Page 51 of Blind Devotion (Letters of Ruin #1)

“Anyone have eyes on the women?” I asked over the comms.

A Russian aimed at one of my men. I took the shot, hitting him dead center between the eyes. The crack of the gun echoed in the night.

“Let’s wrap this up,” Erel’s voice grated in my ear, meaning Franc had signaled police were on their way. But this was an old-style little farm in the middle of the countryside, so we had some time.

While a couple of my men were licensed by the French government as armed bodyguards, the rest of us were carrying without government approval, which meant a five-year prison sentence at least if we were caught, closer to fifteen since shots were fired.

I didn’t give a damn. No matter what, I wasn’t leaving without Tessa and Alizé.

“Rurik. You’re on my turf. It’s over,” I yelled, then pressed on my ear comm. “Michel, take out their car batteries. Let’s make sure they can’t get far. Erel, take a team and circle around back.”

“Boss, up top.”

My eyes followed. Tessa and Alizé stood at the edge of an outer doorway that led to nowhere on the second floor.

“What the hell are they doing?” I tapped my headset. “Erel, we found them. Keep the Russians occupied.”

Another volley of gunfire ensued, followed by a whoosh of flames near the back of the barn. Fuck, that was not what I meant by keeping them occupied. With the dry weather of late and the amount of wood and fodder around, the whole thing would burn and collapse in no time.

Alizé leaped off the ledge.

“Shit,” she yelled in the air. She landed atop stacked rows of cylindrical hay bales covered with a tarp. Tessa stayed at the edge of the door, gripping the frame on both sides.

I ran to the side of the barn, my men covering me as a few Russians broke out of the burning barn. My men picked them off, one by one, clean shots.

Erel’s voice crackled in my ear. “Cops six minutes out.”

“Anything on Leontyev?” I snapped.

“Bastard’s still inside. It’s your call, boss.”

I gritted my teeth. The longer we stayed, the greater the risk for everyone to get caught, Tessa and my sister included. There would be another opportunity. “Get to the vehicles.”

The fire had spread a quarter through the roof already. The longer Tessa waited, the more likely a beam would fall.

“Jump, Tessa.” Her head snapped in my direction. The artery in my neck throbbed as I extended my arms up to her. “Jump, it’s not far. I’ll be right there when you do. Jump now.” Still, she hesitated.

The blaze heated one side of my face. The fire overhead crackled and popped, sending flaming embers onto the tarp.

Sweat trailed from my forehead to chin, and not only from the heat.

If Tessa didn’t jump soon, the entire pile of hay would go up in flames, her only escape with it.

If she couldn’t do this, I would go in there, bullets and jail time be damned.

“Tessa, listen to my voice. You can make it. The hay is less than two strides from the door. Just push off hard and straight, and you’ll get there.”

“Promise?”

“I’ll be there to catch you. Always.”

Tessa nodded shakily and closed her eyes, readying to take the leap.

She took a few steps back and hurtled out of the barn, arms swinging.

The courage it took to trust me with a blind jump like this made me more in awe of her than ever before.

Her scream was short-lived, puffing out of her as she hit the hay bales.

I scrambled to pry her off the piles while police sirens wailed in the distance. My hands rushed over the back of her head, down her spine, over her breasts and stomach, before quickly inspecting her arms and hands.

“I’m not hurt,” she said softly.

I kissed her brief but hard, then wrestled her against my chest, her nose to my collarbone, my cheek to her hair. She was alive. She was whole. She was healthy.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again.”

“It’s not like I planned to get kidnapped.”

“Hey, where’s my hug?” Alizé griped.

“Get to the fucking car.”

My sister was smart enough not to argue as I picked Tessa up by her waist. The hay bales were fully aflame now, sending thick dark-gray smoke curling into the air.

“Legs around me. Arms around my neck,” I ordered with urgency. She obeyed, and I sprinted for our nearest vehicle. “Keep your head down.”

