Page 64 of Pretty Little Trigger

CHAPTER 63

Kaden

FOUR MONTHS AGO

“Kaden, is the money in yet?” Samuel’s oily, slippery fucking tone cuts through the warehouse like a bad taste.

He’s been unhinged lately.

Probably using again.

Fucking idiot used my real name.

What is this, amateur hour?

I shoot him a death glare that stops him mid-step.

He falters. “Sorry,” he says, inaudibly.

I ignore him. My eyes are on her.

Alana.

She’s slumped in the chair, fabric bag over her head, wrists bound, ankles too.

Her head tilts forward, but then it shifts.

She’s waking up.

I move toward her before I can stop myself.

Like I’m being pulled.

My hand lifts and finds her chin.

I touch her, even though I shouldn’t.

Soft. She stirs under my grip.

I breathe her in.

Samuel moves behind me.

I drop her chin.

“The payment’s not in yet. Should me and the boys take her for a little ride first? See how hard it is to break a diamond?” he says, holding the burner phone in his grip.

Samuel has a fucking death wish tonight.

She starts struggling, of course she does.

And it’s that moment that makes pride spike in my chest.

“Oh, we’ve got ourselves a little fighter, don’t we?” Samuel says.

I remain still, because if I move, I might do something I regret.

Then Samuel strikes her across the face.

And that’s when I almost kill him.

I grab his hand in one solid motion and a growl escapes my lips.

But before I can murder him, the payment notification sounds on the burner phone in his other hand.

“Too bad,” Samuel says and walks away.

I hear the softest sound, like a muffled inhale.

I should back away. I should let the plan run its course.

But I don’t. Because I’m a weak man.

A reckless one. And I need to be close to her.

So I lean in, just an inch away from her ear.

“Looks like Daddy just saved his little princess.”

I whisper it, low and close.

The second I say it, I know I’ve fucked up.

I know I’ll regret it.

But I still don’t step away.