Page 63 of Deceit
“Like you give a fuck,”she hissed, but despite her fury, her eyes shonewith unshed tears.“Leave me alone, Miles.Justlet me go home.”
“Get in the car.”
She could be pissed at me all she liked; I deserved it, but as long as I knewshe was safe.Thatwas allthatmattered.
“No,”she huffed, folding her arms over her chest.
I muttered a curse.“What are you going to do? Walk all the way back to thehouse? It’ll take you hours.”
“I’d rather be walking for days than be stuck in a car forevena minute withyou.”
Stubborn, stubborn little brat.
I ought to have bent her over the hood of the car and spanked her ass again.
I ground my teeth, resisting every urge to pick her up and throw her into thecar, and reminding myselfthatI was the reason for her anger. Taking a deep breath to calm the way my cock twitched atthatimage, I summoned all the patience I possessed.“Please. Can you let me take you home? It’s not safe for you to be out here unprotected.”
She jabbed me in the chest, something sheseemedto do too often, and yet,I’d never stopped her.“You want to talk about unprotected? How about the factthatyoujusthad unprotected sex with me, huh? Who knows what disease you’ve given me!”
A flash of anger vibrated through me at her insinuation, but before I couldeventhink of a response, a dark SUV rounded the corner, its windows blacked out. It stopped further up the road with its engine running and lights on full beam, preventing me from seeing the driver.
At the same time, another SUV appeared at the other end of the road,mirroring the position of the first with its lights on. I didn’t recognize either car, and my gut told methatthere wasnothinginnocent about them.
My gut was rarely wrong.
I went to grab my gun from my holster, realizingthatin my hurry to get toSofia, I hadn’t put it on.
Shit.
“Get in the car.”I grabbed Sofia’s arm and pulled her the few stepsto my car.
She didn’t protest; her eyes wide as she looked between the vehicles.Throwing open the door, she allowed me to shove her into the passenger seat before I hurried to the driver’s side.
Who in the fuck was in the SUVs? Itseemedtoo much of a coincidencethatKai had pulled Sofia’s security away to deal with an incident, and now two cars were watching us.
Was this the cartel finally making their move? Or was whoever AdrianPowell had worked for before I killed him about to attempt to kidnap Sofia a second time?
Whoever it was, they wouldn’t lay a finger on her.
Whichever direction I went, we’d have to pass one of the cars. My vehiclewas bulletproof if whoever was inside decided to shoot at us;thatwasn’t my worry. It was if they decided to ram us. But I didn’t have a choice; if we stayed put, we’d be sitting ducks.
Weighing up my options, the tires spun, flicking the gravel as I hit the gas,and opting to head away from the city. I knew the roads surrounding Exotique better than the back of my hand, I could try to lose them by heading deeper into the forest. Worst-case scenario, there was a location we could head toward if we needed somewhere to lay low.
As we sped past the second carthathad stopped, I held my breath,anticipating them to meet us head-on, or at theveryleast, lower their windows and take aim at us. But the car didn’t move as we drove by.
I stared through the window, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was inthere, but the windows were too dark. The brief thoughtthatmaybeI was overreacting entered my mind, only to be squashed when my gaze flicked to the rear-view mirror in time to see the SUV spin around. It began following us, quickly joined by the onethathad stopped further along the road.
My heart rate kicked up a notch, and keeping one hand on the wheel, I tapped atthe computer screen on the dash, finding Kai’s number and pressing the connect button.
The dial tone filled the car through the speakers. It rang. And rang. Andrang. But he didn’t answer.
“Fuck,”I hissed, disconnecting the call and trying again.
When my eyes flashed to the mirror again, a knot pulled in my stomach. Athird vehicle had joined the party, and they were gaining on us.
This wasn’t good.
Kai’s phone continued to ring before I disconnected again. Next to me, Sofiaclung to her seat belt, gasping as I navigated the car around a sharp bend, the rear end swinging wide.
