only one answer I can possibly give.
“Yes,” I whisper. “With my life.”
Theo nods and squares his shoulders, the leader of the pack that he is. “You’re the best driver of the three of us, Tristan,” he says. “We need to switch cars. God knows they’ll have your plates already. Get her the rest of the way down the coast, and don’t stop until you reach the next safe house. Liam and I will head them off at the pass, buy you time to shake the tail.”
My stomach lurches. “They could kill you,” I say.
“Let them try,” Liam says. “That son of a bitch is in our territory now, and he knows it.”
Tristan nods his affirmation, turning to me. “Lucas has got one goal, Vivian, and that’s getting to you. He’s not going to waste time on nice-to-haves.”
“And if he does,” Theo says, “we’ll bring the hammer down so hard he won’t know what hit him.”
I swallow, looking between them one last time, and then nod. “All right,” I say finally. “Promise me you’ll be careful. All of you. I… I can’t lose you.” I look away, fighting off the tears and worry.
“You won’t,” Liam says. “Right, boss?”
“Never.” Theo pulls me close, presses his lips to the top of my head, and murmurs, “Promise.”
I go to Liam next, and his kiss is more tender than I ever would have thought possible. “Take care of yourself,” he tells me when he pulls back. “That’s an order.”
“Yes sir,” I reply with a mock salute.
Liam chuckles, running a hand through his hair. “Watch it there, Vivi. I’m falling hard enough for you as it is.”
Flushing bright red, butterflies flapping in my stomach, I turn to Tristan, who’s watching me with a look of emotion so intense it makes me weak in the knees. How could I not have seen it before?
“You ready?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.
“I’m in pajamas and I’m running on four hours of sleep,” I say wryly. “So… yes.”
He rolls his blue eyes but presses his lips to mine anyway. There’s something reserved about it, like this is new territory for him, and that somehow just makes my heart swell even more.
“Come on,” he says when we break apart. “If those bastards want a chase, we’ll damn sure give them one.”
ChapterThirty-Three
Liam passes off the keys to Tristan and we get into the other SUV, leaving the others to misdirect Lucas’ men and buy us the precious time we need. I don’t know how long we spent talking, but every second counts if we want to get to where we’re going with our lives intact. I’m wishing I had bothered to ask where exactly that is, but I guess it doesn’t matter, does it? It’ll be a matter of life or death for me no matter where it is. Assuming, of course, that we’re not all killed in the next twenty-four hours, either by Lucas or by whoever he has working for him.
Still, the already-familiar feeling of my hand finding its way into Tristan’s is a welcome one, and I’m instantly at ease once we’re on the road.
“What happens when we get to the next location?” I ask, glancing at him.
Tristan makes a low rumbling noise in his chest. “We regroup,” he says. “Gather the forces and make Lucas pay for what he’s done.”
“Theo’s still not welcome in London,” I remind him.
“We’re past thinking about that,” Tristan says, glancing at me with a look of firm steadfastness. “Lucas is the one in the wrong here, not Theo. This is not about propriety. This is about getting that psycho out of our way—and out of your life for good.”
“Wow,” I say, nudging him with my knee. “You’re cute when you get all protective, Tristan.”
