Page 29 of Robbie

“Kneel down and put your hands behind your head,” River instructed the man.

Robbie assisted the man to his knees and then released him. The man obediently put his hands behind his head, staring up at him. “You should all get somewhere safe, not worry about the police coming for me. There are others searching Venice for you. The deadline for the hit is midnight. Half a mil for a confirmed kill. They’ll be getting desperate to find you.” He locked eyes with Robbie. “Don’t pass go. Don’t cuff me. Just take your bodyguards and your girl and run.”

Robbie didn’t allow nerves to affect him, but those words made his stomach flip over and his palms sweat. The man could simply be trying to escape before the police came, but he felt the truth behind the words.

He looked at River. “There’s a hit out for me on the dark web. The job had to be done today and all they know is I’m in Venice. He has a card naming Big Buddha as the murderer.”

River’s eyes flitted around.

“This threat is legit,” Robbie said in a low voice. “You good staying with him? I’ll take Alice and have Curtis watch my back.”

“Get to the condo,” River agreed. “I’ll get Merrick and Price coming your way. They’ll have Curtis’s location.”

He and River both knew he wasn’t supposed to leave a crime scene, but they could give their statements later or over the phone. He wouldn’t risk Alice’s safety by staying out in the open. If the guy was to be trusted, multiple hit men were searching these convoluted streets on their way to take him out. The only reason he hadn’t been targeted all day was because they’d been an hour and a half away in Sirmione.

He nodded to River, then rushed to Curtis and Alice. Wrapping his arm around her, he said to Curtis, “Give us a few paces and keep watch. There are others.”

“Got it.” Curtis waited for them to precede him.

Robbie ushered Alice forward. She trembled against his side. He understood her fear.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“You were almost killed. Of course I’m not all right.” She glanced back at the man before they turned a corner. A shudder went through her. “Is that Big Buddha?”

“I don’t think so. He claimed he was a hit man hired to kill me.”

“Robbie,” she whimpered, wrapping her arm around him.

Robbie felt the significance of her clinging to him. She didn’t want him to die. He concurred.

All those years in the military, most of them as a Ranger, he’d survived in extreme danger. He’d had his trusted unit as backup and been armed, prepared, and had the proper gear on.

He wanted to survive now more than ever. With Alice close, he could see a future dream opening up that he’d long since buried. It would be difficult with his career and her mother loathing him, but he wanted to fight for Alice and their love.

Right now, though, he had to fight for life. Unfortunately, running was the only option. He was unarmed, had no idea where the next threat would come, and Alice’s safety took priority.

He upped their pace, his gaze darting around as the night deepened around them. Curtis at his back was reassuring, but a sniper could pop out of any of these windows, be hiding under a bridge, or sliding by on the approaching gondola.

He imagined they did night gondola tours, but wouldn’t it be atypical for one man to be alone with the gondolier?

“Curtis,” he warned.

Robbie dodged, shoving Alice into a nearby alley and pinning her against the wall. Shots rang out. A man yelled in surprise. Probably the unsuspecting gondolier. More shots. Robbie prayed Curtis was all right. They seemed to be gunning for him, but a hired hitman wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone shooting at him.

Robbie had been shot at many times in his tours as a Ranger, but it was shocking to be the target of unknown hit men from the dark web, out on these foreign streets with night falling, unarmed, and most importantly, with Alice to protect.

The shots stopped. He didn’t move, keeping Alice pinned in, his eyes searching above, in front, and behind. Alice’s breath came in fast pants. He wanted to reassure her, to be holding her for something other than a life-threatening situation. If he lived through this, he would put his heart on the line and beg her to give him a chance to earn her trust and love again.

“It’ll be all right,” was all he could manage right now.

Footsteps. He whirled to face the threat, keeping Alice behind him. He hated being unarmed worse than he hated the fifteen years of pain between him and the woman he loved.

Curtis. With his gun drawn. Robbie let himself breathe again.

“I took out the shooter,” Curtis said. “Sent River a pin of his location to share with police. Let’s move.”

“Can you double time?” he asked Alice, taking her hand.

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