AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you have any training?” I cock my head in her direction.
“No.” She frowns like she doesn’t like the idea either.
“Then sorry, it’s not safe.” No way am I facilitating a tragedy. “But I’d feel better if you’d take some pepper spray and a knife or two.”
“That means we’re all going together?” The tinge of disbelief and wonder in Clover’s question steels my nerves and confirms my decision. She inches past Wesley and over to me like a wild animal learning to trust humans for the first time before holding out her hand for her weapons.
“Yeah. But in this, I’m in charge. You listen to me. All of you. Not a single question. If I tell you to do something, you do it. You hear?” I let my hand stay cupped around Clover’s and the assortment of defensive gear I’ve selected for her.
Her dainty throat flexes as she considers my demands. Some of the attraction from earlier dances in her eyes like the city twinkling below. She nods. “Yes, sir.”
She’s perfect for us.
I scoop my hand behind her neck and crush my mouth to hers, giving her a taste of what danger does to me. She melts a moment before returning my intensity.
Yup, absolute perfection.
In under twenty minutes, I’ve grilled Clover for information, formed a plan, and piled us all back in the car. Our prize is tucked in the backseat between Grant and Wesley. I drive.
That’s who I am. The doer.
They’re quiet as we streak toward River’s captors, giving me the space to do what I do best.
The instant we pull up to a wrought-iron gate in a neighborhood almost as fancy as our own and announce ourselves, we’re let inside. Before we make it up the winding drive to the circular area beneath one of those overhangs Grant knows some fancy word for, the whole place is teeming with dirtbag criminals.
I know which one of them is in charge the instant I see him—hair slicked back, sunglasses on at night, and in no hurry, unlike the rest of his gang.
As instructed, everyone remains in the car until I can cover them as they exit and join me from a safe distance.
“Who the hell are these assholes?” the drug lord asks Clover with a look that would probably scare the piss out of most people. “I thought I told you to come alone.”
I answer before she can. “We’re a package deal. The four of us don’t do anything solo anymore. And anyone who threatens Clover is a problem for us.”
Funny enough, I don’t even think I’m bluffing. At least not if I’m lucky.
“If this is some bullshit attempt to screw me out of my money?—”
“It’s not.” I open the briefcase Wesley hands me, chock full of cash from his own office safe, and walk it slowly, steadily, toward the boss man.
When he reaches for it, practically drooling, I slam it closed and lock it. “You’ll get the code for that when we’re five minutes away from here with River safely in our possession. That’s the only deal you’re going to get. You should take it.”
I’m no Grant, but this prick speaks my language.
He nods and has one of his men snatch it from me.
“Where’s River?” Clover can’t help herself, and I don’t blame her. It’s obvious her brother means the world to her. I hope someday I can say the same for myself, Grant, and Wesley. I’mwilling to do whatever it takes to show her we deserve that. Including eliminating every last one of these fuckers if they’ve harmed her brother.
“Bring him out,” I order.
The gang members shift, looking to their leader, who flashes a hand signal before a pair of street soldiers disappear inside. When they return, they drag a scrawny, pale, dirty man and dump him on the ground none-too-gently. I swing one arm behind me, preventing Clover from sprinting toward the bait.
The head of the organization clears his throat. “What do you say I give you this briefcase back, plus the loser, and you let us have her instead?”
I’d bet three more briefcases, easy, that the drug lord planned to have her along with the cash the entire time and would have convinced her to trade herself for River if we weren’t there to stop her from taking that terrible deal.
“Don’t piss me off any more than you already have,” I growl. “She’s priceless. And she’s ours.”
River groans and thrashes as he tries to ward off imaginary monsters.
