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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ROYCE

“Please don’t be dead.”

My head is spinning and my entire body aches as I dangle from a seat belt, but that’s the only thought going through my mind as I glance over at Gia.

There’s smashed glass from the jagged branch tearing its way through the windshield, but none of it seems to have made it to her. That’s a relief, but it doesn’t stop the rest of the worries circling around.

She might be injured in some other way.

She has blood trickling down the side of her face from a cut on her jaw. Tiny cuts cover her arms from the broken glass, making her look like she’s been through a battle and come out on the other side.

Except she’s not answering me.

With a groan, I reach over and shake her shoulder. “Gia, baby, come on. You need to wake up.”

She groans as the slam of car doors echoes down the side of the hill to us.

My heart squeezes tight in my chest as I wriggle around, reaching for the release on the seat belt. Pressing down, I wait for the inevitable fall from my seat and onto the roof of the car, but it doesn’t come.

Jammed.

Glancing around, I see the knife near some of the broken glass. Little shards snag the tips of my fingers, the pain like needles being driven beneath my skin.

At least Bianca is safe with Skyla.

My fingers wrap around the hilt, pain screaming in my shoulder from stretching at an odd angle. I grit my teeth, slicing the knife through the seat belt and bracing.

The thud my body makes as it collides with the roof is nothing compared to the glass sticking to my skin.

With ringing ears and the knife tight in my hand, I shove against the door, hoping it opens. The door barely budges, but there’s movement. I slam my shoulder harder into it and the door gives just enough.

As I wriggle out, the scent of smoke wafts toward me. Thin curls escape from beneath the hood as more doors slam on top of the bank.

Shit.

I round the car quickly, trying not to slide on the ice. Gia is still unconscious and upside down, her arms hanging loose around her head.

Her door doesn’t budge as I grab it and try to force it open.

Going through the window is going to be a tight fit, but it’s the only option I have right now. The smoke is growing thicker, and I can hear the men moving through the trees.

“Come the fuck on,” I mutter as I grab a branch and break out the rest of the glass from the window.

Blood continues to trickle down the side of Gia’s face, wetting her hair. I swallow hard, trying to keep calm as I lie on my back and crawl inside. She’s breathing as I shift beneath her, positioning her head over my chest the best I can to break her fall.

As I reach up and slice the seat belt, gunshots ring out, but they aren’t close. Not enough to hit us at least, but it’s only a matter of time until they are.

I ease Gia down as gently as I can, breaking her fall before gently positioning her to the side. She moans, eyes squeezing tighter shut.

“We’re going to get out of here, baby.”

I wriggle my way back out of the car before reaching in for her. My stomach lurches as I drag her through the broken glass, knowing that she’s going to be cut up and bleeding more by the time I get her out.

One of the men whistles in the distance. “I see the car!”

Gia whimpers as I haul her out of the car while flames start to flicker against the hood, licking at the metal and melting the snow around us. She shifts in my arms but she’s still not conscious.

My heart seizes in my chest as I get a good look at the jagged cut on her forehead. It doesn’t look bad, but I don’t know if any other damage has been done to her body either. The airbags might have damaged her ribs when they deployed, and I would be amazed if she doesn’t have at least a little whiplash.

Footsteps crunch in the blanket of snow, branches snapping beneath someone’s boots.

I get to my feet, lifting Gia even as my shoulder protests. She’s limp, nothing but dead weight, as I carry her deeper into the forest where the trees get a little thicker.

Though I don’t want to leave her, I don’t think there’s going to be much of a choice.

As I set her between two trees, a third at her back, her eyelashes start to flutter against her cheeks.

“Come on, baby,” I say as I kneel and pull the gun out of the holster around my calf. “You need to wake up. Open your eyes for me, okay?”

Her bottom lip moves a little, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet it.

I check the magazine on the gun before putting it in her lap and closing her hand over it. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“I hate when you say that,” she says, her voice raspy as her eyes open a little.

Laughing, I lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. “The men chasing us are in the forest now too. If anyone comes near you, shoot first and ask questions later.”

She tilts her head to the side, slumping back against the tree. “I don’t know.”

My brows pull together as I cup her face in my hands, checking her pupils to make sure she’s reacting normally. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Gia. Just shoot whoever shows up.”

Her inhale is ragged before she forces herself into a sitting position, pulling her head away from me. “Just give me a second.”

“You’re not going to try and get up. You’re going to stay right here, and then you’re going to shoot people. You hear me?”

She clears her throat, coughing from the smoke that’s weaving through the trees. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re right. You’re going to stay right here, and if I don’t come back in the next ten minutes or so, you’re going to call Skyla and tell her to arrange for someone to come get you.”

The look Gia gives me could freeze a man in his tracks. “You don’t get to leave me either.”

As she tries to get her legs beneath her to stand, I take off into the trees, leaving her behind. There’s no way that she’s in any position to chase me, and even if she manages to stand, she’s never going to be able to keep up.

The only way we’re going to get out of this is if I can kill the men before they get to us.

My footsteps slow as I listen for the men, their soft whispers carried on the wind, though I can’t make out what they’re saying.

A long shadow casts across the snow as I shift behind the trees, reaching for the gun on my hip.

