Page 79 of Owning Emma

“NOW!” Eric whispered, his hand gripping my bicep as he pulled me forward. I heard another shot, but didn’t brave a look back as Eric pulled me along, pushing me behind a freestanding shelf for coverage as his body covered my own. He lifted his head, glancing around before whispering, “You are covered up to the entry way. Go through the door, and outside. Duck under the window as you move. Find solid coverage to hide until we come for you.”

He counted to three, then pushed me forward, forcing me to move whether I was ready or not. I didn’t look back, despite the struggle I heard, I only continued through the entry door until I was outside, gasping for air. Throwing myself to the ground, I crawled on my hands and knees under the window, the snow so cold against my jean-clad knees that I instantly began to shutter.

I had just cleared the glass when the whole pane shattered, sending shards flying in all directions. I screamed, picking up my pace to round the corner then screamed again, when the man in front of me pulled his gun away from the window and leaned against the wall.

He held his finger in front of his lips before leaning back and firing another shot. What the fuck was happening? This was a small town bakery not an old western film. He pulled back again before grabbing a set of keys in his pocket and tossing them to the ground in front of me. His sandy hair fell in his eyes with the motion, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. “Black Hummer. Crawl into it.”

Umm. . . I wasn’t quite sure if this guy meant like literally crawl or run as fast as I could to the vehicle and place myself inside of it. But who the hell was he to tell me anyway? I’d never seen the man a day in my life, and with a gun in his hand I couldn’t tell if he was a good guy, a bad guy, or just some random pedestrian who really wanted in on some action.

I must have hesitated longer than I thought because next thing I knew the stranger was kneeling in front of me, his face right in mine as he shook me. “Get your ass moving, Emma. Do you know what Roman and Shaw would do if I let your ass get shot now?” He threw his head back at the thought and breathed deeply. “Don’t even fucking get me started on Bianca. I might never be able to go home again after she heard about it.”

He stepped back, nudging me toward the Hummer a good two hundred yards away and went back to his window, peeking inside. I didn’t wait after that; if he knew my men and Bianca, he couldn’t be that bad. I hoped.

I ran to the Hummer, fear making me run faster than I ever had in the past. Terror and the desire for safety forced my shaky hands to press the unlock button on the key fob. I yanked open the door, fumbled in, and slammed it behind me, keeping my body ducked low as my heart beat out of my chest, and I waited.

Seconds seemed like hours.

Minutes like lifetimes.

Time stretched.

Each new sound making my skin crawl and itch for me to lift my head and steal a look at what was happening. But I resisted. Fear held me in place, making me paralyzed until finally everything went silent around me before gravel crunched as steps approached.

I held the keys between my knuckles, ready to attack, when the door opened, the sandy haired man staring down at me with a lopsided grin on his face. “Well, that was fun.”

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