Page 152 of Steel

“How will you get in if he’s still out there?” she asks, the fingers of her other hand wrapping into the bottom of my shirt. “No. We should go together, Steel.”

Fuck, there’s no time to reassure her, but I’m going to have to because her panic is filling the air around us.

“Hey, hey,” I croon. “Never goin’ to let anything happen to you. Told you this. But need to get us out of here as safely as we can, which means I need you to listen.”

She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. When she opens them, they’re clear and determined.

“Good girl,” I praise, watching her pupils dilate. “Now, I’m goin’ to distract him, and you’re goin’ to the Bronco.”

“Okay.”

I brush my knuckles down her cheek. “Ready?”

She nods, giving me a shaky smile. “Ready.”

“When I step out the door, you go behind me and to the Bronco.”

“Got it.”

Another shot rings out, splintering the wood next to us. Shavings attack the skin of my cheek, the sting pulling a hiss from me as I yank my head to the side. Thankfully, my beard protects my face from most of the wood.

“He’s goin’ to have to reload now. Let’s go.”

I aim a gun in the direction I saw the movement earlier and step out the door. “Go.”

Bailee’s footsteps pound against the concrete pavement of the driveway, and I spot a glint through the trees just before another crack rings out.

“Down,” I shout before returning fire. “Get in the Bronco.”

When they duck behind the tree, I rush to close the distance between us before he decides to pop back out.

He’s moved a few more feet into the woods, so I take cover behind another tree when I see him moving around.

The guy curses when he doesn’t spot either of us.

I wait, knowing he’ll get stupid in his need to get to us first.

That’s the thing about Killer’s guys—they’re fucking hotheads and don’t have the patience for the hunt. They’re a bunch of loyal fuckers, no doubt.

A snap of a twig then the crunch of leaves to the right of me has me sliding lightly around the trunk of the tree to the left.

Just need him a bit closer before I step out.

His mistake is not learning how to be light on his feet when he’s a big guy.

“Shit,” the guy whispers when another twig breaks.

I smirk, my finger caressing the trigger as I wait for him to take another step toward me. It’ll carry him in front of me and I can have my gun at the back of his head.

Once he’s past the tree, I step out from behind it, not trying to be quiet as I do.

He starts to swing around, but the barrel of my pistol digs into the back of his head. “Should’ve been lighter on your feet. What should I do with you?”

He chuckles, whipping around to face me, leaving the barrel pointing in the middle of his forehead. “You could give me a taste of that pretty pussy you got with you.”

My hand is a blur as I draw back and then bring it forward, the butt of my pistol smacking him in the face.

Blood gushes from the cuts under his eye and on his lip.

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