Page 223 of Toxic Temptation
“Stay down!” I bark, covering her body with mine as I drag us both toward the SUV.
“You shot her,” Vesper pants, her voice shaking. “Oh, God, you actually shot her.”
“She was going to shoot you if I didn’t.”
Twin headlights sweep across the street as two black SUVs roar up behind the wounded woman, who’s writhing on the sidewalk and screaming obscenities.
“Get in the car,” I order. “Now!”
Vesper scrambles into the passenger seat, but before I can follow, a third vehicle blocks our rear exit. We’re boxed in. Perfect.
“Fuck,” I mutter, reaching into the console for my backup weapon.
Vesper’s eyes go wide when she sees the second gun. “Kovan, what are you going to do?”
“Keep you alive.” I duck behind the steering wheel and roll down my window. “Get in the back seat. Down in the wheel well. Stay low.”
“There are so many of them?—”
“Which is exactly why you need to get the fuck down!”
Men pile out of the SUVs, at least eight of them, all armed. I start firing, aiming for center mass while trying to keep track ofVesper’s location. She’s supposed to be in the back seat, but I can see her blonde hair in my peripheral vision.
She’s not listening. Again.
Bullets pepper the side of our vehicle. The SUV is armored, but it won’t hold up forever under this kind of assault.
Sure enough, a round punches through the windshield, spider-webbing the glass. Vesper screams.
“I told you to get in the back!” I shout, yanking her down as I punch the gas and swerve hard to the right, trying to get a better angle on the shooters behind us.
She finally scrambles into the back seat, but she’s not staying low enough. I can hear her panicked breathing over the gunfire.
“What do we do?” she cries. “What do we do?”
“I can’t get a clean shot from here.” I eject the empty magazine and insert a fresh one. “But I’m not leaving you. We hold position until backup arrives.”
Another bullet whistles past my ear and takes out the rear window. Glass rains down on Vesper like razor-edged confetti.
The shooting is too intense. My clip runs dry again, and I’m reaching for my last magazine when I hear the most beautiful sound in the world: screeching tires and Pavel’s distinctive engine roar.
I throw myself into the back seat, covering Vesper’s body with mine as more gunfire erupts. This time, it’s not all aimed at us.
I stay on top of her until the shooting stops and silence reclaims the night.
“Kovan! Vesper!”
Pavel’s voice cuts through the ringing in my ears. The passenger door is wrenched open, and cool air rushes in.
“We’re okay,” I manage, rolling off Vesper and pulling her onto my lap. Glass crunches under my weight. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
She’s shaking so hard I can feel it through my chest. “Jesus. Fuck. Oh, God, Kovan, I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you.”
Blood trickles from cuts on her arms. Her lip is split, probably from when I tackled her. A bruise is already forming along her cheekbone.
“Vesper—”
“No, it’s not okay. This is my fault. I should never have gotten out of the car.”
