Page 34 of Ash

I was about to tell him no when a light bulb went off. “Holy shit. I forgot. She’s got a fob to my house.” I’d given it to her in case the keypad ever went on the fritz.

“Give me a sec…okay, sending you a location.”

“Owe you, man.”

“Nah. You’d do the same for my woman.”

True.

“Let’s ride,” I grunted as I jogged from the armory to the garage and out to my bike, which was parked in a lot on the side of the clubhouse.

It took fifteen minutes to get close to the area the GPS indicated as Nora’s location. We parked half a mile away and hoofed the rest on foot to stay stealth.

At the indicated coordinates was an old warehouse. The windows were just below shoulder height with no bars or deterrents of any kind. Wizard’s satellite scan hadn’t hinted at any kind of security system either.

The motherfuckers were clearly morons for picking a place that provided no protection, making it easy for us to get inside undetected.

I motioned for Kevlar and Cross to go around the side of the building, while Fallon and I breached from the back. We were prepared to climb the windows but found the front door unlocked.

“Unbelievable,” Fallon grunted.

“Stupid as shit, but I’m not complaining.”

The door opened to a small room that appeared empty, so we entered but stayed in the shadows.

I froze when I heard Nora’s scared but determined voice. “If you’re not willing to take your friend to the nearest emergency room, he would’ve been your best bet at saving his life.”

“You better hope you’re wrong,” a man barked. “Because your fates are tied together now. If he dies, you die.”

Fury ripped through me, and I took a step forward, only to be yanked back by Fallon. “Calm the fuck down, or you’re gonna get her killed.”

I sucked in several deep breaths and nodded once I was in control. We silently moved toward a cracked door, and when I nudged it open a little, I saw four big guys huddled around my girl. She was on the ground, looking over an injured man while one of them held a gun to her head.

That fucker’s life had just ended.

When a second man moved to get her bag, I knocked on the doorframe.

“Howdy,” I drawled as I walked a few steps into the room.

All of the men swiveled their heads in my direction, and the one beside Nora dropped to the ground with a bullet between his eyes, another crumpled over Nora’s bag with a hole in the side of his head. The last two managed to get their guns in their handsbefore they also dropped like lead weights, hitting the ground from lethal gunshots.

Nora screamed, but not at the sight of four men being shot right in front of her. She jumped to her feet and came running at me full speed.

“Fuck, baby girl,” I grunted when my arms closed around her. “Scared the motherfucking shit outta me.”

“I knew you’d find me,” she said between sobs as she squeezed the life out of my torso.

“Always, baby girl,” I reassured her—and myself. “Always.”

“I-I”—she hiccupped—“I don’t want to have any regrets, though.”

“Regrets?” I echoed as I used a finger under her chin to tilt her face up.

“I love you,” she blurted. “I should have said it before.”

The words stunned me, and when I didn’t speak right away, doubt began to creep into her bright blue pools.

I shoved one of my hands into her fiery tresses and held her head back so she couldn’t look away. “I love the fuck outta you, baby girl,” I growled, my expression dead serious. “More than life. So, if you ever scare the shit out of me like this again, you won’t be able to sit for a fucking week. Got it?”

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