Page 90 of His to Protect

“Let me go, Kevin,” I whispered. “Do it, and I swear I’ll be with you.”

It was my Hail Mary pass, the only thing I could think of to promise him. If I left with him, if I agreed to, if he didn’t see me as a threat or a hindrance to getting away, perhaps I could buy myself a chance.

“I know you will, darling,” he said, loud enough for Tyson and Declan to hear. “No man is getting you. Remember? You’re mine. Always.”

I swallowed down the bile I felt rising in my throat and nodded. “Always. I know.”

Declan flinched and I knew he’d heard.

I didn’t care.

I was doing this for us. For me.

We reached the street just as the sounds of sirens and squealing tires surrounded us.

A door slammed and I tensed in Kevin’s hold.

I turned to Declan and, without thinking, mouthed, “I love you.”

His eyes widened and his lips parted.

“Freeze!”

It seemed as if a dozen voices shouted at once.

Kevin jerked me around and it felt as if time stopped, or we were moving in slow motion.

I heard him curse.

Felt him jerk.

And then his arm was gone from my waist and I was falling forward.

My hands smacked the warm cement just as a loud bang went off behind me.

“Trina!”

I heard Declan shout my name as my forehead slammed against the pavement.