Page 49 of Escape Velocity

Max was already in motion. Leaping forward, he grabbed Amber’s arm and tried to wrestle the weapon away from her. But fear and determination had given her strength to hold on. And she could tell from the way Max was fighting that he didn’t want to hurt her, only keep her from killing his friend. She didn’t want to hurt him either, which limited her options.

He could have bent her elbow back and twisted painfully until she dropped the tool. Instead he tried to immobilize her arm at her side.

“Kahlad,” Rafe shouted, rearing back in shock, then surging forward, trying to assist Max as she kept struggling.

“What are you doing?” he shouted.

She only gritted her teeth and tried to raise the weapon.

With a curse, Max threw her to the deck, coming down on top of her, circling each wrist with a fist, pressing her hands to the floor. She could have tried to bite him. Instead she kicked her legs, landing a couple of blows, but Max only made a sound of pain and kept his grip on her while Rafe darted in and grabbed the weapon.

When the other man stepped back with the tool, she glared at Max.

“Kill me now.”

His face contorted. “What?”

She sucked in a breath and let it out. “He came to take me to that man—Tudor. I’d rather have a clean death than what he’s going to do to me.”

“No,” Rafe said.

“You want me to suffer?” she shot back.

“No, I’m not taking you to Tudor.”

“Why not?”

“Because Max went to a lot of trouble to scuttle the mission. There has to be a good reason.”

From her position on the floor, she stared from him to Max and back again.

“Then why are you here? Why did you ask him to transport me in the first place?”

“Because I didn’t know the package was a woman.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re here to complete the job and get your pay.”

“No.”

From where Max held her captive, her gaze drilled into the other man. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because we’re all in deep slat, and I’m trying to get us out of it.”

She felt Max ease up a little on his hold. “If I let you go, will you behave?”

She had silently vowed that she would never lie to him again. But did it work the other way? Could she really trust Max or his friend?

“Will you behave?” he asked again.

She thought about it. She probably wouldn’t be able to fight these two strong men on her own. And probably she did need their help to get out of trouble—if that was possible and if it was what Rafe really intended.

“Okay,” she answered Max.

“Okay what?”

“I won’t try to kill him.”

“Or hurt him.”

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