Page 55 of Escape You

“He has no regard for the people around him. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with all this. If I’d had a way to change his mind, I would’ve.”

“This is bigger than us, Tyler. You don’t need to explain it to me. Let’s go meet the team, and get that son of a bitch.” She melted into me when I cupped her cheek.

The elevator took us down to the garage. She walked a step ahead of me toward my Harley. Now that she was away from our bedroom, Rossi, and the jail where she’d spent the last week, she had a look about her that said she was ready to take back control. No matter how her guys, the other factions, or Rossi felt about a woman being boss, she definitely was boss material.

With long steps, she donned her leather jacket. I gave her the spare helmet I had and hopped on. She took another minute to adjust the strap before she swung her leg and pressed her body to my back. I let out a breath. Riding away from this place with Mia close behind me filled me with hope.

Hope that Rossi would not get away with his fucked-up business venture with human trafficking, hope that the FBI would do the right thing in the end, and hope that Mia and I would somehow find the path that would lead us to a life together. One where we wouldn’t have to play this cops-and-robbers shitshow anymore.

The moment my bike rumbled to life, Mia wrapped her arms around me tight. Dammit. I wanted her to stay with me. How much was I willing to risk to have her?

17

A Very Small Fish

Mia

In the late afternoon, the sun hung low in the horizon. Orange haze mixed in with blue hues painted the New York City skyline as we left the city. I wrapped my body around Tyler and let the humming of his bike dull my senses into believing that this could be real, that this was the ending of some cheesy movie with Sinatra singing one of his old tunes as we rode into the sunset. How could Tyler be so perfect for me and belong in a completely different world than mine.

Even if he acted as if we married for real, as if we were a family, I knew better. I knew that when it came down to it, Agent Cole would do the right thing. Or at least, the thing he was taught to believe was the correct course of action. What he didn’t understand was that in my world, the path to choose would always be the one that kept my family alive. That path wasn’t always black and white. Like the sky above us, it was smeared with a hundred different shades of gray.

I pressed my chest against his back, and he leaned against me. He’d taken the long way back to Jersey. I was okay with that. I wanted this moment to last a little longer because once we reached the regional hospital, there couldn’t be any more of us. My crew and my family came first. Tyler was a beautiful distraction, but I couldn’t let him keep messing with my head like this. Our baby deserved better.

I still couldn’t get over the fact that I was married to a dead man. And that begged the question: why did I agree to marry Rossi’s grandson? Because it was Tyler standing next to me in front of the officiant? Because deep down, I wanted to be his wife? Jesus, that was the kind of stupidity that got Mom killed. She fell for Dad even when she knew she didn’t belong in his world. The world where I ended up after he was shot shortly after. Mom had a choice. I didn’t. She chose this life for us. I couldn’t do that to my own daughter.

Tyler seemed to understand the risk, but I could see it in his eyes. He truly believed that after all this was said and done, I’d leave everything behind and run away with him. I had no intention whatsoever of leaving my family behind, leave them unprotected just so Tyler and I could ride into the sunset. This was where I belonged. Many lives depended on me.

I slid my hands up his abs, making a silent promise to remember him always. When the time came, I had no doubt Tyler would take our baby away from all this. I didn’t want her to grow up like this. Sending her away would possibly kill me, but she had a real shot at a different life with her dad. It would be beyond selfish to not let her have that. But first, we had to make sure Rossi never came after her.

The FBI didn’t give a shit if he used innocent people to grow his empire. All they cared about was that Rossi was a means to the end they’d been working toward for years. It was up to Tyler and me to make sure that asshole landed in jail where he belonged. I personally didn’t mind if instead he landed in a ditch somewhere far away from us.

I wanted him away from my family and especially away from my daughter. What would he do if he found out Tyler wasn’t his grandson? After he shot Tyler dead, I was certain he’d come after our baby. If people never found out the truth, our baby could still be the legacy he wanted so much. He no longer needed Tyler to make that a reality for him. Tears stung my eyes at the thought of my child growing up with someone like Rossi. We had to make sure he never had the ability to come after her.

Almost an hour later, Tyler maneuvered his bike into a parking spot in the back of the regional hospital in Jersey. I inhaled, smiling. I was home.

“You didn’t fall asleep back there, did you?” took my hand resting on his stomach and kissed it before he killed the engine.

“I did actually. You were driving so slow.” I pushed off the bike and removed my helmet and jacket.

He chuckled and did the same. His steely blue gaze met mine, and I shuffled back a few steps. With a slow gait, he strode over to me and wrapped his arms around me. I should push him away, but we had so little time left.

“I had to.” He pressed his hand to my belly. “Precious cargo.” That spark he always got in his eyes before we kissed flashed for a second before he cradled my neck, his long fingers reaching up into my hair.

“If you want to ride like a grandma, go for it. Don’t use us as an excuse.”

One last time, I told my myself again as I’d done before, when I let Tyler sit on the bed next to me and then it turned into a round of mind-blowing sex. His lips brushed mine. Of its own accord, my tongue tangled with his. My chest tightened along with my clit. For fuck’s sake, why couldn’t my body get with the program already?

“It will never be enough. Do you see it?” he whispered when he came up for air.

“Yes,” I mumbled while he sucked on the soft spot behind my ear, cupping my breast and soothing my aching peak. The small release I felt made my legs wobble, and I leaned my full weight on him. “Why did you have to be so damn hot and then also this?”

“What is that exactly?” His knowing smile shouldn’t be a turn-on right now.

“You’re kind.” And perfect, and everything I ever wanted. No, the time we’d had was barely anything to go on. But I had to let him go. He had to choose the right thing for our daughter. “No more of that. We have to focus. Do you even remember why we’re here?”

He glanced heavenward, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “An hour of you rubbing me all over put me in a certain state of mind. We’ll do it your way. But know this—I’m not giving up on you. When all this is over, you and I will have a very long conversation about us.”

“Okay. Can we go now? Vic has been texting me nonstop. They’re waiting on us.”

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