I flip the safety, finger around the trigger as I raise it in front of me. If I was a smarter man, I would’ve grabbed the silencer, but we were running out of time. Getting Gia out of that car alive was more important than giving my position away to Noah’s men.

Taking a deep breath, I try to still my racing heart, glancing around for the men before moving behind another pair of trees, rounding the backside of the accident.

Two men stare at the car, their backs to me and their guns raised. I press close to one tree, glancing around the perimeter to make sure the others aren’t close. Based on the voices I heard, there have to be at least four men in these woods, but I would guess it was closer to six. Noah has a history of sending his men out in pairs to deal with problems.

Aiming, I squeeze the trigger, the bullet sinking into the back of the taller man’s head.

The other dives to the side as I fire off a shot at him, his low groan giving him away behind a nearby bush.

I creep closer, staying behind the trees.

A fist connects with the side of my face, sending me stumbling back a step, the gun slipping from my hands.

Before I can grab it, there’s a man on me, another fist smashing into the side of my face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth as I bite down on the side of my cheek.

“Noah’s been looking for you.” The man chuckles as he drives his knee into my chest, keeping me pinned beneath him as his hands go for my throat.

I thrash beneath him, throwing him off just enough to make him lurch forward.

Smashing my head into his hurts like hell, but it breaks his nose, the sickening crunch filling the air. He jerks backward and I use that as my chance to shove him off me before rolling to the side and grabbing my gun.

I take quick aim at his head and shoot, the bullet sinking into his eye.

Two more men come barreling through the trees at me, their guns raised. A bullet clips me in the leg as I roll to the side, taking aim at the one who tried to shoot me.

One gunshot after another cracks through the air, both of them going wide and sinking into one of the trees as I scramble to the side, trying to get out of their range.

The pair advances, one splitting off into the trees while the other continues forward.

Getting to my feet hurts like a bitch, but I stand and dart around a tree, aiming at the third man and squeezing the trigger. The bullet sinks into his chest. He staggers back a couple steps as I take one shot after another.

When he falls, the fourth man emerges from behind the flames licking up the car. The rest of the forest is too wet from the constant snow and freezing rain to catch fire, but it’s all starting to melt, the ground a mess of blood and mud.

The man slips, throwing his arms out to the sides to regain his balance, and when he does, I take my shot.

Four men down.

And that’s when I hear the scream that chills the blood in my veins.

Gunshots follow as I surge through the trees, trying to get back to Gia. My heart pounds in my chest as I scramble over a fallen log, following the footprints back to her.

Another shot fires, pain exploding in my arm as a fifth man steps out from behind the trees, the only obstacle left between me and Gia.

The man raises the gun but before he can shoot, Gia appears like an avenging angel behind him, her gun pressed to the back of his head. She pulls the trigger, not flinching as blood hits her face and the man stumbles forward.

She slumps back against a tree as the man sinks to the ground.

Her eyes are lifeless as she looks up at me. It’s like she’s gone numb. Blood trickles from the corner of her mouth, mixing with the nearly dried trail coming from the cut on her forehead. A deep purple bruise that wasn’t there when I left is now high on her cheek.

“I think my cheekbone might be fractured,” she says, breathless as the color comes back to her face and tears well in her eyes. “There’s another man I killed over there.”

I tuck the gun back into my holster, listening for a moment as I approach her. No other sounds come through the woods. No heavy footsteps or car doors slamming up on the bank. There aren’t any people whispering to each other or trying to sneak up on us.

Kissing the top of her head stills some of the restlessness in me. “We’re safe now.”

Her fingers brush close to the bullet wound in my bicep. “I don’t know if you’re right about that.”

I cup her face in my hands, brushing away the tears, careful not to press against her bruise. “I was terrified that I lost you.”

Gia’s bottom lip quivers, more tears mixing with the blood. “I didn’t think we were going to make it out of there. And you’re hurt. We can’t keep doing this, Royce.”

“We’re not going to.” I kiss her softly, the salt from her tears mingling with the metallic taste still in my mouth.

She leans into me. “I just want all of this to be over. I want to go back to forging paintings in peace and not worrying about whether or not my brother is going to kill my daughter.”

“He’s not going to get to Bianca.” I hold her tighter, ignoring the pain coursing through my body. It’ll all be over soon enough, and then we can start living the rest of our lives.

I already let Noah get away once—though that was a mistake—and I’m not going to let him leave again.

“We have to call Sean to come get us.” I pull back from her, taking my phone from my pocket.

The phone rings for so long I think he might still be leading Noah’s men away, but then the call connects.

“Where are the two of you?” he asks, his tone gruff. “Aiden said you should’ve been close to Vermont by now.”

“We were run off the road and attacked. Both of us are injured, the car is on fire, and there’s six bodies to clean up.”

“I’ll send a cleaning crew and someone to pick you up. Send me your location.”

The call ends and I send our location to him before walking with Gia up to the edge of the trees that line the road, waiting for the car to roll up.

Gia sits down beside me, not caring about the snow and mud that soaks through her pants. “This is a nightmare.”

“It’s all going to be over soon, and everything will be okay.”

She looks up at me as a car stops in front of us. “Can you really say you believe that?”

No.

“I don’t have any other choice.”