Page 54 of Second Chance Serenity

I do, trying my best to focus despite the pain and panic currently wreaking havoc on my system. I’m going to die. I’m going to be a flag-draped coffin, and Reyna will never know how sorry I am. She’ll never know that I still love her.

“I called for evac. You’re going to be fine. I need you to?—”

A bullet hits the dirt beside me and Captain Knight whirls. Staying low, he crouches behind a boulder and holds up his weapon to return fire.

“Michael.”

I look to my left, and it’s Reyna I see crawling toward me through the rubble, her face streaked with blood, her hair matted to the side of her head.

“This isn’t right,” I manage. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“But I am here,” she says as she crawls closer. “Because you left me. Again.”

“No. You aren’t here,” I say again.

“Look at me!” she screams. “Michael! I need you!”

“There he is. Welcome back to the world, big man.”

I blink rapidly, trying to clear my blurry vision. My arms are bound above my head, my legs dangling down, my toes barely brushing the floor. The pain in my shoulder is substantial, but one look at the white bandage over it tells me they at least don’t want me to bleed to death.

My vision is blurry, and I’m weak. Whether that’s from blood loss or whatever they dosed me with, I’m not sure. But it’s going to make getting out of here near impossible. “Where is she?” I manage, choking on each word. There’s a vile taste in my mouth, a side effect of whatever it is they gave me to knock me out.

“She is none of your concern,” the man in front of me says.

He’s tall, bulky, and packing some massive heat at his hip. His dark hair is cut short, nearly to the scalp. I’ve never seen him before, but I know the type. He’s a mercenary. A gun for hire. Willing to do whatever for a buck.

And he’s sporting a massive arm tattoo that spans his hand up beneath the sleeve of his shirt. I glare over at him. “You.”

“You know, I didn’t appreciate you trying to mow me down with your truck. I’d planned on going back for you after we’d gotten the girl, just to square things off. But then you went and made it super easy for me by not leaving her side.” He grins. “Thanks for that.”

“I’m happy to let you take another swing at me if you’ll unchain me,” I manage.

The man laughs. “I don’t need you unchained to take a swing at you.” He pushes off the table he’d been leaning against and crosses over. After balling up his fist, he slams it into my jaw. Blood fills my mouth, the coppery tang only adding to my nausea. “See, my masculinity isn’t tied to needing a fair fight. I know what I’m capable of.” He slams his fist into my face again, and pain ricochets through me.

Still, I don’t let it show. I spit, splattering the concrete floor with blood. “I don’t know why I’m surprised you wouldn’t want a fair fight. It takes a coward to go after an unarmed woman in a dark parking lot.”

The man growls. “You have no idea who you’re talking to. Otherwise, you’d watch your mouth, bodyguard.”

“Even if I did know, I imagine I’d still be unimpressed.”

He reaches up and digs his thumb into my bandaged wound.

I groan, biting back a cry of agony because I know it will only bring him satisfaction.

The door opens, and he withdraws his hand, his gaze going to someone behind me.

“I trust you’ve been making our guest feel at home,” a man says as he comes into my line of sight. The suit he wears is likely more expensive than the gym I own, and his grey hair is longer on top, shorter on the bottom, his face clean-shaven.

“Absolutely,” replies the man who’d looked ready to kill me right here.

“Asher, take it easy. I can’t have you killing him yet.”

Asher backs away, but the murderous glare he gives me is enough to tell me that we’re just getting started. Good. I have plenty to say to him, too.

“Your name is Michael Anderson, correct?” the suited man asks, leaning back against the table. The steely gaze he gives me lacks all empathy. Which means he’s not a man to be toyed with.

Asher may be the killer, but this man has blood all over his hands.

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