Page 30 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

nineteen

trouble

“Peggy!” I shout when she answers the phone. I weave in and out of traffic, trying to be careful to avoid the police.

My arm throbs and blood drips onto my lap from my arm wound as well as the steering wheel from my fucked up hand, but I didn’t have time to add more than a ripped piece of my shirt to staunch the bleeding. I’m not sure if whoever was running towards the alley is behind me or not.

She hears the frantic tone in my voice. “What is it? What happened?”

“The job. It was fucked up. Someone was there.” I pause as I slow down to take my exit, glancing in my rearview mirror to ensure I’m not being followed.

“Someone was there?” Peggy asks, sounding confused. “What do you mean?”

“The same couple I told you about. They tried to kill me. The woman is dead. I took her out. It’s The Void, Peggy. She called me Viper.”

“What?” I hear furious typing on the other end of the line, Peggy cursing every now and then.

“I’m checking all of my systems and can’t find them or a jacket on you.

Although….Let me check something and I’ll get back to you.

In the meantime, you need to get away from wherever you are.

It’s only a matter of time before they locate your hotel if they haven’t already. ”

“Where?” I take a sharp turn and the GPS blares for me to make a U-turn. If someone is tailing me, I need to shake them off. When I check the rearview mirror, I don’t see anyone, so I let up off the gas and take the directions the GPS reroute me to. “I don’t have anywhere set up in this country.”

“Don’t worry. I have somewhere. I sent the address to your phone, along with the necessary code for the safe house. Get there as soon as you can.”

After the shit that just went down with The Void, I don’t trust them or anyone that works for them.

I start to say as much, but Peggy cuts me off. “Knox, I’ve known where you were since you touched down. If I was in on them getting rid of you, I would have sent you straight into an ambush. It’s not easy in this business, but you can trust me. I’m more vested in you than The Void.”

I know she’s right. In all the years she’s been my handler, Peggy has been nothing but straight with me. In the business we’re in, it’s rare to have friends, but Peggy is mine. It might be foolish, but I trust her.

“Okay,” I say on a sigh. “Okay. I trust you.”

“Thank you. Now get to the safe house as soon as you can. It should only be about forty-five minutes from your hotel, but it’s secure and no one knows about it.

It’s basically impenetrable and it has an escape hatch.

I’ll send you all the schematics so you know where everything is.

It has everything you’ll need—food, water, first aid kit, firepower, cash, cars.

You’ll be good. Just…be safe, yeah? I can’t lose you too. ”

My throat tightens as I pull up to the back of the hotel, turning the car off. “Yeah, I will. Thanks, Pegs.”

“I’ll be in touch, handsome.” Then she hangs up.

I quickly plug the directions to the safehouse into the GPS so when we’re all packed up, we can just go. It’s probably not the smartest thing, coming back here, but I have to protect my boys. Any time we spend sitting in one location is too long.

Exiting the car with my gun in hand and at my side, I race through the back entrance, taking the service elevator up the second floor, then the stairs up to the third. Before I step into the hallway, I peer around the corner, making sure no one is around to jump out at me.

Once I’m sure no one else is in the hallway, I jog on quiet feet to our room, swipe the keycard against the lock and enter as quietly as I can.

I quickly race into the room, grabbing my bags from the floor. My boys don’t stir as I quickly stuff shit into bags and pull out an extra clip for my gun.

“Wake up,” I shout, shaking them both by the shoulder.

They startle awake, looking at me with sleepy eyes. Talon is the first to register me. He sits up quickly, looking me over as fear creeps into his eyes. “Knox! What happened? You’re…you’re bleeding!”

He knee walks over to me, touching my face and my arm, making me hiss. Javier turns on the bedside light, alarm clear on his face. He gasps as he looks at my still-bleeding hand.

“I can’t talk right now,” I say urgently. “You two need to get up and pack. Now. We don’t have much time.”

“What’s going on?” Javier asks, pulling his shirt over his head. “Where are we going?”

“Not now. Please just?—”

“Knox, talk to us.”

“Just pack your shit! Now!” I yell, my patience snapping at their lack of urgency.

But what do I expect? I come into the room looking like hell and expect them to leave without question?

Fuck! I’ve never done this before. I’ve never worried about anyone like this. I’ve never been this on edge, worried that I’ll lose them because I pulled them into my world.

