Page 112 of Seduction

“Ellen vouched for him.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that. Crow and Motor are three minutes out with two vehicles. Let’s get her home, brother.”

Ellen tucks her face into my neck, warm tears dripping on my skin. I hold her tighter, vowing to find Briggs and end him, no matter the cost.

“I got you, Ellen. I got you.”

By the time we walk out of the building, the two vans pull up. Gage opens the back doors to the one closest to us and I set Ellen down in a sitting position. Cradling her face in my hands, my eyes slide over her. Her cheeks are tearstained, eyes red, skin grimy, but no cuts or bruises.

“Did they hurt you?”

“No.” She shakes her head to drive the point home. “I just… my breasts hurt.”

I quickly call Darren, asking him to meet us at the clubhouse. Gage tosses the man in the back of the van while the other brothers head back to the building to work on cleanup.

The screech of a vehicle’s tires has me twisting to face the building. A truck comes barreling from the rear. Everyone pulls their weapons, firing at it. The driver swerves, forcing Venom, Razor, Crow, and Motor to dive out of the way. Tek, Rico, Charger, and Allah are closer to us but have to take cover to avoid bullets now coming from the truck. They race toward our vans, spraying the truck with bullets. Allah goes down, and I know he’s been hit.

Ellen.

I turn back to her, using my body to shield her. She’s the only one who matters. The fear in her eyes is too much for me to bear. I tuck her face into my chest, hoping the guys get the driver. As I wrap my arms around her, red-hot pain burns into my shoulder, then my arm, pain radiating throughout my back.

I’m hit.

Silence ensues.

“Get him out of the truck!” Gage’s voice booms through the quiet, sounding slowed down and far away.

“Jon?” I pull back, seeing Ellen through double vision, staring at the blood on her hand in horror. “Jon!”

She joins me when I fall to my knees, clutching my head and laying it on her lap.

“E!”

Gage appears over me, searching my body. They say when you’re dying, your life flashes before your eyes. Mine does, but it’s not my past; it’s the future I could have had. With Ellen. Marriage. Children. Growing old with each other, sipping lemonade on our porch swing while our grandchildren play in the yard. I killed for her. I took a bullet for her. When it came down to the wire, her safety, her life was more important than my own. In the last moments of consciousness, I experience a sense of clarity like I’ve never felt before.

I love Ellen Hunter.

Too bad it had to take me getting shot to realize it. I need to tell her before it’s too late.

“You’re going to be all right, Jon,” she assures me as two men transfer me to the back of the van. She kneels over me, face inches from mine.

“Ellen….”

“Just hang on. Don’t leave me, Jon. Not you.”

“Ellen….”

“What is it? Tell me, baby.”

“I love you.”

CHAPTER 20

***Einstein***

I wake up lying face down on a flat surface.

“Ellen….”