Page 24 of Burn the World Down

I leaped.

I hit her, and wrapped my arms around her body. I turned midair.

She fought me, twisting and struggling.

I landed on my back, the air rushing out of me. She landed on top of me and cursed. Then she turned into a she-devil, jerking and fighting. She rammed an elbow into my gut.

I rolled and pinned her to the dirty pavement. Nearby, a streetlight illuminated us in a pool of silver light. I grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.

She snarled.

That’s when I realized her hair was askew.

My brow creased. Not her hair. She was wearing a wig.

Blonde hair peeked from under it.

With one hand, I yanked it off and blonde waves spilled everywhere. Now I was close, I saw that her eyes weren’t brown like they were in the casino security photos earlier. She’d obviously been wearing contacts and had taken them out, because now her eyes were hazel—a beautiful blend of green and brown.

Everything in me froze—my muscles, my heart, the air in my lungs.

No. It couldn’t be.

“Georgie?”

CHAPTER 8

GEORGIE

Icouldn’t breathe.

Partly because the man on top of me was heavy as hell, and partly because he knew my name.

I stared into his face. That hard, rugged face.

And piercing blue eyes.

My lungs locked. “Nathaniel?” My voice was the faintest whisper. My gaze ran over him. “Nash?”

I’d found him.

He released me, and in a swift move, pulled me to my feet. I kept staring at him, a wild mix of emotions storming through me. My throat closed.

In this hardened, tough man I didn’t see any sign of the boy I’d known growing up.

“It’s you,” I whispered. “It’s really you.”

He was staring back like he didn’t know me. “It’s me. I go by Nash all the time now. Nash Oakley.”

He’d changed his name. I suddenly felt cold. I had no idea what to say.

A part of me never truly believed I’d find him.

He reached out and I flinched.

He hesitated, then gently touched my face. A fierce scowl overtook his features. “You have bruises around your eye.”

My hand whipped up. Crap, my makeup must’ve smudged off. I took a step back.