Page 38 of Bound By Betrayal

Gunfire still boomed around us, but the vent acted like a vortex, making it impossible to guess where the threat was coming from. Our only option was to keep moving.

I shot a glance at my watch. Not a single message had come through since my last text to Derek.

Don’t you fucking die on me, D.

16

Icursed as I sent three more messages to Derek, but every single one went unanswered.

“Kai, we have to keep moving.”

“I won’t leave without my brother.”

She stopped and crawled toward me, a hand on my neck. The filtered lights streaking in from the vents highlighted her beautiful brown eyes. “No one said anything about leaving.”

“I want you to go.”

Her laugh was cynical. “I think you’ve got me confused with someone else. Holly is up there, probably dead.” She sucked in a breath before continuing, reeling in her emotions. “I know how you feel right now because she’s like a sister to me. And Iwon’tlet what happened here slide. Whoever did this knew we were coming. So that means we either have a rat in our ranks, or our connect betrayed us. Either way, they die. The more creative, the better.”

Her lipstick was smeared, her skin covered in dust and streaks of mascara, but I’d be damned if I’d ever seen anything more beautiful. I swept my thumb over her lip. “Has anyone evertold you how goddamn sexy you look when you talk murder and mayhem?”

While the world fell apart, being in her company somehow helped ease the grief I felt without news from Derek.

“You just have a way with words, don’t you?” With one last half smile, she crawled forward toward the grates of what could potentially be an exit. Considering our situation, I knew indulging in how her ass swayed from side to side and the alluring vision of her crawling on all fours was wildly inappropriate. Still, we could be dead inside of fifteen minutes, so why the fuck not.

“How much ammo do you have left?” she whispered.

Through the thin slits, I could make out three men, all equipped with automatic rifles. One slip-up, the slightest noise, and all they’d have to do was spray in this direction, and we’d be done.

“We’re outgunned. By the time we kick this open, they’ll be on us.”

“Not if I go out first.”

“Fuck that. No.”

“I’m flattered you care so much, Cain. But I’m not exactly asking, so you either help me or watch them take me. Those are the only two options.”

I grabbed her by the shoulders. “You don’t know who they are or what they want. You’re goddamn gorgeous, vicious. But that means nothing right now. They weren’t exactly being too selective earlier when they shot up the place.”

Her expression hardened, and she tugged her shirt up over her head and tossed it, which left her in a black lacy bra barely covering her nipples.

“Again, I’m not asking.”

I gripped her arm, eyes on the swell of her breasts. “Is this what you normally wear for these occasions?”

She flashed me a grin. “Antes muerta que sencilla.” (I’d rather die than be basic.)

A flare of possessive heat rolled through me as I thought of how those men would lust for what was mine.

Yeah, she was fucking mine.

But I knew nothing would stop her from following through with her plan. I huffed a resigned breath and pulled her closer, my other fist in her hair. “If something happens to you…”

I smoothed my thumb over her nipple and felt it harden under my touch. “Be careful out there. You owe me, remember?”

“I’m glad you have your priorities straight.”

“Always.”