Page 44 of Auctioned Surrender

My brother lunges at him, and Ramiro takes a shot, shooting straight past my brother’s head. One warning, before turning his gun on me. “Another step and so help me God, I’ll shoot this bitch right where she lays. Don’t think I won’t. She’s more trouble than she’s worth, and dead or sold, I get even with you,” Ramiro says, keeping the pistol pointed down at me.

I’m still holding my gun, but he doesn’t seem to have noticed, or perhaps doesn’t think I’ll shoot.

“I thought I was going to have to follow your brother for weeks before he led us to you. Imagine my surprise when I saw you walk up to the club, all dressed up for the occasion. Tonight you’re going home with the man you were intended to leave with Friday. Seems whether you’re a virgin or not, he’s still got the hots for you. Something about making you a slave for all eternity,” Ramiro says, laughing at me as my courage returns and my hand tightens around my gun, waiting for just that right moment.

He cackles and pulls his booted foot back to kick me again, and before I can pull the trigger, a whizzing sound flies above me, and the man jerks back with the impact of the gunfire and lands in a heap right in front of me.

Damian rushes across the parking lot. The gun is still in my trembling hand, and he takes it from my grasp, tossing it to another man who has joined him. What’s his status, Cole?”

“He’s down for good,” Cole says, checking the pulse of the lifeless man lying on the ground in front of us.

Damian scoops me into his arms and presses me against him before standing me on my own two feet. My brother starts to move closer, but Damian steps between us, and it’s only now that I see that he is armed.

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t trust you with your sister quite yet. Our intel has it on good authority that you’re working undercover, but those boys you’re running with are bad news, and I’d rather not have Bryanna mixed up with that mess. We’ll keep your identity safeguarded in any of our reports, but I’d get moving before the police get here if I were you. The danger to your sister and the rest of your family from this asshole is over, but your friend Ramiro’s put her in grave danger with one of the wealthiest men in the world, and me and my team still need to deal with that.”

“I can’t talk here, but I’d do anything to make sure no one hurts my sister.”

“I appreciate that you put your cover and life on the line to help Bryanna. That tells me a lot more about your character than anything I’ve seen in the police records. We’ll be in touch, you can count on it, but in the meantime, you better get going before your cover’s blown to shit,” Damian says, sliding his arms underneath me to pick me up again.

“I can manage, Damian. I’m okay, really,” I say, even though every breath feels like my ribs are about to explode and he’s already started to situate me in his arms.

“Bryanna, I’ll explain everything to you at some point. Just know that I love you, and I’ll be back with you and the family when it’s safe. For now, it’s better that I stay as far away as possible,” Kade says, turning and walking quickly away.

“Damian, we can’t just let him leave like that. He had a gun, he was going to shoot that man for me,” I say, and then the reality of it all, that I thought my brother was the one who set me up, and what I said to him comes crashing into my thoughts. “I can’t let him leave this way, Damian. I said awful, awful things,” I say, while tears of remorse cascade down my face.

“You didn’t know, Doll. Kade knows you were only reacting to the image that he portrayed to you and the world,” Damian says, pulling me even tighter to his chest.

“Cole, you mind running point with intel while I get Bryanna situated?” he asks.

“Don’t mind at all. In fact, Marenah still needs a few more pictures, so I’ll get those while I’m waiting for the clean-up crew,” Cole says, heading toward the bar door while Damian carries me to a black limo that’s been pulled up not far from us.

A man I haven’t met before opens the back door for us, waiting while Damian situates me into the car, and then closes it before getting into the driver’s seat. “Where’s Keith?” Damian asks the man.

“He’s a bit tied up at the moment, and I know my way around New Orleans, so he asked me to drive for you.”

“Thanks, Garrett,” Damian says, pulling the seat belt around me. I wince as his hand glances over my ribs, and he scowls. “Let me feel,” he says, running his fingers across my ribs, causing me to suck in my breath. “They’re not broken, but you’ll want to stretch the muscles around them, even if it’s a littleuncomfortable at first, to keep the area from tightening up. Let’s get you back to Chicago and situated,” he says as Garrett pulls out of the parking lot.

“Damian, it’s seriously nice of you, but you can drop me off at a hotel. I can get some rest and then get a flight out and stay with my mom and the kids until everything blows over,” I say, knowing that he must surely be tired of all the drama that I’ve brought into his life, especially after this little stunt.

His eyes darken and his mouth twitches. “That’s not how this is going to play out, Doll, not even close.”

“Hey, Damian. It looks like we may have a tail following us right out of the gates. Once we get past the guards, I’ll put a little distance between us and see if they turn off or stay with us,” Garrett says.

“Roger that, man. I’ll let the team know, while you keep your head in the game. If they pull you over at the gate, drive right through the fucking thing. A team’s in place behind our tail, and aerial will have a clean shot of the fuckers once we’re through,” Damian says.

We have a short way to go before we reach the gates that encompass the private parking lot, and the lights atop the guard station suddenly begin to flash red, and the long wooden gates begin to lower.

“You good, Garrett?” Damian says.

“Roger that! You guys hang tight,” Garrett says, stepping on the gas, causing us to careen through the parking lot and bust right through the thin slats of the gate that must have been created more as a scare tactic than for any real ability to keep a car inside of it.

“Great job, man,” Damian says as we come out the other side, and Garrett slows to gain control and then punches the gas again, weaving in and out of the cars that dot the main strip.

“We’ve got positive IDs on several of the men in the club, and the teams are going in. Aerial won’t show themselves yet, but they’ll be on standby if we need them,” Damian says as he finishes pounding a message into his cell.

“Roger that. Garret slows momentarily with congestion. “You guys hang onto your seats. As soon as I see a break in the traffic, I’m going to lose these… ah, here we go folks,” Garrett says as the car surges forward, and we’re soon right on the bumper of the car in front of us. The car coming toward us on the left goes by, and Garrett floors the gas and steers the car into the left-hand lane. We’re heading straight toward an oncoming car that doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all. I screw my eyes closed and only open them when the car veers hard right, and my seat belt tightens around me. Garrett slows for a moment to duck back into the lane, and hits the gas again, heads to the exit, and then switches lanes to take an adjoining highway. He slows and then guns it again, and then jumps lanes as two more highways merge.

The speedometer registers ninety-seven miles an hour as we careen down the highway. Garrett expertly weaves us in and out of the lanes as we fly by most of the traffic like the other cars are sitting still.

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