Page 7 of Guarded By Them

“We can alternate driving?” I offered, though my stomach churned, and my head swam at the thought. I didn’t want to be behind the wheel, but I didn’t know how much traveling we had ahead of us, and I couldn’t expect the work to fall on everyone else’s shoulders.

His face tightened. “I guess.”

“We can find a motel along the way,” Dillon said, leaning in from the back. “No one is following us.”

“Okay,” I agreed. That sounded like the most sensible option. “It’ll give me time to make some calls. I’m not sure how it’s going to go down, us all turning up unannounced, anyway.”

My contact owed me, but he didn’t know who I gotten involved with, or who was after us. No one in their right mind got involved with the Capello brothers if they didn’t have to. I guessed that meant Dillon hadn’t been in his right mind, but sometimes I did wonder that about him.

I sighed and sat back in my seat. Though I tried to relax, my fingers never strayed far from my gun.

Chapter Three

Rue

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THE MORE DISTANCE WE put between us and the city, the more I was able to unwind. We were on the interstate now and had picked up speed as we’d left the worst of the traffic behind.

I’d never been out of the state before. The possibility that I might end up on an airplane and flying to a whole different country made me dizzy. I couldn’t even imagine how that would feel. The world suddenly seemed too big, and I pressed myself closer to Dillon’s side, trying to ground myself in his presence.

The thought of going through an airport was terrifying as well. We were still a long way from that point—I didn’t even have any official identification yet, real or forged—but the truth was that officials scared me. When I’d been growing up, my mother had always drummed into me how they were the enemy. Teachers, police officers, CPS agents... all had the power to take me away. Looking back, I could see now that being taken away would have been the best thing for me, but at the time, the thought of being without my mother was the most terrifying thing in the world. Even though she’d been drunk or high, and had probably only wanted me not to speak to people because she planned to use me as her paycheck, I’d still clung to her. I’d still trusted her. Then, in the life I’d been sold into, I’d been told the same thing. People who talked to the cops, or anyone in power, were people who ended up hurt or dead. I couldn’t even hear a police siren without my heart racing and being filled with an overwhelming sense that I’d done something wrong and I was going to be punished.

I’d carry that paranoia with me for the rest of my life.

Now the initial danger was over, I snoozed against Dillon’s shoulder. I hadn’t slept well the previous night because of the incident with Ryan, and even now, my throat still hurt from where he’d strangled me. I knew he hadn’t done it intentionally—in his sleep, he hadn’t even known it had been me he’d been hurting—but the memory of waking to choking still swirled uneasily inside me. I hated that I couldn’t trust being in the same room as Ryan if there was a chance either of us might fall asleep. The guys were big enough and strong enough to fight back if it ever happened to them, but Ryan could actually kill me and not even realize he’d done it. Maybe it was stupid of me, but it was the idea of Ryan waking up and discovering he’d killed me in his sleep more than the fact I’d be dead that bothered me the most. I knew he’d never forgive himself. He’d already been through so much, and that would tip him over the edge.

That had been part of my reason for walking out earlier that day. That, and the possibility I was breaking the three of them up. I cared about Ryan more than I cared about myself. He’d been someone important, had served our country and meant something. I was just some girl who’d only ever been good for what was between her legs.

“I’m going to have to take a break soon, guys,” Ryan said from up front.

“You want me to drive awhile?” Kodee offered.

I thought I detected a tremor in his voice, but I might be imagining things. He was probably still shaken up by what had happened outside Joe Nettie’s place.

I couldn’t even drive. How could I learn to drive when I couldn’t read the road signs or whatever paperwork was needed to get a license? I wished I could be of more help to them. As far as I could tell, all I’d done was bring trouble into their lives.

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