Page 38 of Swallow Your Fear
“I’m okay,” she croaked before coughing again. She had tiny pebbles stuck to her rosy cheek along with indentations freckling her arms from the debris.
I felt bad for crushing her, but fuck, it was better than her getting shot. Anything was.
With one last in-depth visual search of her body, I moved my gaze to the guys where they had Chase pinned to the ground, his wound oozing blood onto the pavement.
“Get the fuck off of me!” He squirmed, but Austin had his knee pinning his hands behind his back, cast and all.Henley was picking up the gun with a towel, shoving it into a clear plastic bag.
Thankfully, the gas station was empty save for us, and whoever worked inside hadn’t come looking to see what chaos had caused the gunshots. Smart thinking, because otherwise, I’d have to take care of two bodies today.
I stood, grabbing Brynne’s hands to pull her up in front of me.
“Get in the truck,” I instructed, guiding her behind me. Who the fuck knew if Chase had friends waiting to take care of this mess if he wasn’t successful.
“I’m not just going to stand by and let you guys take care of all of this.”
I spun on her, our faces merely an inch apart. “Yes, you are.”
She tipped her chin up, crossing her arms over her chest. There was barely any room between the two of us to do so. “Why can’t I help, Booker?”
My lips pressed into a thin line.
She knew the fuck why. She was asking simply to make me say the words.
She tilted her head slightly, aiming her ear my way. “Hmm, what was that, Nightmare? I didn’t hear you.”
“This isn’t the time for games, Brynne.”
She straightened her head, fluttering her lashes. “Then admit it, and it won’t be a game.”
I scoffed, subtly shaking my head. She was ridiculous. She was just shot at by her fucking ex, her life was in literal danger, and she wanted me to get fucking sappy?
Pass.
I leaned closer. “There’s nothing to admit, Darlin’.”
Her eyes flashed, but she covered it up seamlessly. “Admit you don’t want me hurt because you care about me.”
“I only care about keeping you alive until this is all done. Then you’re free to do whatever the fuck you want.”
I regretted saying it the moment the words left my mouth, but I needed her in the goddamn truck and out of harm’s way. If being the villain was what it took to keep her safe, I’d be the fucking villain.
The lie hit its mark, and she turned on her heel, striding back to the truck without so much as a glance over her shoulder. With her posture alone, I could tell I’d hurt her. Maybe not physically, but damn well emotionally. I watched until she closed herself in on the passenger side, then I headed over to Austin and Henley to help them get Chase in the back of Henley’s SUV.
By the time I made it over to them, they’d already zip-tied his wrists behind his back and were escorting his limping form to the trunk. He was spewing curse words at them left and right, taking his sweet ass time.
I came up behind him, shoving him forward so that he had no choice but to walk faster.
“What the fuck?” he hissed, nearly collapsing on his injured leg. “I’m fucking shot, dude!”
“Cry me a fucking river,” I snapped.
Henley was making sure the tarp was taped down securely while Austin walked alongside Chase, ushering him to the vehicle. With a hard push, he landed chest-first on the plastic layer coating the trunk. We’d brought it as a precautionary method in case he got any hair or salivaanywhere, but now that he was bleeding, it came in handy tenfold.
Austin swung Chase’s legs in, then set a hand on the trunk handle.
Chase twisted, panicked eyes darting between us. “Where are you taking me?”
I stepped back, giving Austin space to close the back.
