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Bang!
The office door flew open when the handle took a bullet. Vane and I turned our heads so fast it gave us both whiplash. In the doorframe, in head-to-toe leather, was a man holding a smoking handgun. Even in my swimming vision, I recognized him.
Nathaniel “Royal Flush” Knox.
“Hey, asshole.”
Crippling relief made my limbs turn to water—and then taut with panic. All hell was about to break loose.
Vane moved inhumanly fast. He whipped one of the guns from the holster under his arm, spun, and lifted. Knox burst through the door like a wrecking ball and slammed straight into him. They both crashed to the floor in a tangle of muscle and violence.
Vane fired. The shot ripped a scream from my throat and one of the fluorescents shattered above us. Glass rained down in jagged shards. One of them sliced my arm.
The office wasn’t big enough for two giant men grappling like pro wrestlers. Barbarians.
This was my chance. I had to get the fuck out of here. Knox wasn’t going to save me. I was. He was just a convenient distraction.
I threw my body weight to the side. I landed hard on the tile floor. Glass dug into my shoulder but the pain was a distant murmur compared to the determination now overtaking every instinct. Vane had dropped his knife.
My fingers fumbled for it, taking an eternity to get a firm grasp on the leather-wrapped handle. The men were so busy beating the shit out of each other to notice what I was doing. Even if they did, they were too full of ego to stop until one or both of them were unconscious.
I sawed at the rope. All I could hear was the hish hish hish of the fibers, flesh beating flesh, and my own breathing loud in my ears.
Faster, Caroline, fucking faster?—
Snap!
My hands were free. Vane slammed Knox’s head against the window so hard it cracked.
I scrambled to free my ankles, sawing and yanking at the raw rope. Then I was free and buzzing with self-preservation.
I rushed for the door.
Vane roared, “He’ll kill you if you run!”
That didn’t matter. More commotion was followed by heavy footsteps. A hand grabbed my waist. Terror flooded me anew. I turned with the knife raised.
“I got you,” Knox rasped, eyeing the blade.
Bang bang bang!
Three shots were fired from behind us, pinging off the warehouse walls ahead of us. “Get the fuck back here!”
Vane’s bellow made my heart lurch into my throat. But then Knox and I flew through the warehouse doors, and Knox slammed them behind him. I barely registered two men surging forward and sliding a two-by-four through the handle. Shots kept firing inside. Vane slammed on the door, trapped inside.
“Get on my bike,” Knox ordered. “Stab me later if you still want to. Once we’re somewhere safe.”
I was too rattled to process this puzzling turn of events. Without arguing, I limped to his bike, barely able to swing my leg over behind Knox. As the metal beast roared awake, I leaned forward to wrap my cut-up arms around his waist.
I rested my cheek on his back and closed my eyes, glad none of the men could see me cry.
CHAPTER 9
KNOX
I hadn’t been in so much physical pain in a long time—or maybe ever. Whoever that bastard was watching Caroline, Bates hired him for a reason.
Definitely the biggest guy I had ever gotten into a brawl with, he was fucking huge. And he had multiple weapons on him. Honestly, it was a miracle I made it out, even if it was by the skin of my teeth at the expense of some bruises and cuts.