Page 33 of Vengeful

"I'm all right." I managed to sit up and throw myself into his arms. "Thank fuck you heard me. I thought—"

"We would have found you, one way or another." He squeezed me so tight it was difficult to breathe, but I didn't protest. It felt good to be held by someone who loved me.

"We had a fair idea of where you were. Sooner or later, we would have stumbled on that hole."

"As it is, we were lucky not to fall in too," Kent said.

I glanced over to see a guy dressed head to toe in black, with dirty blonde hair that was longer on the top than it was on the sides.

"Do I know you?" I asked him.

"No, but you owe me a shit load of money." He grinned.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I'll explain everything later," Slade said. "We need to find the twins and get you out of here."

"Did you say something about Caleb?" I asked.

Slade hesitated. "I did." He briefly told me about meeting up with Kent and convincing him to work with him instead of against me.

"Like I said, shit load of money," Kent said.

"Worth every cent," I said. After a moment I added, "I would have paid you triple."

"I'll take triple." Kent said brightly. "Triple could buy me an island and a bunch of hot women. Um, I mean, I'd buy an island, the women would come voluntarily. And by come I mean, a lot."

"Friend of yours?" I asked Slade.

"I'd like to say I've never seen him before in my life, but the truth is I've known him for a long time," Slade admitted. "Kent is all right. When he's not working for Caleb Brantley."

Kent raised his hands in surrender. "It was one time." He headed over to the tree and started to untie the rope.

"One time too many," Slade told him. He nestled his face into my hair. "I was worried they'd get to you first." When he exhaled, it was slightly ragged with emotion.

He might have actually been more worried about me than I was about myself, which was saying something. If I knew there were people out there hunting, I would have been terrified for him and the twins. Knowing they already took care of three men was reassuring. Five against six were pretty good odds for us.

"They didn't. You got to them first," I said. "Now we have to make sure we get to the twins before they get into too much trouble."

"Given this is the Brantley twins we're talking about, trouble seems to be inevitable." Slade sighed. He reluctantly unwoundhis arms from me and stood before offering me his hand to help me to my feet. "I should send you back to the SUV with Kent."

"You can try, but we both know I won't go," I said. "I meant it when I said I was fine. I'm not going to sit by and wait until I know we're all safe."

"So stubborn," Slade grumbled. "Fine, but only because I know you'd follow me if I didn't let you come with me."

"I like coming with you," I teased.

He groaned. "Don't distract me, woman. If I start thinking with my cock, we'll never leave here." He looked down at me like he might tear my clothes off and fuck me then and there, in the dirt.

I grinned. "Under other circumstances, I'd be okay with that. But not while Hunter and Parker are out there." I would definitely take a rain check. The idea of him fucking me on the ground was hot as hell.

He reached into his back pockets and pulled out a phone from each. He turned the screen on one.

"Hunter read his message, but hasn't responded. Parker still hasn't read his."

He checked the other phone. "The two other teams are still moving."

Kent glanced over his shoulder. "If I didn't know better, I'd assume they've gone around in a circle."

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