Page 31

RORY

“You’re like a damn fucking cat, Rory.”

Wade shoves me against the tree, and pain flares as my head smashes into the rough bark. Another wave of dizziness washes over me, along with a fresh burst of nausea. Bile rises in my throat. Terror wraps around my chest, suffocating my breath.

“Wade,” I wheeze. “Please. Don’t.”

His eyes narrow into slits, cold and menacing. “It’s too late for that,” he snaps. “Now that you know, there’s no going back. You have to die. That’s the only option.”

“Why?” My voice is wispy. Weak. Frightened. I don’t sound anything like the strong person I considered myself to be. “I don’t understand.”

Even if I were clear-headed, which I’m not—everything is still scattered and foggy since I hit my head on the car window—this still wouldn’t make sense.

Emily’s husband? Running me off the road? Hitting me? Tackling me in the woods? Threatening to kill me?

Why?

Why him?

Why me?

He’s been married to Emily for almost five years.

I’ve stayed at their apartment in Boston.

Spent Christmas together. And while I never really liked Wade all that much—he was too pretentious for my taste, and I always felt like he was silently judging me—I could never, ever have imagined him doing this.

Does Emily know? Is she involved?

She couldn’t be. Not my sister. She wouldn’t.

Would she?

Why doesn’t any of this make sense?

The throbbing ache in my head doesn’t come close to the wrenching pain in my heart.

Would my sister…

The tears I’ve been trying to hold back spring free.

“Why?” I repeat. A sob bursts out. “Why are you doing this?”

The gun Wade pulled from his waistband jabs into my stomach. “Don’t you know?”

I shake my head without thinking, and everything spins. Gray spots blink across my vision. “No. Just let me go. I won’t tell Emily?—”

Lie. If she’s not involved, of course I will. I’ll tell everyone.

Wade laughs, spraying spittle into my face. “Are you serious, Rory? Are you really that stupid? I always thought you were a little dopey, choosing to throw your money away on that pissant dog shelter, but Emily said you had an actual degree. I thought you had a few decent brain cells in there.”

His hand squeezes my neck, not tight enough to cut off my air, but enough to bring me to the verge of a panic attack. It’s too close to what happened in the woods, those horrible memories I can’t erase, the chilling sensation of life slipping away by the second.

Instinctively, I jerk against his grip, and he shoves me against the tree again. “Do you really think you can get away from me?”

Pinned to the tree with a gun pointed at my gut? A large hand wrapped around my throat? My head still swimming and my legs like jelly?

No. Probably not.

If Gage were here, though…

A terrified voice whimpers in my head, Where is Gage? Why isn’t he here? How long has it been since I triggered the alert?

And then, a more terrifying thought.

What if it didn’t work? What if I pressed the little button on the necklace wrong? What if I’ve been thinking Gage was on the way, but he’s still waiting back at home with no idea I’m in trouble?

Why didn’t I run faster? Why didn’t I find a better hiding spot?

Why didn’t I keep my breathing quieter while Wade was looking for me?

If I had, I might still be hidden. Wade wouldn’t have pounced on me as I crouched behind a cluster of bushes. I could have tried the necklace again and waited for Gage to find me.

“Just tell me what you want,” I plead, outright crying now. “Do you want me to leave you and Emily alone? Do you want money? What?—”

“Of course I want money!”

I try to flinch away as another spray of hot spittle hits me, but there’s nowhere to go. “I’ll give you money. How much?—”

“All of it.” Wade’s lips pull back, baring his teeth in a rictus of a grin. “And you’re not going to give it to me. That would never work. Not now.”

Cold realization sends ice through my veins. “What are you going to do?”

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re dead.”

But I do. If Gage is coming—oh, please, let him be on his way—I need to give him time. I need to do what those people in the movies do, make the killer talk, delay them until help gets there.

“Please,” I whisper, my voice quivering from panic and fear. “Maybe we can work this out. I’ll give you whatever you want. Just help me understand.”

