Page 9 of Love & Violence

My phone pings with a message, and I quickly bring the screen to life.

Rat:They are at a dress shop on the corner of Fifth and Main called Mason’s.

Me:On my way.

The moment I park the car in the back alley across the street, Rat is beside the door.

“What’s the plan, Boss?” he asks with enthusiasm.

“Rylee is going to distract the bodyguard. I need you to watch her back while I slip in and grab the girl.” I lay out the shittiest plan of my life.

“Let’s do it,” Rylee says. She unbuttons her shirt to show off her cleavage and heads across the street, not allowing anyone else to say a word.

“You know she’s crazy, right?” Rat asks with a skeptical look that causes me to laugh.

“All the best people are,” I say as I watch her closely. She flirts with the man, who is clearly a bodyguard, outside the door. She makes sure the man is facing away from them.

I may not have much time to pull this off, but I need to make sure she’s okay before I even think about going in. Rylee smiles at the man and touches his chest in a seductive manner that has him blushing like a teenager. A smile crosses my face before I run across the street behind him.

The side door is locked, but I’m not worried. I picked my first lock when I was five years old, so I’ll have this one open within seconds.

Inside the store, I stay close to the wall as I allow my panther to surface just a little. His instincts and senses are sharper than mine. It only takes a moment for him to catch her scent, and within a second, I pull back the curtain to the dressing room.

My knees nearly buckle from the sight before me. Porcelain skin on display wrapped in the finest red lingerie I have ever had the honor of seeing. My cock weeps in my jeans at the sight of her.

This is supposed to be a straightforward kidnapping, quick in and out, but I can’t help myself. Within an instant, I have her lifted into my arms and her back pressed against the cold mirror. Her legs wrap around my waist, nestling my erection directly against her soft heat, and we both moan as I devour her lips. We kiss like that for long moments before loud yelling draws my attention back to where we are.

“Get dressed because we’re leaving,” I order as I put her down. “Hurry up.”

Aryanna doesn’t question me. She simply complies with a nod. Within no time, she is dressed and takes my hand. We move quickly toward the back door, but before we walk out, she pulls me back.

“Wait.” She reaches into her handbag and pulls out her cell phone. She places it on a shelf beside the door before taking my hand with a nod.

I pull her behind me, trying to get to Rylee’s Jeep as quickly as possible, but when we reach the street, I finally understand what all the screaming is about. Rat has my sister lifted into his arms as he tries to pull her away from a male I know to be Aryanna’s brother, Domenico. She has her gun in hand and rage scrawled across her features. He is smirking at her.

“Mate or not, if you touch me again, Dom, I will fucking kill you!” Rylee rages.

Aryanna makes a sound of shock and dismay beside me, but I don’t have time to worry about that now. Giving a sharp whistle, I motion to Rat before stuffing her in the back seat and jumping in to start the engine. It only takes a second for Rylee and Rat to join us, but that time is enough for the other two men to realize what just happened.

“Get down!” I yell as I peel away into the street and hear the shots fired at us.

****

Aryanna

I sensed him before I saw him. When he came through the curtain, I didn’t care if he saw me in my panties and bra. I’m just glad they were sexy ones. I know he has seen me naked, but it doesn’t feel the same to me. Then all I felt were his hands on me, making my stomach clench with the need to mate with him. The feeling of my mate against me and kissing me was the most wonderful thing in the world. I would have gladly ripped off my clothes and mounted him if not for the yelling that started outside.

That’s when it dawned on me that my mate had put himself in a dangerous position to get to me. Now, we were rushing to get some clothes on me and running out the back door.

At the last moment, I took my phone out and put it on a shelf. I know it’s how my father has kept track of me. I am going to do everything in my power to be with Draven. If I can’t be with him, I might as well be dead because he is the other half of me, and I cannot live without him.

All the problems with our predicament flash through my head, and I know we have some things to work out with our families. But now, we need to get away from the shop and to a place where we can’t be found.

When we get to the car, I am stuck in the back seat with another woman who smells like Draven. My jealousy spikes and my cat flashes to the forefront, ready to take my mate from her, until I look at her face and notice the similarities.

“You’re his sister?” I ask.

She doesn’t have time to reply as more shots are fired.

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