She tugs her dress down, looking all disheveled and worried. But thank fuck she runs for the gun.
With slightly trembling hands as the adrenaline absolutely courses through my body, I use my cell phone to deactivate her ankle monitor in case we need to run.
“Faigh iad!” someone cries out in a thick Irish accent as a giant boot kicks the front door open. “Fuck seo, iad a fhail ar an urlar, anois!”
I don’t need to understand every word being yelled to know that this is a God damn ambush and a shitty situation.
Automatically, I duck as soon as the first gunshot rings out.
I don’t want to die, not here, not like this.
Ineedto get Isabella out of here safe and sound.
Masks.
Fuck, these assholes are in masks.
They mean business.
“Get down,” someone yells. “Now, we arenotfucking around here.”
“I’m down,” I shoot back gruffly. “Calm the fuck down. We can talk…”
The next gunshot comes from the other direction.
Shit.
It’s Isabella.
Holy fuck, she looks like she knows how to use a gun.
Mind you, she is the daughter of a mob boss, so that makes sense.
Watching her fire off a couple of shots is intoxicating.
This isnotthe way my mind should be going. I know that. I can’t get distracted right now, but God damn it, she really is gorgeous.
“Isabella.”
I don’t know if Isabella recognizes the voice, but she hears her name.
“What?” she whispers. “Who are you?”
The man standing at the front of the crowd steps forward, like he’s about to go for her, so this is my chance. I’mnotletting anyone touch even a hair on her head.
I leap up to jump in front of her.
I don’t know if it’s the sudden movement or if I’m spotted and needed dead, but the guns start again. The pops seem to come from every single angle. My ears hurt but I’m too focused on Isabella to care.
That might be why I don’t realize I’ve been hit until all the air leaves my lungs completely.
Fuck.
Then the pain comes in.
Full force.
It hits me like a freight train.
The blood rushes so fast through my body, I can’t hear anything else. I’m very aware that there’s still chaos surrounding me, but it’s all just a thumping, a throbbing through my body.
“Fuck you,” I hear Isabella scream. “Assholes.”
She grabs my hand, the warmth of her body helping me to keep on my feet. My eyes might be blurry, but she’s leading the way.
“The car is here,” she hisses at me. “I think I’ve shot some of them. They weren’t ready for us to defend ourselves it seems. But we can’t stay here. Come on, Dominic, we just need to get in. Then we can get away. Do you think that’s something you can do?”
I don’t know, so I just groan.
“Come on, Dominic. I really do need you to help me out here.”
I hear the click of the door.
She’s a fucking miracle. Isabella must have grabbed the car keys when she got the gun.
Quick thinking.
What the hell would I have done without her?
“Right, here. Take a seat. Let me get you in the back.”
I should drive.
I want to argue that because I know where we’re going, but since I can’t fucking see, I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do.
“40. 650002 North latitude and -73. 949997 West,” I shout quickly. “Coordinates. Go to them.”
“Huh?”
“40. 650002 North latitude and -73. 949997 West. I have a safe house there. Use the GPS.”
I can feel myself slipping.
It’s like my consciousness is sliding through my fingers like grains of sand and I can’t grab a hold of myself however hard I try.
I hope Isabella picked up what I was telling her, though, because I need us to get there.
No one knows about that safe house.
I don’t see how anyone could find it.
We need a place to be so I can recover from that fucking gunshot wound.
I can’t believe I got hurt by those assholes. Damn it, and I had to be saved by Isabella, not the other way around. I should be the one protecting her.
“Pa… passcode.” I suddenly realize that I haven’t given her everything yet. She needs the code, but I don’t know if I’m speaking aloud or if this is just happening in my head. “The passcode to the house. 897111098.”
Did she hear me?
I’m not getting a reply.
But I don’t know if I can hear anything.
As I’m drifting in and out, another thought hits me. “A tracker. Not… not the one on your ankle. One on the car. We can’t be followed.”
Thank God. I know Isabella hears me because the car screeches to a halt. She clambers out and I hear her outside the car in the dark.
I fucking hate this… I should be the one out there looking for this shit.
Isabella doesn’t deserve any of this.
I try to get up, to see, so I can help her, but my vision is still too blurry and my body feels far too weak. I don’t have a scrap of inner strength in myself. It must be the blood draining from my wound.
Now that’s something Ireallydon’t want to worry about right now. Not when I need to use all the focus I have just to keep myself and Isabella alive as best I can.
“You were right,” she tells me when she climbs back in beside me. “There was a fucking tracker. But it’s gone now. We’re going to be okay…”
I really hope she’s right.
ISABELLA
What do I do?
My head is all over the place.
My hands are gripped so hard onto the steering wheel that my knuckles shine white.
I’m driving, my muscle memory keeps me going, but I don’t know what the fuck to do now. I didn’t expect to be in this position, in control.
I could go back to my father now.
I could put an end to all of this.
But then what the hell will happen to Dominic?
If my dad gets his hands on him, the job might be finished off. They might kill him.
I can’t stand that.
I do have the other option.
Follow the coordinates that Dominic gave me before he passed out. But if I do that, will he survive? I’m pretty sure he needs a medical professional to look at him.
“Fuck,” I mutter to myself. “What do I do?”
Tears prick my eyes as I try to work out what path to follow. I don’t evenknowwhat my gut is telling me right now. Can Ieven trust Dominic? I don’t even know why he abducted me. I don’t know if I believe the story he first told me about protecting me.
Yes my bodyguard, Chad, was killed, but the assholes who broke into the cabin spoke Irish and knew my name.
Theymusthave something to do with my father.
So what the fuck is going on?
I turn back to check on Dominic again. He’s still breathing, that’s something. I’m glad about that. But I still don’t know what to do.
I’ve never really had anyone that I can trust.
Not fully.
My family, yes, until they tried to marry me off to someone I don’t want anything to do with. My friends, to an extent, but since no one knows the full truth about me and my life, there has always been a chasm of distance between us.
Dominic…
Well, that’s the closest I have ever been to really trusting someone.
I know… I shouldn’t trust him, but I do.