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Nick just nodded. “Everything. The buildings, the crypto, the accounts. We have enough to last, as long as we’re careful.”
The warmth drained from my face. “To last how long?”
He held my stare. “Forever.”
Forever?The night seemed to sway. I reached out and grasped Tobias’s arm.
“Whoa, little mouse.” T gripped me tightly. “You okay?”
It all made sense now. The night in Ben’s office when he’d closed himself off from the rest of us, that’s what he’d been doing. That’s what he was doing when he…the memory of his tongue invaded, making my body tremble.
Nick handed me the napkin. “Keep it. Let it sit and gather interest. That way, you have an out if you want it.”
“An out?”
He gave a shrug. “If one day you change your mind.”
One day you’ll want more…
“No,”I snapped as those words came back to haunt me. “I don't want an out. Not now, not ever. So I’m going to put this away for when, or if, we might need it and if we don’t, then I’m sure I’ll figure out a way to use it.”
Nick gave a slow, sad smile as I gently folded the napkin and slipped it into my pocket. In the back of the car was another bag with clothes and guns, ones none of us wanted to touch, not knowing it came from London St. James. But we did, with the clothes under one arm and Tobias’ hand in mine, we headed for the truck stop. No one stopped us when we made use of the facilities, washing our hair and drying with paper towels, until we stepped out fresher than we’d gone in.
We grabbed food, drinks, and snacks, filled the four-wheel drive’s gas tank, and kept on driving.
We pushed hard. My brothers took turns behind the wheel while the others slept. I tried to, but the sound of gunfire still echoed when I closed my eyes, making me jerk awake with my heart hammering as my whimpers stuck in the back of my throat. Rebel seemed to be exhausted as she drank bottled water and ate some dog food from bowls Nick had surprisingly found on a shelf. But she slept on the floor of the car at my feet.
Until slowly, the day slipped away.
“We’re staying at a motel,” Caleb muttered, waking Nick in the front passenger seat. “We need a bed and a shower and more than canned food.”
He pulled into the parking lot of the next decent-looking motel we saw, parked and climbed out, then disappeared as he headed for the office. He returned a few minutes later with two sets of keys, climbed back behind the wheel, and pulled the four-wheel drive further back from the street, parking it outside two adjoining doors.
“Don’t worry.” Caleb climbed out, shaking the keys. “I got us connecting rooms.”
My back was killing me and my legs felt like jelly. It took me a few minutes to get feeling back into my legs after I climbed out. Then we gathered our things and went inside, me with Tobias, Nick and Caleb in the adjoining room. The first thing I did was open the door between us. Not for one second did I want us apart.
Never again…
Never ever again.
FORTY
Ryth
“Dibs on first shower,”Tobias demanded the moment I stepped inside the room.
He grabbed me around the waist, lifted me into the air, and placed me gently out of his way.
Just like that, he was back to the same old obnoxious Tobias.
Not even a gunfight and the fact we were running for our lives had changed him. He flicked on the light in the bathroom as I unloaded the bags of toiletries from the truck stop. When I looked up, Caleb waited for me in the connecting doorway and gave a raised brow at T as the bathroom door closed with athud.
“I bet he never even asked you,” C said as he shook his head.
“I did!” T called out. “I called first dibs.”
“That’s not really asking now, is it?” C shot back. “Want to use ours?”
