Page 71 of Collision of Winters
I heard the beep again.
“You’re about to hear commotion. It’s okay to look up and act confused, like you don’t know where the noise is coming from.”
I exhaled. This was what it meant to trust Chris, to trust what they were doing. Both Wade and I could use the reminder. We should’ve known that Chris was going to give us exactly the information we needed when we needed it.
Sure enough, I heard a quick groan and a grunt maybe some twenty feet away, and I glanced up and spun around.There.A man was swiftly yanking another guy between two cars and into the F-150.
Holy crap. Did that mean one down and two to go?
Before I knew it, I heard quick steps. Like one or two people running, their boots hitting the asphalt rapidly, so I turned around again. This time, two men shoved another guy into the red van I’d noticed earlier. The doors slammed shut, and what I guessed was an operator returned behind the wheel and toreout of the parking space. The F-150 followed, both vehicles disappearing into traffic.
My heart was suddenly pounding.
I caught a flash of someone sprinting by slightly behind me, and I spun once more. Fucking hell, it was both Chris and Wade—they were chasing the third guy! I hurriedly got out of the way so a random car could pass me, and then I looked back toward the chaos. The target was shouting, and people were gonna notice soon. But Wade grabbed the guy and slammed his head down on the hood of Yaya’s car, after which Chris took over and kicked the guy into the back seat of the Camry.
I sucked in a breath.
The Camry peeled out and went the same way as the other two.
Was it over? Just like that?
I swallowed dryly and heard that beep for the third time.
“What do you want on your pancakes?”
I choked on a laugh and exhaled shakily. Fuck me, I had to lean back against the nearest wall and catch my breath. Nothing had happened, and yet everything had gone down. The amount of planning to pull this off quickly and seamlessly—my God, I wanted to be involved in this. I felt so damn alive.
Had Chris been a few feet closer and not keeping his voice down, I would’ve heard him without having to use the comms, but he stayed back near Yaya’s car. It looked like he was talking to others in his earpiece. Wade, meanwhile, strode over to me and caught me in a tight hug.
“That was so badass,” I croaked. “Is it over?”
“It’s over, thank God.” He inched back and cupped my face in his hands. I managed a wobbly smile. “It’s not a great sign to see such excitement in your eyes at this, little one.”
That made me smile wider. “I have so many butterflies in my stomach right now, Daddy. What a freaking rush.”
He chuckled quietly and hugged me to him again. “Definitely not a good sign. But I’ll deal. You’re a Winters, after all.”
You’re a Winters, after all.
Those words echoed in my mind, and they flooded me with the same kind of fulfillment I’d felt earlier.
Damn right, I was a Winters.
“Kayden?”
Oh crap, that was Dad. Wade and I put some distance between us and gave each other a quick look of amusement, before I turned around and saw Dad rounding the corner and hurrying toward me.
“Oh, thank fuck, there you are.”
The moment he reached me, he had his arms around me, and it felt so good too. I hadn’t seen him in months. Like the other men in the family, he was tall and solid, objectively handsome, and I didn’t know why he’d struck out with the dudes. He should be drowning in offers, but he kept saying he was done dating.
Bullshit if you asked me.
“If I could ground you, I would,” he said gruffly.
I laughed softly. “I missed you too, Dad.”
“It better be over,” he said, presumably to Wade. “I waited inside until I heard from Vince that he was outta here.”
