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Aiden cocks his head. “You really handled things. No one said you had mad skills. Not even you.”
“Not allowed to tell people,” she says.
Liam puts his gun away and gives me a hug. “Oh, baby doll,” he whispers. “Thank God, you’re all right.” His grip tightens on me, and his lips press against my neck. “I love you.”
My fingers press against his sides. “I love you, too.”
Liam exhales and loosens his grip. “Aiden, call Trick.”
“I could do it, Liam?” Ash offers, tucking the gun into the back of her skirt. “I speak a little Crue.”
“Might as well. He’ll want to hear your voice.”
Ash drops down to sit in the backseat of the car that kidnapped us. As she pulls her phone from her manga cartoon-print purse, she cocks her head and taps the screen. A beat later, she says, “Hey, Trick.”
After those two words, Ash is silent for a moment. “Yep. Five by five.” She pauses again. “Twenty-two and oh.”
Code,I realize. Wow, who is this girl, really? Some kind of operative?
Ash swallows. “Okay.” With a tap of her finger, she ends the call and climbs back out. “I think Olivia and I should go outside for some fresh air. Before we all leave. Okay, Liv?” She hooks an arm around mine. “I really need to get out of here.”
I nod numbly and glance at Liam who also nods.
To his brother, Liam says, “Luke, go with them. Make sure it’s safe.”
Luke falls in step with us. Outside, there are a maze of garages and old shipping containers. Ash walks farther than I expect.
“I really like silk,” Ash says. “But that’s probably too thin and delicate for a wedding dress, huh? A wedding dress has to hold up.”
I can’t believe she’s bringing up the wedding. Or maybe I can. She’s trying to divert my attention.
My own attempt to force my mind to concentrate on something other than what we just went through is mixed, but I manage a shrug. “I’ve never seen a pure silk wedding gown,” I mumble. “But a white silk overlay would be pretty.”
The briny scent of the ocean and the metallic smell of oil hits the back of my nose, and I turn my face into the breeze. In the distance, I hear a pair of faint pops and my body jerks. Aiden or Liam just killed the men who were left alive.
“Yeah, I guess silk wouldn’t work. Pretty for lingerie, though,” Ash says, smoothly covering any other sounds from behind us. “You liked that dress with the color transition. Would you ever consider that?”
“It’s okay, Ash.” I touch her arm.
“Had to try,” she whispers.
There’s an explosive sound behind us, and I jerk around.
Aiden and Liam walk toward us, and behind them, there are billows of smoke rising from the garage’s upper windows.
“Time to head out,” Liam says to Luke. “Thanks for riding over here with us.”
“Riding where with you? Been home all day,” Luke says before he walks away.
We round the corner of a shipping container, and Aiden’s SUV waits for us.
“Take shotgun, Ashling.” Liam says.
“Sure.” Ash opens the front passenger door.
Liam guides me into a backseat and joins me. He takes my hand in his and rubs it. “You sure you feel all right?” His gaze drops to my stomach.
I nod. “We’re okay. Thanks to Ash,” I whisper. “Based on something he said, I’m pretty sure Giovanni took me to kill me.”
