Page 43 of Lethal Lover

But she doesn’t wait for her assailant to fall over. She just takes off toward the door where two other guys are about to load the drugged-up bride-to-be into the back of a truck.

The door slams open and she lunges for the guy hanging on to the girl. I run out the door next, launching myself at the second guy.

He lands hard against the side of the door. I grab him by the shirt collar and slam his head into the window a few times. The girl slumps backward against the seat, half-sprawled on the leather, half-hanging out of the door.

I smack my gun across his jaw, following it up with a smash of his nose. Blood flies out of his nostril and mouth. He tries to knee me, but I lock him against the truck, my hand clenched tight around his throat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Val elbow another guy in the temple, then twist to drive a side kick into his groin. And down he fucking goes.

Sirens ring out, bright-red flashes lighting up the dark evening sky.

The truck’s wheels squeal against the curb as it lurches forward, the back door still open. The bride-to-be tumbles out of the back seat, her eyes glassy and half-hooded. I reach down to snake an arm around her waist and pull her against me before she cracks her head on the pavement.

Val has her guy on the ground, her high heel jammed into his neck. “One move,” she says through gritted teeth. “And I will cut your fucking jugular.”

“Fuck you, bitch.” His breaths are short and sharp. “Fucking cops.”

Val’s dress is lopsided, her natural hair a mess of pins, her face flushed a deep pink. I’ve never seen her look so gorgeous, not even at our wedding.

She looks up like she’s seeing me for the first time. When her eyes drop to the girl next to me, her shoulders slump with what looks like relief.

Suddenly, the place is flooded with people. I have no idea where they came from, I’m so focused on Val. Cops grab the two guys we maimed.

A slew of questions follows, assaulting us from all directions.

“Why didn’t you call for help?” One of the cops glares at me. “What the hell were you going to do if there were more guys out here?”

“We’d have taken them out, too.” I point my thumb back at the hotel. “And to answer your other question, all of the ‘help’ was busy breaking up a fight in the bar. I’m sure you guys know that was just a diversion to clear the way for other bad shit, but security didn’t think twice about it.”

His eyes flash fire. “I’m sure not all of the security guards were breaking up the fight.”

“Maybe not, but if we’d have waited to get their slow asses out here, that girl would be gone. For-fucking-ever, because that’s the game these guys play. Here one minute, sold the next.”

“And excuse me for interrupting,” Val says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “But do you see these guys? We got their weapons and literally knocked them on their asses. Don’t you think your aggression is a little misplaced? Maybe you want to interrogate the slimy bastards who tried to kidnap this innocent girl instead?”

That’s right, fucker. My fake wife just put your ass in its place.

The cop just grunts a reply.

She removes her heel, the guy under her foot bleeding out of the side of his mouth. An EMT rushes over to the girl I’m holding onto.

“She was drugged. Not sure with what.”

“We’ll take it from here.” The EMT claps me on the shoulder. “Good work. You saved her life.”

The girl’s head lolls back and forth as the EMT loads her onto a gurney. He wheels her toward the ambulance, leaving me and Val standing in the center of the chaos.

“We need to go. Now.” I grab her wrist and lead her around to the front of the hotel. She rushes to keep up with my pace. Once she’s next to me, I slide my fingers down to lace with hers. “Keep your head down. We need to get back upstairs before anyone stops us.”

She squeezes my fingers like she’s trying to strangle me through the hold she has on my hand.

My lips twist.

Tell me she has the fucking nerve to be pissed off at me right now after I saved her goddamn ass out there.

We somehow make it through the casino without any interference. With all the security cameras lining the ceiling, it won’t be long before those data systems cross-reference live feeds with the feeds from that hallway and pinpoint the newlywed superheroes.

Val wrenches her hand out of my grip once we’re inside the elevator. “How dare you—?”

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