If bullets went flying, they’d hit me, not her. Never her again.

“I can run, you know.”

We both knew she was more than capable, but right now wasn’t the time to get slowed down by anything. Especially when I needed the feel of her body against mine—warm, tangible, and alive—to keep my agitation at bay. I almost lost her, and that was sending my desire to keep her close into overdrive.

Out of our five vehicles, two were already pulling out.

Red and blue lights flashed in the distance, and the sirens blared.

Our time was almost up. We’d have to cut through the grassy fields.

Erel sat in the front passenger seat of the furthest vehicle, directing the remaining men between his car and another.

He aimed and shot at one last Russian who darted out of one of their broken-down cars and made a run for the fields.

The moment Tessa and I reached the back of my SUV, he nodded and shut his door.

“Go,” I yelled the instant Tessa, Alizé, and I were safely in the back seat. All three of our vehicles peeled out of there as quickly as possible in a cloud of dust and debris. Another vehicle departed, headed further south. Not one of ours.

Our vehicle jolted over the uneven terrain, avoiding trees, but I couldn’t let go of Tessa. Instead, I buckled my seat belt over us both, her straddling my lap.

“Adrien, let me sit.”

“No.” I grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her forehead to mine. “You could have died.”

“That’s par for the course for us.” Her fingers combed through my hair, and I leaned into her touch.

“Not anymore. Never again. You’re not permitted to die.”

“Get a room,” Alizé grumbled beside us.

“I can’t lose you, Tessa.” My lips burned into hers, marking their territory. “It’s us or nothing at all.”

The car swerved hard to avoid a wooden fence and then again around a large oak tree, forcing us all sideways. I caught Tessa’s head with my hand before she hit the window.

“Careful,” I barked at my driver.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Are they following us?” Tessa asked, gazing over my shoulder in the direction of the blazing barn. The fire glared back; it was so bright. Its orange color spilled into the vehicle from the rear window, along with flashes of red and blue. How much could she see from her left eye?

“No, doesn’t look like it,” Alizé replied casually. “Too busy with that fire right now. Carry on, you two.”

I glared at my sister. “You couldn’t find your own damn car.”

“Yes, because your need to frolic was my biggest concern between gunshots, fire, and the police.”

“Hey.” Tessa caressed my cheek, pulling my attention back to her. “We’re alive.”

I squeezed her tighter to me, her green eyes shining with the firelight. Between the white scar within her right iris and the scars around her eyes, she looked like a fierce warrior goddess of old times. My goddess. No one else would ever compare. She was unique and perfect for me in every way.

“You’re everything to me.”

“I need more than pretty words from you. I need you to talk to me. I need you to be truthful and open.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“No more hiding from me. No more omissions or lies about us. We do this, we do it openly. Can you agree to that?”

“Yes.”

There was this urge to ask her to be mine again, to wear my ring and bear my name, to demand it of her. I held off, shoving my possessive beast deep down as it snarled at me to trap her in this with us. We would talk first.

“Good. I’m still mad at you though.” Her head nestled against my chest as she yawned. “Take me back to the hotel, please. I need some rest before my audition tomorrow.”

The car veered off the field and onto a thin country road.

I had to control that urge again. Rurik Leontyev was still loose.

The snaky fuck probably escaped the police, and if he didn’t, he still had reach.

We should be going home to Saint-Tropez, where I could guard her better, but this audition meant so much to her.

I couldn’t deprive her of this now, after everything she had gone through.

“I’m staying with you.”

She kissed my chest over my dress shirt. “I’d like that.”

My entire body ignited. Damn my sister for being in the back seat with us. “You’ll be escorted there by me and four guards minimum. No arguments.”

“Whatever you need, love.” She practically purred the word as she nuzzled my neck and yawned again. “Just don’t let go of me while I sleep in the car.”

My arms tightened around her as she drifted off to sleep. I’d never let her out of my arms again if she asked it of me.