Page 34 of Captive Lies

“Fuck this,” my friend said and pulled intotraffic.

12

Blaire

“What are you doing?”I yelled. I turned in my seat to watch the other vehicle, feeling betrayed by the only person I trusted. “They’re right on ourtail!”

“You’re going to talk to Thorne,” Liam told me. “There’s no way we could tear out of that parking lot and speed down this road without drawingattention.”

I knew he was right. With law enforcement on the lookout for suspicious activity, the less conspicuous we were, the better. I’d give some kudos to Tyler that he didn’t try to intimidate us by driving alongside us. I had a feeling if the cops weren’t crawling all over the place, Grant would have had him cut us off bynow.

Liam turned left into a quiet business park and pulled up to the front of some one-story office buildings. The place was deserted and was ideal for the oncoming confrontation. The Escalade stopped behind ourvehicle.

“The son of a bitch blocked me in,” Liam muttered. He didn’t seem too annoyed, and I bet he would have done the same if the situations werereversed.

Doors slammed and a shadow fell across my window. My door was yanked open and Grant hauled me out of the car. He caged me against the Ford sedan, both arms on either side of me. Whatever objections I had about being dragged out of the car died when I saw his bruised face that was lit by the Escalade’sheadlights.

“What the hell happened back there?” he growled, his eyes searched mine. “Were you guysinvolved?”

“Hello to you, too, Grant,” Imurmured.

“Damn it, Blaire,” he released his grip on the car and his hands shook as they cupped my face. “When I saw those flashing lights”—he crushed his lips against mine in a deep but brief kiss—“I thought I was too late … that they got toyou.”

“They nearly did,” Liamsaid.

My own hand came up and touched the bruise on his cheekbone. “Oh,Grant.”

He grabbed my hand on his face and kissed it. “Come on. I can’t wait to get you home. You’re welcome to come with us,Watts.”

He tugged me in the direction of the Escalade, but I resisted. Grant turned to look at me and his expression hardened. “No, Blaire. Don’t even say you’re not coming withme.”

“I’m a bad bet, Grant Thorne,” I said even as my heart yearned for him. “I’m only going to drag you and your family down withme.”

He gripped my shoulders. “Listen to me, Blaire. I’m fucking pissed that you have so little faith in me. You think I haven’t gotten my hands dirty to get to my position now? I have. I can be ruthless when I need to be. I’ve dealt with all kinds of organizations. If they start playing filthy games, I’m not above doing the same. Someone had already messed with me and is gunning for my woman. You think the man I am, I’m just gonna let thatslide?”

My mouth opened as if to say something but I expelled a resigned breath instead. “Wellthen.”

Grant smiled and kissed the top of my head. “We’ll talk, but nothere.”

“I’m going to ground for a few days,” Liam announced. “My number is programmed on your burner, Blaire.” He looked at Grant. “I’m not sure what level of security you have on your phones, but if you’re going to protect her, you might consider upgrading. Blaire will explain why.” He nodded at the Escalade. “I need togo.”

“Tyler,” Grant told his security man to back up theirSUV.

“Not changing your mind?” I asked my friend in one last ditch effort to get him to come with us. “I hate not knowing where you are.” There was no use pulling away from Grant because he had my hand locked downtight.

“Sweetheart, I’ll be okay,” he said. I gave Liam a one-arm hug and he returned the favor. “Now get out of here. Thorne, take care of mygirl.”

Grant stiffened beside me and, judging from Liam’s smirk, calling me “his girl” was a deliberate taunt.Men.

We got into the Escalade. The man beside me suddenly quiet andbrooding.

“Hi, Tyler,” I greeted Grant’s securityguy.

“Ma’am.”

“I told you to call me Blaire.” There was a wariness in the way Tyler looked at me and I had a feeling it was because I was the reason his boss was all bruised up. It wasn’t exactly a condemning look, just a feeling ofuneasiness.

“The brownstone, Mr.Thorne?”

---