Page 97 of When He Hunts

But his reappearance meant that Harris had been duly secured. One less worry.

Ronan jerked his head in Kane’s direction even as he told Gray, “Forget your guy. I’ve got a fucking pilot. One who won’t be scared by the weather.” Because nothing ever seemed to scare Kane. “Just have me a plane ready. I’ll be at the Key West airport in moments. I’m getting in the air, and I’m getting back to Luna.”

“But—”

“I’m going back to her. I think Marcus is down here already.” How many times had he said that very thing? “I think the prick is hunting. He’s taking her out and then he’ll come for me.” Or at least, that was what Ronan suspected Marcus would do. But he wasn’t going to wait for the attack. And he certainly wasn’t going to stay away from Luna when she was in danger. “I have to get back to Luna. Stop being a damn agent. Be my friend. Get me a plane. Get me a path to her.”

Silence. Then, “A plane will be ready when you get to the airport.”

Damn straight, it would be.

Ronan hung up. He didn’t ask more questions about just how the plane would be ready. He didn’t need those answers. He just needed the damn plane.

Her eyes flew open.

She’d been dead to the world one moment, and in the next, Luna’s eyes shot open. Her body bounced. Jiggled as she moved up and down, but even with those movements, Luna realized she was pinned in…an airplane seat?

Lightning flashed right beside her, and her heart nearly jumped from her chest. She opened her mouth to scream.

A man blasted, “Keep this bitch in the air!” The sharp cry came from a man sitting in the seat that was positioned in front of Luna.

“I’m doing my best,” a snarl back at him—a snarl from the pilot. “We shouldn’t be up here. This weather is too rough. I warned you it was risky!”

“It’s barely a thirty-minute flight! Keep us in the air and then land us, and you will get fifty grand from my new boss.Fifty grand. I think thirty minutes of flight time is a fair trade-off for that much cash, don’t you?”

More lightning. Luna pressed her lips together and didn’t make a sound.

“How is the woman?” The question came from the pilot.

Instinctively, Luna snapped her eyes closed.

She heard rustling. “Still out cold.” A pleased retort. She knew that voice.The pianist. The guy who wanted me to sing with him.“I don’t know how much of the drugs she got. If she had too much wine or too many of those chocolates, hell, she might not wake up at all.”

Luna had barely sipped the wine. And she’d had two chocolates. Two.

But Esme and Tyler…oh, no, Esme and Tyler…

“Boss said he wanted her alive, but I’ll get paid either way.” More rustling. Barely discernible over the whir of the plane’s engine. “He wants her. He can do whatever the hell he likes with her. Whether she wakes up or not, I will still get the payday.” A hard sigh. “Wish that dick husband had been with her. He’s got a bounty on him just as high as hers. Found out about it when I was looking for a little side job. Couldn’t believe my damn luck. What are the odds, right? When I saw his tat, I knew the kind of hell I was facing. And only one guy in the gang had a scar like that on his chin. Everyone always talked about Ronan the Relentless. Especially once he started his kill sprees…”

Ronan didn’t have kill sprees.

He protected innocent people.

He’d protected her.

“The woman won’t give us any trouble,” the pianist added. What had been his name? She could not remember. He’d told her, right before Ronan had appeared and, uh, threatened to break the man’s fingers.

It won’t just be a threat this time. Ronan will fuck him up.

Cameron. That had been his name. He’d said she could call him Cam.

“She doesn’t look like the trouble type.” The pilot’s voice. Maybe a little sad. “Poor woman. What did she do to deserve a hit?”

So the pilot was fine with killing her. A little regretful, but fine. Who were these people?

“She saw the wrong person killing the wrong man.” Impatient. “Can you go faster?”

“Not in this weather. I’m trying to not kill us all.”

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