Page 45 of Escape You

I pulled away first. “I’m not Chase Rossi. My real name is Tyler. Special Agent Tyler Cole with the ATF, illegal arms division. I’m here on assignment.” A hard lump churned in my stomach. For every word I uttered, she took a step back. Her face turned a pale white to match her dress.

“You son of a bitch. All of this was just a ruse?” She pointed at the bed. A reference to our love making from before. “To what? Get me to cooperate?” Eyes wide, she glanced over the cement rail.

“No, Mia. All that was real. I swear.” When I moved to block her, she spun and bolted for the bedroom door.

I chased after her. She couldn’t leave this room until we had our conversation. Until I made her see that despite who I really was, I was still her best bet. After Rossi’s visit last night, I’d flipped the lock. She struggled with it, flustered and almost in tears. I reached for her hand, but she reciprocated with a punch to my ribs. The sudden blow knocked the air out of me and almost landed me on my ass. Jesus, she was fast and had a led fist on her.

She wasted no time to find out if I was okay or still breathing. She ran out into the hallway. Was she really considering turning me in? Rossi would execute me on the spot. Did she really not see this was bad for all of us? I picked up the pace, heartbeat thrashing in my ears. The second she was within reach, I clamped a hand over her mouth and yanked her by the waist.

I immediately wanted to apologize to her for the rough handling, but we didn’t have time for that right now. When I glanced up, Rossi stood outside his bedroom door, thoroughly amused by the spectacle. The asshole still thought I had to force myself on Mia. Our current display confirmed that. I hated that he thought I would do something like that, but for now, his lack of respect for human life played in our favor.

“Mia,” I whispered with gritted teeth in her ear. “We need to talk this over. I don’t care if I need to tie you down to do it. After you hear me out, you can decide if I deserve to die by his hand.”

She continued to struggle but not as wild as before. With my grip still firm across her jaw and waist, I half dragged her back to our bedroom. Rossi chuckled, mumbling something about women and their ungratefulness. I took several steps in and set Mia down. Of course, she made a run for it toward the terrace. What the hell?

I grabbed her again, less tight this time. I didn’t care if she beat the crap out of me while I held her. I wasn’t going to let her jump off. “Are you seriously thinking that jumping off the ledge is a better option than hearing me out?”

“What?” She struggled against me, kicking her legs up high. “You don’t know me at all.”

Her head snapped back and butted me hard on my jaw. “Stop, Mia. I want to let you go, but you have to promise you’ll stay and listen to me. Five minutes is all I ask.”

“You have two.” Vic’s voice filled the room. My body jerked at the jab of cold metal at the nape of my neck.

Well, fuck. I released Mia. To my surprise, she didn’t run off.

“Vic, don’t shoot.” Mia put out her hand to protect me.

“What she said.” I faced Mia’s second in command.

“I said he had two minutes,” he said as if he reserved the right to gun me down after my time was up.

Vic seemed like a decent guy, given his criminal status. Something about him inspired trust. In the few interactions I’d had with him since I started this assignment, I could tell his loyalty to Mia was resolute. He also didn’t take bullshit from anyone, not even Rossi. Question was, did his loyalty extend to me as the father of Mia’s baby? I suppose none of that mattered. I no longer had a choice. I had to tell both of them the whole truth.

“What the hell is going on here? I thought you had made peace with all of this.” Vic stuffed his automatic inside his suit blazer. “Last night you seemed like you wanted this.”

Mia turned bright red, pursing her lips at Vic. When she switched her gaze to me, her eyes had a fire in them I’d never seen before. “That’s long gone.”

“What happened?” Vic’s voice sounded strained. I bet he was imagining the worst, which of course, he was right to do.

Mia strode to the bed, touching her belly. She pulled the comforter to cover the sheets where I had the best sex of my life. Something in the way she covered up the evidence of our night together felt like a goodbye. “He’s not Rossi’s grandson.”

Vic’s eyes went wide before he squinted at me. I’d expected him to get angry, pissed, even murderous toward me, but not disappointment. “I thought you had this under control. What is it with the young ones doing all their thinking with their dicks?” He sat in one of the upholstered chairs by the table and poured himself a wine.

“What?” Mia walked up to Vic. “You’re not going to shoot him? He’s ATF.”

“You just ordered me not to shoot him. Which one is it?”

“I think he already knew that.” I stood next to Mia. Vic hadn’t been completely honest with us. He knew about me. Shit. That meant he knew about my family as well, my real family back in Atlanta.

“I met Tyler ten years ago. I also knew Chase.”

Blood rushed to my head, leaving the rest of me cold and sweaty. “How is that even possible? Who else knows?”

Vic sat back, his eyes alive and bright, as if he had a million different angles to consider. “From what I can tell, just me so far. Rossi was never much of a father, or a grandfather. His son and then Chase had always been a means to an end. You do have an uncanny resemblance to Chase, though. It took me a while to figure it out. If it weren’t for Mia, I don’t think I would’ve recognized you.”

“What do you mean?” Mia stepped forward. “And more importantly, why didn’t you tell me?”

Guilt was written all over her face. I knew the feeling well. We both let our guards down, and now our respective families were in danger

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