Page 3 of Out of Control

He was facing my direction, though far enough away that I couldn’t see his expression. I could see his fists balled tightly at his sides, one of those fists reaching up to smack hard against the pillar next to him. He was angry about something.

If I could see and pick out his form from this distance he would be able to see me just as clearly, be able to pick out my features with ease. Was he pissed that I found his counterpart?

I was missing something big here, but before I could put it together he took his phone out, tapping away at the screen. Was he warning Antonio that I was so close?

Whatever was going on, it didn’t change the fact that Antonio Conti was my main quarry at the moment, not Lombardi. Whatever he was doing, it would have to wait.

I turned back to Antonio and the mystery woman flirting with him. They were both smiling, and she ran the fingers of one hand across his leather-clad forearm. I was too far away to hear it, but I almost felt Conti’s phone vibrate with a text message. He held up a finger to the woman, glancing down at his phone.

I felt the air shift as Antonio’s smile disappeared. He dropped his burner phone in the trash can at his side and grabbed the woman’s wrist.

Fuck.When Lombardi inevitably informed him that there was a federal agent lurking nearby I expected things to escalate fast. I didn’t expect an innocent woman to be caught so suddenly in the middle. I started in their direction, focused on the most immediate concern: this poor woman’s safety.

I shouldn’t have worried.

This petite little woman pinned Antonio’s arm against her side, using his inertia against him to flip his whole damn body over her shoulder so he landed flat on his back on the ground. I blinked in surprise, but didn’t pause as I rushed forward, my chest hitting her back as she danced backward a couple steps, putting some distance between herself and her attacker as he swiped at her legs.

This was definitely creating a scene, exactly what my witnesses needed so they could get away.

I put a hand on her back to get her to acknowledge my presence—there was no way I was going to take my eyes off Antonio so he could slip away unnoticed. Before I couldask if she was alright, she shrugged my hand off, glaring atmeof all people. She turned her body back to Antonio, like she wanted to get closer again, so I grabbed her arm to hold her back. Was there something wrong with her? Why was she moving closer to this sociopath?

“Ma’am, you really shouldn’t interfere here. This is a—”

But then she shocked the hell out of me by pushing my chest, knocking me back a step. She was strong for someone her size, just like I thought she would be, but it was her icy blue eyes that held my attention as they blazed in anger.

I couldn’t fathom why her anger would be directed atme.She was the one who pushed me, assaulting a federal agent, when I was just trying to help her. Why the hell was she angry with me?

I stepped forward, annoyed that I had to divide my attention between where Antonio was still laying on his back on the floor and this woman.

“Don’t come any closer,” she said, the threat clear in her voice.

My eyes narrowed. What the hell was going on here? I already assessed the situation and decided she wasn’t in immediate danger or under duress, but was she not an innocent bystander like I thought? I needed to control the situation before it got further out of hand.

Act now, ask questions later.

I took another step forward and she swung her fist at me. I dodged it, moving yet another step closer.

Two TSA officers were lurking nearby, looking nervous but not intervening for some reason. I jerked my head at them, nodding them forward. They came closer and approached thewoman from behind, standing on either side of the woman’s back, keeping her close so I could deal with Antonio Conti, who, amazingly, was still on the floor a couple steps behind the woman.

One officer grabbed the woman’s shoulder, and she just went ballistic. She bent over, kicking one of the officers in the head with her leg, whipping her body around so she could use the motion from that same kick to take out the other’s kneecap. She landed gracefully in a catlike pose on the ground while the two officers were hunched over, nursing their injuries. She wasn’t even breathing heavily.

Why was that so fucking hot?

She looked up at me from under her eyelashes, the barest hint of a smirk at the corner of her lips. She knew her power, her effect on people. The way those eyes sizzled at me seemed to change for just a moment while I admired her form before that uneasy look returned, and she shifted seamlessly back up into a fighting stance. She was getting ready to tackle the whole world again, but Antonio made his move first.

From his position on the floor he had easy access to reach up to the first TSA agent who was hunched over cradling his head, flick open the button on the holster at his waist, and grab the gun that rested there in one smooth move. I wasted a split second as I decided whether to reach for my own firearm or if that would even make a difference with his head start.

The FBI motto was Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.

I couldn’t get the jump on him to shoot first, but I wouldn’t cower and hide. I needed to take Antonio down to save all the innocent people nearby.

I shifted my weight to lunge at him, prepared for the bullet he was going to put in me, knowing that no matter where it hit, I still had the superior strength and could at least pin him on the way down. Someone else could disarm him before he got a second shot off.

But his gun pointed toward the woman—was she his intended victim?—so I shifted my weight to her instead, my hand coming down on her head, my body pulling hers against me.

The bullet fired. I felt the heat as it grazed across the back of my hand, the pain sharp like the slicing of a knife.

I landed on the ground next to her, scrambling to cover her more fully with my body. I wrapped my arms around her and cradled her head into my chest. The officers were leaping at Antonio, but he dropped the gun and skittered out of reach. Even if I jumped up and started sprinting, I’d never catch him. I just had to hope that security would get him before he could escape the airport. Based on what I saw of the officers here, I was less than confident.

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