Page 39 of Ruthless

She must feel me staring because her head snaps to the side and pushes the frame of her glasses farther up her nose as she narrows her eyes at me. “What?”

“I half expected you to fight me about paying for your shit.”

“I thought about it, but I figure this is just a taste of the apology you owe me.” She shrugs and rips open the package of licorice.

“Fair enough.” I nod and pull out onto the highway. “Do I get to eat any of that?” It’s my half-assed way of diffusing the underlying tension that’s constantly there between us. I have no other idea what the fuck to do, and channeling my inner Axel might help.

She glances my way and twists her mouth to the side, taking her sweet time coming up with an answer. “Here.” A piece of black licorice is shoved in my face. I fucking hate that shit, but I take it like the olive branch it is.

“Thanks.” I snap a piece off and force myself to chew and swallow it down. A fucking MRE tastes better than this stuff any day, but I’m not going to say anything that’ll land me in deeper shit than I already am with her.

“Don’t mention it.” She goes back to staring out her window, and I let her. It’s too confined of a space to risk pissing her off just yet.

I focus on making my way through traffic and finding the quickest route to get us back to her apartment complex. It’s a sunny day out, but I can see the small patch of clouds lingering in the distance. One thing about Georgia, you can get all four fucking seasons in one day.

I glance in my rearview mirror to change lanes when something catches my eye. The same gold sedan that was behind us when we left the doctor’s office is a couple of cars behind us. It could be nothing, but my gut says otherwise. There’s no such thing as coincidences. I casually switch lanes, waiting to see if they follow, and sure enough, about twenty seconds later, they get into the same lane as me, about three cars back.

I’m doing my best to keep calm, but Kennedy must be able to pick up on it. “Everything okay?”

My eyes glance back to the mirror and find the car still cruising three cars away. “I don’t know yet. Just in case, open my glove box.”

Times like these, I’m thankful her family is who they are. She doesn’t even bat an eye when she pulls out my Glock 9 and hands it to me. I rest it on the cup holder in front of me and wait. It’s too populated for them to try something out in the open like this, but I’m not taking any fucking chances when it comes to Kennedy and our kid.

She leans back against her seat and watches through her side mirror. “The gold car, right?”

My eyes narrow as I spare her a quick look, waiting for her to explain.

“I noticed them when we pulled up to my doctor’s office. It reminds me of a grandma’s car.” She sighs and scoots down in her seat.

I’m going to rip Rory a new asshole for not watching his surroundings better when he’s with her. I’m about to verbalize that when the Sedan changes back into the right lane and turns off down a side street. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding and relaxed against my seat. My head is so fucked up that it has me all thrown off.

We change lanes, turn right at the next light and take a side street to avoid traffic. The faster we make it to her apartment complex, the better. I’m hoping to convince her to pack up her stuff and come back to my property where I can keep a closer eye on her. Something I know she will fight me on, but I’m putting my foot down. There are too many unknown variables at her place. Like how that fucking dog got in.

A jolt from behind has us jerking forward, knocking my Glock off the center console and underneath Kennedy’s seat. I glance in my mirror to see a blacked-out SUV reversing and getting ready to plow into us again. “Shit.”

“Oh my god!” Kennedy grabs on to her seat belt to protect her stomach and keep from flying forward. “What the hell are they doing?”

My eyes skate across the road, weighing my options as fast as I can. “Hang on, Hummingbird.”

I slam my foot down on the gas and turn through the red light. Horns blare, and tires squeal as I cut across oncoming traffic, but I barrel on through. The SUV follows right behind us.

Kennedy spins around in her seat to get a better look. “They’re gaining on us.”

My foot presses down harder on the gas. The engine revs higher, and I just hope my engine doesn’t get too hot and blow. We need more of a distance between us. I jerk my wheel and flip a U-turn, hopping a curb and destroying a couple of plants.

“We’re going to die.” Her breathing becomes more erratic as she’s jostled around the cab. Her face looks a little green.

“No, we’re not. Look at street names, Ken. I need to know where we’re at.” I keep my voice neutral as I give her orders. The last thing I want to do is cause her to panic even more. It’s not good for her or the baby. Instead, I try to distract her with something to do. “Call Rory and put him on speaker for me.” I’d much rather call my brother’s, but I know hers are closer.

She sniffles next to me but does as I ask. I hear the phone ring a couple of times before Rory’s voice comes through. “Ready to call in that favor already, Ken?”

“How far away are you from your sister’s place?” He must sense the urgency in my tone because he doesn’t give me any shit.

“I just pulled up to Morrigan’s.” All humor has left his voice. He’s all business now.

“I’ve got a blacked SUV with no tags on my ass. Fuckers hit us from behind.” A few seconds later, I hear a commotion and tires screeching then Connor’s voice is on the line.

“We’re heading to you now. ETA is about ten minutes.” I don’t need to ask how he knows where we are. If Kennedy were my sister, I’d have her shit tracked too.

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