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He wanted to go after him. To kill him. To make him pay. He reached down to Lexi, yanking the Ruger from her cold, trembling hands.

He made the mistake of glancing at her as he did it, though, and then he paused. The red haze of his hatred faded enough so he could see her hunched on the cold pavement, holding her chest with one hand and gasping for breath. Her eyes were wide and swimming.

He heard the van door slide open. Damn. No doubt White had other weapons in there. He crouched down, spotted the pill bottle, which had rolled out of the bag, grabbed it and rapidly shoved a pill between her lips.

He stuck the gun into his jeans, bent to grip her under the arms and helped her to her feet. Their supplies were scattered and there was no time to gather them all. He grabbed the duffel as he opened the car door and slung it into the back seat. “Get in, Lexi. Quick!”

She crouched and snatched something else off the ground, then scrambled across the front seat into the passenger side.

Romano dove behind the wheel. The van was already coming toward them. He jammed the car into gear, spun the tires and they sped out of the parking lot and into traffic.

All the while, one hand was elbow deep in the console.

He found what he wanted, a little cocktail for his pal, Mr. White.

He anchored the bottle between his thighs, worked a lighter from his jeans pocket, flicked the flame to life and touched it to the cloth.

Then he chucked the Molotov cocktail right out the back, through the missing rear windshield.

It smashed onto the pavement and exploded.

Cars skidded every which way, and traffic came to a complete halt.

“God, you’ll kill someone!”

“Just light and noise, and it served its purpose.” He nodded at the van, which was blocked by other vehicles due to the chaos he’d caused.

Then he changed lanes and passed everything ahead of him. But even when the mess was far behind, he didn’t let up on his speed. He wasn’t taking any more chances with White. He couldn’t afford to make another mistake.

Some miles later, finally confident of their escape, he glanced over at Lexi. She sat still, her pupils still dilated, her face flush with color. Her panting had eased, so apparently that pill had kicked in.

His photo was on her lap. Wendy and the boys, smiling and beautiful. All he had left of them, really.

A horn blew, and he jerked his attention back to the highway and swerved into his own lane, but his mind was going back over their escape. She’d grabbed something off the pavement before scrambling into the car. His photo. Why?

He looked at her again, keeping one eye on his driving this time. She was shaken up, that was for sure. “You okay?”

Her answer was a vague nod. She licked her lips. “Did … did I hurt him?”

“White?” The question surprised him.

“Did I hurt him?”

“You missed by a mile, Lexi. But you got our asses out of a tight spot, That was quick thinking. You did all right back there, for a rookie.”

She closed her eyes, lowered her head. “I went into arrhythmia and almost passed out.”

“You kept your head and used your wits. Not too many people I know could have done that with a killer a foot away and a heart racing out of control.”

“I was looking for my pills. I found the gun by mistake.”

Romano frowned, wondering why she was so determined not to take any credit. “Did you fire it by mistake, too?”

“No.”

“No. You didn’t save my photo by mistake either, did you?”

She said nothing for a long time.

“Thank you,” he said at length.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was almost normal. “What happens now?”

He sighed. “I’ve been thinking on that. They know where the safe deposit box is. Saw that receipt, same as I did.”

“They don’t have the key, though,” she said. It lacked conviction.

“Neither do we. I dropped it through the storm grate in the parking lot the second I felt his gun barrel against my neck.”

“On purpose?” He nodded and she frowned even harder. “Why? Why throw it away after you went to so much trouble to take it from me?”

He looked at her quickly, trying to read the emotion in her eyes. She was still showing mostly fear, though, and it camouflaged everything else. He was impressed all over again that she’d managed to save their asses while being scared half out of her mind.

“I apologize for kissing you like that. White was watching. I could feel him, and I didn’t want him to see me take the key from you. It … was the first thing that popped into my head.”

Yeah, right. If he was honest, he’d admit kissing Lexi like that had popped into his head several times since they’d been thrown together.

But he’d never imagined her response would be pure, mind-blowing desire.

Hell, he hadn’t imagined what her response would be, because he’d had no intention of giving in to the urge.

She’d turned to liquid fire in his arms, and he’d almost forgotten all about White and vengeance and finding the formula and saving the world. When she’d moaned in a deep, throaty voice, and opened her mouth to him, and raked his hair with her fingers …

“Don’t ever do it again,” she said softly, her voice somehow strong as steel despite its underlying waver.

And for some reason, that offended him. “Yeah, I could tell you really hated it.”

Her eyes widened and she stared at him as if he’d turned into a spitting cobra. Hell, he kind of had. “All right, I won’t lay a hand on you. Feel better?”

She looked away, staring straight ahead. “Why did you throw the key away?”

“To keep him from getting it. Not that it matters now. White knows where that box is, and hell itself won’t stop him. Even if we manage to get there first, he’ll be there, waiting. They’ll take us out the second we step out of the building.”

“Then … then it’s over? We’ve lost?”

“Not by a long shot. I’m good at what I do. One of the best. I’ve just gotta figure out how I can get to the safe deposit box first, and do it without getting my head blown off. Simple.”

He looked at her, and he knew the second he saw her face that there was more. Something she hadn’t told him. Guilt clouded her brown eyes, and she gnawed her lower lip.

“What?”

She cleared her throat. “I can’t let you risk getting shot when …”

“When …?”

“There is no safe deposit box in New York."

“What the hell do you mean? I saw the receipt.”

“There was once, but I closed it after my father died.”