Wade stares at me, indecision working in his gaze. The barrel of the gun presses harder into my stomach. Time seems to stop. My lungs cease to work.

Will he tell me?

Or kill me?

Then he chuckles. Air fills my lungs again.

“I guess I can tell you. But fast. I’ve got to get out of here before anyone spots the accident and gets the police involved.”

In the pause before he speaks again, I spot a flash of something in the woods behind him. But before I can try to identify it, it’s gone.

Gage? Could it be?

Please.

“I’m in trouble,” Wade says. “At work. No one knows yet, but I’ve been stealing from the company for months.

It was supposed to just be a one-time thing.

Just to cover the yearly dues at the club.

It was so easy, being in charge of the finances.

Move some money around, create some dummy accounts…

The plan was to put it all back before the yearly audit. But?—”

Another flash of movement appears off to the left. An animal? A branch moving in the wind? Or the help I so desperately need?

“But then Emily wanted to go to Cabo,” he continues. “And I needed a new car. A penthouse opened up in the building and we’d been on the waiting list for years. I couldn’t turn it down when they offered it to us. So I had to keep taking money from the company.”

“But you have money,” I whisper. “You and Emily have good jobs. And the trust from our parents…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Wade barks out another harsh laugh. “The money Emily got from your parents is gone. It’s been gone for years. Unlike you, she doesn’t get free money every year. She’s not a millionaire like you.”

“It’s not free money!” I know I shouldn’t argue. But the very idea of that money—the blood money—being free of any burden is utterly ridiculous.

“Do you work for it? No!” His hand tightens around my neck again. “I know how much money you have. Emily told me. Millions banked for your fucking dogs. And nothing for your sister. Nothing for me.”

“I would have helped,” I start.

“Really? You would have handed over a million dollars without question? Without talking to Emily about it? I don’t think so.”

“She doesn’t know?”

“Of course not. Do you think I’m crazy?”

Well. Yes. But I don’t say that. I just give him a tiny shake of my head.

“She doesn’t know. But if I don’t figure out a way to get the money put back by the end of the year, I’ll get caught. The company auditor will discover the missing funds. Then I’ll lose everything. My job. The apartment. My car. The club. Emily will leave me. I might even go to jail.”

In the trees just behind Wade, maybe thirty feet back, a branch moves. Not from wind, but something bigger.

A person?

Hope and fear crash into me at once. If it’s Gage…

But I can’t let on that I see. Can’t let Wade suspect anyone is here.

Please, let it be Gage and not just my imagination playing tricks on me.

“I got the idea after you were shot at,” Wade says, in an almost conversational tone. “I got it out of Emily that if you died, all your money would go to her. And that’s when I realized. It’s the perfect solution. Kill you, and all my problems are solved.”

“But she’d know. That you’re spending the money on?—”

“She wouldn’t know,” he interrupts. “Broken-hearted Emily, crushed by the shocking death of her sister. I’ll step in to take care of things, of course. And I’ll make sure she never knows. And before we know it, everything will be good again.”

“So.” Wade grins at me, his expression shifting from bland accountant to a merciless killer.

“Now that you know, it’s time to get on with it.

” He removes the gun from my stomach and points it at my head.

“It’ll be so tragic. Some psycho runs you off the road and kills you.

No motive. No evidence. The rental car will show it’s registered to a man who doesn’t exist.”

Another movement in the trees.

And then the glimpse of a face.

Not Gage. Enzo. As he raises his arm, light glints dully off metal.

His features are like stone.

Hope kindles in my chest.

If Enzo is here, Gage must be, too.

“Any last words?” Wade asks. “Not that I’ll tell your sister. But?—”

“Put the gun down. Now!” Enzo’s voice is sharp. Commanding. Dangerous.

Wade’s head whips around. His hand holding the gun dips. “What the—” He stops. His jaw sets. “No! I’m not putting it down. Back off! Before I shoot her!”

Enzo advances towards us, the hand holding the gun still outstretched. “The police are on the way, Wade. Let her go.”

