Page 63 of Smoke and Mirrors

Kace moves toward me, his hand never wavering.

“I know you’re not gonna shoot me, asshole,” Luca says, rubbing his forehead where a bright red mark is blooming.

“Lily,” Kace orders, and I immediately rush to his side. He looks me over and grasps my hand in his before turning back to Luca.

“I didn’t touch her,” Luca tells him through narrowed eyes. “And will you put the fucking gun down already?”

“I’m telling you right now…” Kace says, his voice firm and dark, “… I will fucking shoot you if it means protecting her.”

Luca’s eyes flash to me, his lip curling in disgust. “So that’s it? You’re choosing her?”

“I’m choosing the fucking truth!” Kace snaps before taking a deep breath. “You dig deeper, you’ll figure it out. But I don’t have time to hold your damn hand on this one. We’re leaving. This time, you won’t find us.”

Luca’s face seems to sink, his anger dissipating. “Thought we were brothers,” he says, almost sounding broken. These guys aren’t just best friends. Luca looks up to Kace—admires him—that much is becoming obvious.

“She’s mine,” Kace states, clearly feeling the change in the room. “You come after her. You come after me.”

I turn and look up at him with wide eyes. He catches the movement, muttering, “Not now, Lily.”

Luca steps back, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Kace, don’t do this, man. Come back, we’ll figure this shit out. What if she isn’t who you think she is?”

Kace doesn’t hesitate. “I know exactly who she is, just like you know exactly who I am.” His muscles clench tightly all over his body. “Axel is probably going to need the hospital now because of fucking me. You think this doesn’t fucking kill me? Fighting my own men? My brothers? But I’m doing it because there’s something going on here that’s bigger than this, bigger than us.”

His fingers lace through mine, and he glances down at me. “I won’t see her hurt because she got caught in the middle. She’s innocent, and we protect people who are innocent.”

The room’s quiet for a moment, the two men sharing silent words as they stare each other down.

Kace slowly begins to move us to the door, his gun still on Luca. He pulls the door open and holds it as we back out. “Dig deeper, brother. There’s gotta be something there.”

Luca frowns but doesn’t answer.

“And for God’s sake… protect your weapon next time, douchebag.”

Thumping footsteps of people running has Kace pushing me out into the mall again. And then the chase begins afresh. I run with him, my body screaming in protest.

“Stand down,” I hear Luca shout. And Kace and I both slow, pulling to a stop and looking over our shoulders.

Elijah, Noah, and Luca stand outside the bathroom door, watching us.

Kace nods his head and tucks the gun away. “Let’s go,” he says, pulling me from view.

We jog in the opposite direction of where we left the car, breaking out into the daylight. Kace’s pace slows, but I still scurry to keep up with him.

“Why are we running?” I ask breathlessly. “Aren’t they letting us go?”

“They’re giving us a head start,” Kace tells me gruffly. “They still have their orders. There’s only so much time they can give us before they have to come after us again. Just hoping Luca can stall enough to actually figure this out.”

“And what are we going to do?” I ask, my body shattering. Lack of sleep, physical exhaustion—I’m on the brink of having a meltdown.

Kace pulls to a stop, turning to me and gripping my face in his hands. He stares down into my watering eyes, the gentle promise in his eyes just enough to stop me breaking down in the middle of the street. “We’re going to do some digging of our own. We’re going to figure this out.”

I nod, swallowing past the lump in my throat. He dips his head, pressing his lips to mine, ever so softly. My hands go to his waist as he pulls me against his body.

I inhale him, drawing strength from him into my own body. Allowing it to fill me, empower me, remind me that he’s here, and there’s nothing that will stop him from fighting for me. For us.

Chapter Nineteen

LILY

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