Page 91 of Lose Me In The Shadows

Kara watched her men’s faces to see if they had any reaction to this. She’d told Conor and he’d insisted she wasn’t at fault—and intellectually she knew she wasn’t—but emotionally? Her actions had consequences, and it was hard not to worry they blamed her for this. Or, at the very least, wish they’d never gotten involved with her in the first place. She was the catalyst, after all.

But Luke took her hand in his, kissing first the back, then turning it and kissing her palm in reassurance.

So she spoke. “Why keep it a secret for so long?”

Jean Pierre looked at her, dropping the leer for the first time. His lips twisted in a sad, self-deprecating smile, as if he were a different man entirely. “Unlike the four of you, my moral center is weak. My first and only goal is survival. I never cared about the rest. I’ve been on the run for a while, as well—Marcus found me and promised me a new identity, a new life. And I’ll be honest, I’m tired. I want this done. I want to see my boys again. My family. You understand, don’t you? You have a family?”

Conor flinched, once again. Luke stiffened as well. It was Micah who had to answer:

“Yes, we do. And we’d do anything to keep each other safe, no matter what moral lines we cross.”

“Do you have proof?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” Jean Pierre said. “Safely hidden away. But I won’t share it until you get me somewhere safe. And if I die, the knowledge of the evidence’s location dies with me.”

“We could always torture it out of you,” Luke suggested, voice sinister.

Jean Pierre lifted his left shoulder in a gallic shrug. “You could. But I have a strong will and a weak heart, and the latter would give out before the former. Do you really want to risk it?”

“Maybe,” Luke said.

Conor held his hand up. “We’ll get you somewhere safe. And Marcus will reunite you with your family. I give you my word.”

Now that the Frenchman had dropped the artifice, Conor had changed his tone with him. And Kara finally understood: After losing his own father, becoming something of an orphan, shooting an innocent husband and wife and orphaning two young children must have been the worst thing Conor could think of. In fact, for all three of her men—orphans in one way or another—their actions must have destroyed them.

She thought back to Conor, the nihilistic way he had taken her. If he truly thought he was irredeemable, then what wouldn’t he do? It didn’t forgive them kidnapping her, but she felt like she’d finally seen inside his head.

So reuniting a father with his children must feel like a boon.

Jean Pierre shut his eyes on a deep exhale. “Thank you,” he said softly. “You have no idea what that means to me.”

Kara took Luke’s hand in hers, squeezing.

He started to squeeze back, but stopped, frowning.

As if they’d synchronized it, Conor, Micah, and Luke all twisted their head toward the hallway that led into the dining room. It was like time stood still—the moaning from the other patrons, the music, even Kara’s racing heart paused.

And then it moved.

“Down!” Luke yelled, grabbing Kara and shoving her to the ground under the table, covering her body with his.

She couldn’t see anything, but she could heareverything.And what she heard was yelling and gunshots, screams, and then a loud boom that made all the other noises sound distant, like they were coming to her from the other side of a glass box.

Her ears rang. Luke was protecting her with his body, leaving him open to attack. She had no idea who was hit, if any of them would survive, or if they’d all die here.

More muted gunshots.

More thuds.

More screams.

Luke jerked.

“Oh god, Luke? Luke?”

“I’m okay,” he grunted. “Wearing Kevlar this time. Learned my lesson.”

That explained the bulk she’d noticed earlier. Kara would have laughed if he weren’t practically crushing her.

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