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“Me, either. Even though I liked Samuel, I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out.”
Zayne cleared his throat, and I glanced over my shoulder my blood chilling in my veins. “Cole,” I whispered. “We’ve got company.”
Cole turned quickly, his jaw tensing as his gaze landed on a man that appeared to be in his early fifties. His dark hair was streaked with grey, and his brown eyes were menacing as he trained his gun on Zayne. It took a moment for me to realize that he had a pistol in both hands and the other was pointed at us.
“Hello, son.”
With a quick step, Cole placed himself in front of me, shielding me from Rick.
“Rick,” Cole spat. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Is that really how you should greet your old man? Seriously, Cole, can’t a man visit his kid? It’s been years. You’re all grown up, and I just wanted to spend some time with you.” Rick’s words dripped with hate and sarcasm.
“You’re too late for family time, asshole,” Cole growled.
I peeked around Cole, my attention on Zayne who was several feet away from Rick. If Rick had been stupid enough to stand closer, I suspected Zayne could have disarmed him. The only problem was that Rick would easily get a shot off at one of us.
My heart hammered against my chest, my breathing was shallow and traveled in short bursts. “Cole, be careful.”
Cole moved his arm slowly, reaching back for my hand. “What do you want, Rick?”
Rick sneered and my legs began to tremble. “To finish the job, of course. I owe you, son. We have a score to settle. I mean, don’t you think it was shitty to turn your old man into the cops?”
“You can’t have him!” I yelled and stepped around my boyfriend.
Rick’s maniacal laugh filled the air. “Look at you. Baby Shae is all grown up and protecting her boyfriend. How sweet.”
I gulped, remembering that this was the man who stole me from my family and sold me to Samuel. Bile churned in my stomach and I spat into the water. “You’re a sick fuck, you know that?” I took a step forward. Cole attempted to grab my arm, but I moved out of his reach.
“Shae,” Cole hissed. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Do you know who my family is?” I stared at Rick, hoping that he would focus on me, and Zayne could move in and disarm him. There was a chance I might get shot, but at least it wouldn’t be Cole. I couldn’t lose him again even if it meant that I didn’t survive.
A movement caught the corner of my eye, and I realized Zayne had inched closer to Rick.
“I never met your parents, Shae. I had a job to do and that was to make money. Who you belonged too was none of my concern.” His brow quirked, clearly irritated with my questions.
“You’re lying,” I challenged. “I need to know who they are. I’ll trade you Cole for that information.” My heart ached with my lie. I would never give Cole up for this monster, but I was trying to shock Rick.
The air thickened with tension as Rick and I stared at each other. I wasn’t sure if he were considering the offer or not. My brain scrambled for something else to say in order to keep the conversation and attention on me. Zayne had to be able to reach Rick if we wanted to walk out of this alive.
The rumble of bikes approaching caught my ears, and a slow grin eased across my face as I remembered that King and his guys had been trailing Rick. “Looks like things could get interesting in just a minute.”
Rick glanced behind him, and Zayne sprang into action, kicking one of the pistols from Rick’s hand. Rick dropped the weapon and staggered backward nearly tripping. He regained his balance and fear filled his blue eyes.
Cole grabbed me from behind and practically picked me up before we flew out of the water and onto land.
Desperation twisted Rick’s features, then he sprinted away from us and into the trees. I assumed his car or bike was hidden there because we never heard him arrive.
“Goddammit! Is everyone all right?” King asked, breaking through the trees.
“Go! He went that way,” Zayne yelled. “I’ll take care of the kids.”
The overpowering sound of motorcycles muffled the rest of the conversation, then King disappeared in the direction he’d come from.
“Are you two, okay?” Zayne asked, meeting us on the other side of the Mercedes.
We stood slowly, my body trembling now that Rick was gone. “Yeah,” I muttered, fighting the tears forming in my eyes.