They didn’t ask for this. They thought I was a normal guy, a safe guy. Someone who wouldn’t put their lives in danger because he’s too selfish to let them go.

Talon’s face crumples at my tone and a hard look crosses Javier’s as he steps closer to Talon, wrapping him in his arms.

No. No, they can’t be afraid of me. If they’re afraid, they’ll leave me. I need them.

Cursing, I sit heavily on the bed and pull them to me. No one was following me, so I have a little time to explain as much as I can, but not much.

They come to me, but reluctantly, making my heart squeeze. I have to fix this. I’m not sure how, not when they’ll find out who I really am. But right now, if it keeps them safe, I’ll do what I need to do.

Ignoring my wounds, I wrap my arms around them and look between them as I say, “I had a job tonight that went wrong. Now some people are after me. I have to keep you two safe. So please, pack your things so we can go. I need…I need you both safe, okay?”

Talon searches my eyes, panic shining back at me. Javier’s expression matches his, but they’re not running from me, so I think they’ll at least let me get them to a safe place.

“Okay,” Talon says. “Come on, Javi. We’ve been living out of our suitcases, so there’s not much we have to grab.”

“Thank you,” I say softly, wanting to kiss them, but I know my face is a mess and I don’t want to mar them with my violence. “Go on. Be ready in five minutes.”

Javier grabs Talon’s hand to lead him out of the room. “We will.”

I let out a long breath as they exit, the aches and pains of my body scream as the adrenaline wanes, and I feel every bit of the beating I took tonight.

But I can’t sit for too long. If I do, I don’t think I’ll get back up.

Pushing off the bed, I head to the bathroom to take a look at my face.

“Shit,” I murmur as I take in my reflection.

My lip is swollen, blood trickling down my chin.

There’s a cut on my cheek that’s slowly leaking and one of my eyes is swollen, already bruising underneath.

My nose is the only part of me that came out relatively unscathed.

I grab a cloth and wet it, mopping myself up as best I can. There’s not much I can do until I get to the safe house and fix myself up.

After I toss the cloth into my bag to take with me, I look down at my hand. It’s still bleeding, but not as much. Thankfully, I pulled the blade straight out, so I hopefully there won't be any lasting damage.

I pull up the sleeve of my shirt and hiss at the burning pain. When I check the wound, I see that it’s a thin slash, but the small wound is probably deceptive. I know I need medical attention to make sure it didn’t affect anything vital or some shit, but I can’t afford to do that right now.

The fucking Void is retiring me. Now it makes sense why The Director didn’t speak up about me telling him I was done. He was thinking the same thing, just in a different way than me.

When this is over, I’ll get his ass. There’s no universe where I won’t get my lick back. And The Director will feel it.

“We’re packed,” Talon says, stepping into the bathroom. “Shit, Knox. You need?—”

“I’ll take care of it when we get out of here. Okay?”

He looks at me, clocking my injuries. Pursing his lips as if to keep himself from commenting further, he nods.

I take his hand in my uninjured one and scoop up my bag in the other, gritting through the pain.

Javier is waiting by the door for us. “Take his hand,” I tell him, grabbing their bag in my injured hand as well. My palm screams in protest. I need my uninjured hand free for my gun.

When they see it at my side, both men look at one another, fear evident. “Don’t worry,” I say, trying to ease them, even though my injuries have the opposite effect. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“We know,” Javier says, though I can see that he wishes he were anywhere but here.

Sighing, I open the door and lead them out, shaking my head when they look at me in confusion when I push them towards the stairs.

We take them down to the second floor quickly, then I lead them to the service elevator. When we’re inside, I adjust our bags, ignoring the blood I feel trickling down my fingers.

Once we’re on the bottom floor, I hustle them to the back exit. When I push the door open, I tell them to wait as I step out and hurriedly put our bags into the trunk. I look around, checking for any signs of danger. When I’m sure we’re alone, I go back for them, hustling them into the car.

“Knox,” Talon whispers, lip trembling as he gets into the back seat. Javier slides in beside him. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you when?—”

The back window shatters, breaking the silence of the night. Talon screams and ducks, burying his head in Javier’s lap.

“Both of you, get down!” I shout, looking for where the shot came from. In the split second I have to react, I realize it’s from a smaller caliber weapon, not the rifle from earlier.