Page 48 of Guarded from Corruption

He’s got me. We’re going to take a trip together.

I’m going to tell him I’m falling in love with him.

Then.

Everything goes fuzzy. Dark.

Fatigue wars with terror.

Then panic ebbs away as blackness closes in.

Niall. He won’t let them hurt me.

He promised.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NIALL

It’s taking everything in me not to stop this.

They haven’t gotten her out of the building yet. If we move in now, we’ll take the two men down easily. I can have Jade in my arms in less than five minutes.

She’ll be back at Blade and Arrow before she wakes up from the sedatives. She’ll be safe. Not tied up, draped over her abductor’s shoulder, not being touched by two black-clothed strangers.

Fuck.

It was already terrible watching Jade before they got to her apartment.

Seeing her pale face, the lines of worry etched across her forehead, her hands shaking as she rearranged those books in an attempt to stay calm. Knowing how damn scared she was and not being able to comfort her the way I wanted to.

I wanted so badly to go to her. To hold her until she stopped trembling. To bring her home and cuddle up on the couch together and maybe later, we could talk more about getting naked.

When she got into bed, I was so close. My hand was actually on the door handle and I was seconds from leaping from the SUV and running up to Jade’s apartment. Arguments were bouncing around in my head—all the reasons I would tell Jade why she shouldn’t go through with this.

It’s too dangerous. No plan is one-hundred percent certain. I can’t watch you use yourself as bait. I can’t stand back as the woman I’m falling in love with allows herself to be taken.

But then I remembered what Jade said to me back at B and A. She trusts me.

Not just to keep her safe, but to respect her wishes. Even though it’s killing me.

Jade alone in her apartment was bad enough, but then?—

I’ve seen a lot of awful things in my life. But watching on Matt’s laptop as Jade was grabbed, pinned down, threatened… Hearing her pulse rocket to double speed on the heart rate monitor, and as the sedatives took hold and she went limp…

It was torture. Every muscle was screaming at me to move. To sprint up there. To get Jade away from them.

My Jade. Helpless. Unconscious. At the mercy of two men who could hurt her.

We’re close by—parked just two rows from the entrance of the apartment building—but it’s still not close enough. Not to get to her immediately. If either of the men tries anything…

Shit.

Why did I agree to this?

Fuck.

This was a terrible idea.

---