“No!” Wade’s gaze darts between Enzo and me. “I won’t. You can’t do anything or I’ll shoot her, anyway.”

“I was in the Army,” Enzo says. “Special Forces. And I trained as a sharpshooter. If you try anything, I will shoot you. And I guarantee I won’t miss.”

For several seconds, it’s a standoff as Wade and Enzo glare at each other.

But Gage? Where is?—

Then a figure erupts from the trees in a blur of motion. Not from the front, where Enzo is, but behind us.

Gage!

He launches himself at Wade with a roar of pure fury.

I only catch glimpses of Gage’s face as he wrestles Wade to the ground, his arms and legs a flurry of movement. But I can see the rage in his eyes. The stony determination in his features. The absolute confidence he has in his skills.

If I wasn’t so shellshocked, I might even consider it sexy. My hero, my protector, rushing in to save me.

A beat later, I remember the gun.

“The gun!” I shout in a panic. “Gage! He has a gun!”

But before my words are completely out, Wade shrieks in pain.

Gage’s fist slams into his face. “You fucker! How dare you!” His fist crashes down again. “You fucking hurt her. Scared her! I should kill you!”

Enzo rushes over and snatches the discarded gun off the ground. Then he says in a low, controlled tone, “Gage. I can take care of him from here.”

Gage’s head raises, his features contorted in anger. His arm jerks back, poised to slam into Wade’s face again.

Then he looks up at me.

Everything in his expression shifts.

His anger dissolves.

Worry and fear take over.

Springing up, he practically shoves Wade at Enzo.

As soon as Enzo takes over, Gage rushes to me, pulling me into his arms. He buries his face in my hair, his breath coming hot and heavy against it.

“Shit, Ror. Ah, shit.” He’s shaking all over.

His heart is racing, beating hard enough for me to feel it.

A trembling hand cups the back of my head.

“Ah, shit, baby. Fuck. I was so scared. I?—”

Then he jerks back, his gaze moving across my face. The instant he sees the spot where I hit my head, he grimaces. “Oh, baby. You’re hurt. How bad is it?” He carefully touches my forehead, worry darkening his eyes. “Are you dizzy? Nauseous? Shit. You might?—”

He looks over at Enzo. “Rory’s hurt!” Desperation laces his voice. “Where’s Ronan? I need him now!”

“Almost here,” Enzo replies. He finishes zip tying Wade, giving the ties an extra tight yank for good measure as a grim smile spreads across his face. “Any minute now.”

“Ronan’s right behind me,” Knox announces as he runs towards us. He’s holding a gun, but he lowers it as he takes in the scene in front of him. “Well. I guess you didn’t need my help for this.” He glances at me, concern written all over his face. “Are you okay, Rory? The accident?—”

“Her head,” Gage interjects. He hugs me to him again. “Rory hit her head. She needs to go to the hospital. She could have a—” He cuts himself off. Touches my chin, tilting my head up to look at him. “Baby. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

My head hurts. Fear and adrenaline are coursing through my body. Just like Gage, I can’t stop shaking. And the shock of Wade’s betrayal doesn’t feel real.

But Gage came.

He protected me.

He’s here.

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “I think it might be a concussion, but that’s all. He didn’t?—”

“Your neck,” Gage groans. Guilt ravages his face. “Oh, baby. He hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I hug him back, squeezing as hard as I can. “I’ll be okay. You came. Just like I knew you would.”

Gage’s gaze meets mine, emotion working in his eyes. “Ror, baby. I will always come for you. But I should have gotten here sooner. You shouldn’t have been hurt.”

“It’s not your fault.” I touch his cheek. “And it’s going to be alright. Let’s just—” My voice cracks. “I just want to go home.”

“Oh, baby.” His eyes close. When they reopen, they’re damp. “Hospital first. And then we’ll go home. Watch Too Cute . Cuddle all day on the couch with the dogs. Anything you want.”

A lump rises in my throat. “I just want to be with you.”

Lips press to the top of my head. His arms tighten around me. “That’s all I want, too.”