Page 64 of Fatal Temptation

There was blood running down her left arm and she kept it close to her chest. She had plenty of color in her cheeks, so he wasn’t particularly worried about her bleeding out.

“My niece?” she asked, panic entering her voice.

He gave her a nod. “Safe.”

Ryder and his MC brothers had her. He’d reported to Chris right before they’d gone in. They were taking her home to her parents.

Relief crossed Gemma’s face for a second and then her expression hardened again.

“Let’s take these motherfuckers down.”

They moved together, walking fast through the warehouse as they searched for Akio and Diesel. He relayed the reports coming through his earpiece, leading them toward the center of the warehouse. The one place no one had eyes on, Diesel’s wire having gone silent shortly after they’d entered the building.

There was a reprieve in the gunfire and while it only lasted a second or two, it was enough for him to recognize the sound of running footsteps coming from his left.

He turned down the next row, Gemma following, and that’s when he saw Akio running toward them, eyes wild and his arms flailing as bullets pinged off the shelves around him.

“Down,” Lucas yelled, feeling as if everything moved in slow-motion as Akio threw himself down in front of them and he squeezed that trigger over and over.

His and Gemma’s bullets tore through the two men chasing Akio, their bodies jolting with each hit. Heat burned across the side of his left thigh, and he swallowed back a gasp of pain.

Once they ran out of bullets, they replaced their magazines with well-trained efficiency and while Gemma went to ensure the men were dead, Lucas pulled Akio to his feet, eyes scanning across his body in a quick assessment.

He looked uninjured. Scared, but uninjured.

“Let’s go,” he said in a low voice and pulled Akio down the row toward Gemma.

Akio clung to his side as they made their way through the building, Gemma at their six. When Mo reported that the east entry was secure, he directed them toward it.

They met no more of Kuroki’s men and when they burst through the door, Mo was there to provide them cover as they made their way toward the police cars just arriving on the scene.

“FBI,” he yelled as he dragged Akio across the road toward one of the cruisers.

The officers waved them through, Sanchez appearing next to them, relief crossing his face when he saw the three of them. He took one look at Gemma’s bleeding arm and dragged her toward a waiting ambulance.

Lucas pulled Akio behind the cars, to safety, and sat him down on the curb. Akio hid his face in Lucas’ chest, his body shaking as Lucas wrapped his arms around him and held on tight.

“Are you hit?” he asked, patting Akio down, relieved to find him wearing a bulletproof vest.

“No.” Akio pulled back, eyes watery as he looked at Lucas. “Are you? You’re bleeding.”

He tucked Akio back against him and rested his cheek on top of Akio’s head while he mumbled, “Just a ricochet.”

He didn’t care one bit about the scrape across his thigh. It was nothing. Barely a flesh wound. He’d gotten lucky. They both had.

“There you go saving me again,” Akio mumbled, his voice shaky. “How am I supposed to not have a hero-complex when it comes to you?”

Lucas laughed under his breath and tugged him closer. He ignored the tremble in his hands and drew in breath after breath of Akio’s scent. The proof that Akio was finally safe in his arms.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Akio snorted. “I wasn’t planning to.”

He buried his nose in Akio’s hair, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Happy birthday to me,” Akio muttered, eliciting a burst of laughter from Lucas.

Akio gave him a dirty look that quickly turned into a wry smile and then he was laughing too. A free and hearty laugh that had Lucas’ heart hammering away in his chest.

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