Page 28 of Vendetta
Vendetta crossed the room to her but approached carefully.“Are you okay?”
She nodded too quickly, too many times.
Opening his jacket, he handed her his backup knife.“Hold on to that,” he said.“Just in case.”
Dylan gripped the knife like it was the only thing anchoring her, staying close behind him.Vendetta threw open the side door, his gun drawn just in case.But the place stayed quiet.If anyone else had been there, they were gone or hiding.They sprinted to the van.The second the doors slammed shut behind them, Vendetta started the engine and peeled out of there, gravel spraying like shrapnel.
Only when they were halfway down the road did either of them speak.
“You came for me,” she whispered, voice thick.
Vendetta’s hands flexed tighter on the wheel.“Next time,” he said, jaw like stone, “I won’t be late.”
Chapter Six
Dylan
She hadn’t said much on the ride back.Her voice had barely worked, her entire body humming from fear and adrenaline.The silence in the dimly lit motel room felt louder than anything that had happened tonight.It made the thoughts racing through her mind feel like a scream.Her hands curled around a glass of water she hadn’t yet taken a sip from as she fought for control.
Dylan sat on the edge of the bed in Jason’s motel room, glaring at the jacket her uncle had made her wear tonight.Throwing it on the floor had been the first thing she’d done when Jason brought her here, watching it like a snake that could bite her.It had been a uniform, and a lie.Her uncle hadn’t handed her a shift.He’d handed her off like a… She didn’t even want to think the word right now.She was too close to spiraling as it was.And she’d gone along with it, suspecting the entire time that something wasn’t right.She’d told herself it was just a job, just one more night.Now she couldn’t decide if she felt more sick or stupid.
Jason sat in the worn chair between the door and the bed, like he was guarding her.He looked ready to protect her from everything outside, just like he had at the lake house earlier tonight.She could still hear the crack of Jason’s fist breaking that man’s jaw.She could still picture the look in his eyes, the cold precision of someone who’d been in too many fights that were less about winning, more about surviving.
Dylan’s trust was frayed down to threads.Eli had handed her off like she was nothing, a favor to some twisted client.Tonight, she’d seen clearly what her uncle truly was.And now here she was, tucked away in a cheap motel room with the only man who’d fought to protect her.Jason had held her when she was shaking and looked at her like she was still a worthwhile person even after everything.
But Jason had tried to warn her, hadn’t he?And somehow, he’d found her tonight.How had he found her?She had no phone to contact anyone.Eli had taken it.He’d told her about her “special shift” about three minutes before a car came to whisk her away.
And now, Dylan wasn’t sure if she was searching for the truth or clinging to the man close to her now because he was the last thing that felt real.Maybe it was both.But she needed answers.Because whatever came next, she couldn’t let herself be blinded again.
Jason simply sat there quietly, gorgeous and muscular.She loved every moment she’d spent with him.But there were unanswered questions even with her savior.He was a medical courier working temporarily in Oak Grove, of all the damn places.Why only temporarily?He’d never said.Every time she’d offered to go back to his for the night, he’d had an excuse ready as to why it wasn’t a good time.And the way he always preferred to make love in the dark puzzled her, especially as gorgeous as he was.
What had caused that distinctive scar around his neck that she hadn’t found the courage to ask him about?
Dylan shivered just thinking about how he’d burst into the lake house tonight like a Goddamn mercenary.One second, the creepy man her uncle had given her to had been looming over her, barking threats like he owned her.The next, Jason had hit him like a wrecking ball.All she’d seen then was violence delivered with the calm of a man who’d obviously done it before.It should’ve scared her.Maybe it did, a little.But what cut deeper was how focused he’d been on getting to her.Like nothing else mattered, not inflicting pain or vengeance.And at that moment, she hadn’t been afraid of him.She’d never felt safer in her life.She still felt that way.
But she also knew Jason wasn’t telling her everything.
She finally broke the silence.“Who are you?”
He didn’t move.“Jason.”
“That’s not what I meant.”Her voice shook, but she didn’t look away.“You knew.You knew something like this could happen.That night when I told you about that rich fucker Eli brought to the bar, you tried to warn me.”
Jason’s dark-eyed gaze met hers.“It didn’t take much insight, Dylan,” he said carefully.“You were uncomfortable that night.You should always listen to your gut.”
“But I didn’t listen to my gut,” she said, as tears of frustration stung her eyes.“And my uncle, my fucking uncle just… pimped me out tonight.”
Jason’s gaze didn’t waver.Slowly, he rose from the chair and stepped closer to her.
“No,” he said.“Hetried.But you didn’t let it happen.”He sat next to her on the bed, carefully, like not wanting to scare away a frightened animal.“You fought him and bought yourself some time.And if I hadn’t shown up tonight, I know you’d have found your own way out.”
Dylan listened, still shaking and not caring if he saw it.
“And what your uncle did?”Jason continued, quieter now.“That’s not on you.That’s onhim.The only thing you’re guilty of is trusting someone who should’ve protected you.”He paused, took a deep breath.“But you’re not alone in this anymore, Dylan.”
Her fingers tightened around the glass she still held.“So, what now?”Her voice cracked.“What am I supposed to do?Just… go back and act like this never happened?Apologize to my uncle?What do I do when that man shows up again atNed’s, because hewill.”
“Youdon’tgo back,” he said.“Not to your uncle orNed’s.Not after this.”
