Page 94 of Cruel Secrets

As I set her between two trees, a third at her back, her eyelashes start to flutter against her cheeks.

“Come on, baby,” I say as I kneel and pull the gun out of the holster around my calf. “You need to wake up. Open your eyes for me, okay?”

Her bottom lip moves a little, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet it.

I check the magazine on the gun before putting it in her lap and closing her hand over it. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“I hate when you say that,” she says, her voice raspy as her eyes open a little.

Laughing, I lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. “The men chasing us are in the forest now too. If anyone comes near you, shoot first and ask questions later.”

She tilts her head to the side, slumping back against the tree. “I don’t know.”

My brows pull together as I cup her face in my hands, checking her pupils to make sure she’s reacting normally. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Gia. Just shoot whoever shows up.”

Her inhale is ragged before she forces herself into a sitting position, pulling her head away from me. “Just give me a second.”

“You’re not going to try and get up. You’re going to stay right here, and then you’re going to shoot people. You hear me?”

She clears her throat, coughing from the smoke that’s weaving through the trees. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re right. You’re going to stay right here, and if I don’t come back in the next ten minutes or so, you’re going to call Skyla and tell her to arrange for someone to come get you.”

The look Gia gives me could freeze a man in his tracks. “You don’t get to leave me either.”

As she tries to get her legs beneath her to stand, I take off into the trees, leaving her behind. There’s no way that she’s in any position to chase me, and even if she manages to stand, she’s never going to be able to keep up.

The only way we’re going to get out of this is if I can kill the men before they get to us.

My footsteps slow as I listen for the men, their soft whispers carried on the wind, though I can’t make out what they’re saying.

A long shadow casts across the snow as I shift behind the trees, reaching for the gun on my hip.

I flip the safety, finger around the trigger as I raise it in front of me. If I was a smarter man, I would’ve grabbed the silencer, but we were running out of time. Getting Gia out of that car alive was more important than giving my position away to Noah’s men.

Taking a deep breath, I try to still my racing heart, glancing around for the men before moving behind another pair of trees, rounding the backside of the accident.

Two men stare at the car, their backs to me and their guns raised. I press close to one tree, glancing around the perimeter to make sure the others aren’t close. Based on the voices I heard, there have to be at least four men in these woods, but I would guess it was closer to six. Noah has a history of sending his men out in pairs to deal with problems.

Aiming, I squeeze the trigger, the bullet sinking into the back of the taller man’s head.

The other dives to the side as I fire off a shot at him, his low groan giving him away behind a nearby bush.

I creep closer, staying behind the trees.

A fist connects with the side of my face, sending me stumbling back a step, the gun slipping from my hands.

Before I can grab it, there’s a man on me, another fist smashing into the side of my face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth as I bite down on the side of my cheek.

“Noah’s been looking for you.” The man chuckles as he drives his knee into my chest, keeping me pinned beneath him as his hands go for my throat.

I thrash beneath him, throwing him off just enough to make him lurch forward.

Smashing my head into his hurts like hell, but it breaks his nose, the sickening crunch filling the air. He jerks backward and I use that as my chance to shove him off me before rolling to the side and grabbing my gun.

I take quick aim at his head and shoot, the bullet sinking into his eye.

Two more men come barreling through the trees at me, their guns raised. A bullet clips me in the leg as I roll to the side, taking aim at the one who tried to shoot me.

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