Page 11 of Grayson's Angel

Before she could reply, he took a sharp right. The truck’s tires squealed around the corner. One side of the vehicle rose from the street, and the smell of burned rubber wafted through the window.

The black town car didn’t have time to react and missed the turn. Grayson heard the tires of the car squeal to a stop and start to reverse. Before the goons had time to make it back to the intersection, Grayson turned down a side street. He hauled ass down the block and flew through the intersection without looking. An oncoming car screeched to a halt only inches away from the driver-side door.

Clearing two more blocks, Grayson pulled into the parking lot of a local diner and hunched down in his seat.

“What the hell is going on?” Grayson asked. “Why do you look like the Bride of Chucky?”

She picked at the bloody dress. “I don’t even know where to start.” She threw her hands up in the air. “This day has been a total cluster fuck.”

Grayson pinched the bridge of his nose. His nerves were running thin. “Start from the beginning, and I want to hear everything, including why you are covered in blood.”

Her eyes were glued to the review mirror. He could see the worry swimming through her brown eyes. “After our flight, I went to baggage claim, where I was kidnapped by two Russian thugs.”

“Are you sure they were Russian?” he asked.

Kara leveled her eyes at him. “Yes. Are you going to let me tell the story, or are you going to stop me every few seconds?” When he gestured for her to go on, she continued. “I tried to escape, but they put a gun to my back. They shoved me into a limousine. Rovshan Nikitovich was in the car. He informed me that we were getting married today.”

Grayson couldn’t believe his ears. He knew who Rovshan Nikitovich was. Anyone who watched the news knew the Nikitovich family. They ran Vegas. Anyone who crossed the family ended up dead.

“Are you sure it was Rovshan Nikitovich?” The words came out before he could stop them.

Kara rolled her eyes and said, “Yes.”

Realizing they were sitting ducks in the parking lot, Grayson put the truck in reverse and headed north toward the motel.

“Don’t you want to hear the rest of the story?”

“Yes, but this is worse than I originally thought. We need to ditch the truck and go to the motel, where you can tell me everything else. Then we can come up with a game plan.”

Grayson heard Kara huff. “The gunshots weren’t a clear indicator that this was a bad situation?”

He stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process the situation.

“Angel, you realize you have the biggest crime family in the United States after you, right?”

“I don’t need a reminder,” she grumbled.

Grayson drove until he figured they were about a mile from the motel. He made sure to park it behind an abandoned building that was surrounded by trees so it couldn’t be seen by cars on the road. Luckily, the road to the motel wasn’t very busy. Kara stuck out like a sore thumb in her wedding dress. Grayson reached into the back of the truck, dusted the broken glass off his duffel bag, and grabbed his stuff.

When he turned and saw Kara shivering from the cool spring air, he reached into the bag for one of his flannel shirts. He handed it to her, and she wrapped it around her arms and shoulders.

The walk to the hotel went quickly. Behind the building was a fenced-in area near a pool. It was too cold to use the outdoor pool, so no one was near it. He grabbed Kara’s arm and moved her behind it to shield her from the road and people walking by.

“Stay right here. I will get us a room.”

When she started to protest, he continued. “If Rovshan’s men come asking the front desk clerk if he recognizes you, I don’t want him to say he saw you.”

“Fine. Hurry. I don’t want to be left alone.”

Kara voice was shaky for the first time. Grayson assumed her adrenaline was wearing off and expected she would crash very soon. He needed to get her into a room before that happened.

“Don’t leave this spot.” He turned on his heel and ran toward the entrance of the motel. He was determined to secure a room in record time.

When he made it back to where he’d left Kara, she was gone. There was no sign of her anywhere.

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