Page 59 of Mine to Keep
When this is over, I’ll get his ass. There’s no universe where I won’t get my lick back. And The Director will feel it.
“We’re packed,” Talon says, stepping into the bathroom. “Shit, Knox. You need?—”
“I’ll take care of it when we get out of here. Okay?”
He looks at me, clocking my injuries. Pursing his lips as if to keep himself from commenting further, he nods.
I take his hand in my uninjured one and scoop up my bag in the other, gritting through the pain.
Javier is waiting by the door for us. “Take his hand,” I tell him, grabbing their bag in my injured hand as well. My palm screams in protest. I need my uninjured hand free for my gun.
When they see it at my side, both men look at one another, fear evident. “Don’t worry,” I say, trying to ease them, even though my injuries have the opposite effect. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“We know,” Javier says, though I can see that he wishes he were anywhere but here.
Sighing, I open the door and lead them out, shaking my head when they look at me in confusion when I push them towards the stairs.
We take them down to the second floor quickly, then I lead them to the service elevator. When we’re inside, I adjust our bags, ignoring the blood I feel trickling down my fingers.
Once we’re on the bottom floor, I hustle them to the back exit. When I push the door open, I tell them to wait as I step out and hurriedly put our bags into the trunk. I look around, checking for any signs of danger. When I’m sure we’re alone, I go back for them, hustling them into the car.
“Knox,” Talon whispers, lip trembling as he gets into the back seat. Javier slides in beside him. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you when?—”
The back window shatters, breaking the silence of the night. Talon screams and ducks, burying his head in Javier’s lap.
“Both of you, get down!” I shout, looking for where the shot came from. In the split second I have to react, I realize it’s from a smaller caliber weapon, not the rifle from earlier.
I spot the man peeking around the corner, aiming for another shot. Lifting my gun, I fire back, squeezing off three rounds into the wall. I know I won’t hit him, but I need thedistraction so I can get us out of here. I get behind the wheel of the car and start it up quickly.
Once I’m inside, another round hits the car, entering the backseat on the opposite side of where Javier is, coming through the passenger seat. Talon screams again, scrambling into Javier’s lap. Javier covers him with his larger body, wrapping his arms around him to keep him safe.
I see fucking red. No one fucking puts my boys in danger.
But I need to get them to safety.
I badly want to go back and kill the motherfucker that shot at us, but that would put my boys at risk and I can’t have that.
I weave in and out of traffic, taking turns at top speed to put some distance between me and the shooter.
“Are you two okay?” I shout, not taking my eyes off the road.
“Knox?” Talon whimpers, his voice sounding impossibly small.
Before he can say more, our car is bumped from behind, sending us all lurching forward.
My boys scream behind me, kicking my heart rate up and my vision darkens with anger. This motherfucker has to fucking die.
“Seatbelts, now!” I roar. I hear them scramble in the back and their seatbelts click just as another jolt sends us forward as we’re rammed again.
I look in the rearview mirror and see the headlights of the car drop back a few feet, then gain speed again. This time, I stomp on the brake, and the car runs into the back of us, causing both cars to spin out. Luckily, we’re the only cars on the street right now.
We spin a few times and I try to adjust us, but we end up banking to a hard stop against a guardrail. I look back at Javier and Talon, who are both curled around each other.
“You two okay?” I ask.
“Fine,” Javier says shakily and Talon looks up at me and nods.
