Page 45 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

Unholy fear froze my steps. My heart rate sped up until it galloped like a runaway stallion. A side glance at Chase had me inching toward him. At the untimely intrusion into our day, his face had shifted from playful to hardened warrior.

“Luka, I didn’t know you were in town,” I replied, proud that my voice didn’t shake.

Now that I was past the shock, I studied him closely. He had this untouchable vibe, as if there was nothing and no one who could take him down. He was dressed semi-casually in dark gray slacks and a powder blue button-down dress shirt. Even though the temperatures were warm, he had the sleeves buttoned at his wrists. And his loafers had that high gloss sheen on the mahogany leather shoes like they had recently been treated at a shoeshine stand. He wore a pair of Ray-bans with reflective silver lenses, hiding his eyes. But they only made him appear like a dashing businessperson with his perfectly styled thick midnight hair and clean-shaven angular jawline. When he was anything but. Because Luka Santos was the devil incarnate. If he wanted us dead right now, we would never make it back to the SUV.

All I could think was that Gideon had been right. Damn him.

Luka smirked. The son of a bitch knew how uncomfortable he made me and got off on it. “I like to stay on the move and check in on my interests from time to time. You haven’t introduced me to your friend, mi querida. I’m wounded.”

He acted like we were long-lost friends instead of the man who made me a widow and had every intention of making me his newest acquisition. Before I could respond, Chase held out his hand.

“Chase Nash. I’m Kylie’s boyfriend.”

Luka’s black brows rose from behind his sunglasses in genuine shock. “Boyfriend? You didn’t tell me you were involved, senorita.”

I pressed even closer to Chase. “You never asked, you just assumed.”

“How long have you been dating?” Luka studied us like an interesting bug he had every intention of squashing, but wanted to make us as uncomfortable as possible until he did.

“Months. Since before that idiot got himself ganked,” Chase sneered, acting like a completely different person. When I was shopping, he had been fun and engaging. But now, he was a stony, formidable mountain. Danger rippled off him. I recognized the badass Marine beneath the friendly veneer.

“I see. Did you enjoy my last gift, senorita?” Luka asked gleefully.

He meant the one with pieces of my gardener in it, the sick fuck.

“I did not.” There wasn’t much more for me to say. Unless I wanted to thank him for scarring me for life, for giving me an image I can never scrub from my memory. The only thing I could do was shove it down deep and bury the pictures as much as possible.

“Good. There’s more where that came from. You two have a fantastic day. Adios.” Luka nodded with a smarmy grin that sent skitters of fear into my soul. Just what was the sadistic madman planning?

I stood beside Chase as Luka Santos headed to the curb and climbed into a black Escalade with blacked-out windows that pulled up. The moment the SUV sped away, Chase steered me to our vehicle. Axel’s expression was murderous.

“What the fuck was that?” Axel demanded, glancing between the two of us, waiting for an answer.

“Luka Santos came to pay us a visit. Let’s get her home,” Chase stated, shoving my purchases into the back.

It wasn’t until Chase towed me into the back seat and sat beside me that I realized I was shaking. We’re talking teeth rattling, hands shaking, feel like I was about to vomit quaking.

“Fuck,” Axel snarled, climbing back behind the wheel.

After he secured his seatbelt, then withdrew a firearm that I hadn’t realized he had, Chase pulled me into his lap. He wrapped a solid arm around me. Through my haze of fear, I heard Axel speaking to Gideon on the phone. But none of the words filtered in through my shock.

The entire drive home, I trembled. I’d forgotten. For a few days, as I acclimated to having the guys living with me and all the world-altering sex, I’d forgotten that my life was in danger. Stupid of me to forget.

And the award for bonehead move of the year goes to…

He was here in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was a thirty-minute drive from town to the estate. How had I not known that Luka was here? Where was he staying? Were some of his goons watching the house and everything that happened in it at this very moment?

“Deep breaths for me, beautiful. We’re almost home,” Chase murmured, but his voice sounded distant to my ears even though he was so close.

By the time we pulled into the driveway, both Gideon and Mateo stood outside on the front porch. Each man was packing some serious heat while they surveyed the landscape as if an attack was imminent.

“Let’s get her inside first. Then you can park the SUV in the garage, Axel. Once we’re all inside and everything is secure, then we need a rundown of what the fuck just happened,” Gideon commanded, his eyes scanning the drive.

Chase helped me out of the car. With a steadying hand, he escorted me up the front porch stairs.

“The stuff from the market. I need to get it into the fridge.” Why was I worried about groceries? I was operating on autopilot. It felt like I left my brain back on the sidewalk.

“I’ve got it. You get her inside,” Mateo stated with a nod.

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