Page 36 of These White Lies

With my boots hammering on the concrete steps and my anger pulsing in my ears, I remember how her voice cracked when she asked if I remembered.

I do. I remember everything.

I should’ve kept my damn mouth shut. It wasn’t the right time.

Still, this isn’t a fucking game. She needs to accept that.

Shoving through the stairwell door, I emerge into the lobby, chest tight. We don’t know what the threat is, and she is taking unnecessary risks because of pride.

Isn’t your pride why you said something? Would you have goaded another client that way?

You wanted her to remember you.

Asshole.

Glass doors swing out into the thick press of the humid Georgia evening. I see her striding into the empty parking lot toward my car.

Fucking hell. Couldn’t she have at least waited inside?

I’m two steps from the doors when I see the figure rushing up behind her, and I explode into action, racing toward them.

“Elizabeth!” I roar, sprinting across the asphalt.

The screech of tires drowns my shout as an SUV with a door open, stops in front of her.

Oh. Fuck. No.

Elizabeth is fighting hard, twisting and kicking, doing her best to slow them down.

Hang on, baby. The words echo in my head as I reach for the weapon holstered at my back. I can’t risk a shot because the bastard is pressed tightly to her side.

Another hooded figure bursts from the vehicle, but my target is the asshole with his hands on her. I reach the struggling pair first, and Elizabeth lets out a scream that causes a red mist to coat my vision.

I slam into the man dragging her toward the open vehicle, forcing him to loosen his hold, my shoulder driving into his ribs hard enough to lift him off the ground. Elizabeth falls free and stumbles, but I don’t have time to check if she’s okay.

My fist connects with his face twice, and his nose cracks. He grunts, staggering back, but I don’t let him fall. Grabbing his shirt, I yank him in and ram my knee into his gut before shovinghim toward his friend. He knocks the other man sideways before crumpling to the ground, giving me the opportunity I need.

A sharp palm strike to his throat causes the second man to drop his knife, choking.

A knife?Really?Amateurs.

I send him reeling with a hook to the jaw, then duck as the first guy recovers and comes in swinging. Countering, I pivot inside his reach and land two clean shots to the ribs. He drops like a stone.

“Let’s go!” The driver yells and revs the SUV’s engine as the office complex’s security car pulls into the lot. The flash of headlights distracts me for a second, and I curse when the distraction allows the assholes to scramble up. One detours a few steps and slams into Elizabeth before diving into the SUV.

She gasps, a look of shock on her face, and her eyes meet mine. For one long second, our gazes hold, and then her knees buckle.

“Elizabeth.” I catch her before she hits the ground. Her whole body is trembling.

“What the hell is going on?” I hear a man’s panting voice reach me and look over my shoulder to see the security guard has gotten out of his car but is keeping a wary distance from us.

“Get a plate!” I shout at him before returning my focus to the woman sagging heavily into my side. “I’ve got you.” My arm locks tight around her. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

The SUV’s tires screech as it peels out, back tires fishtailing across the lot before it disappears.

“Holy shit,” Elizabeth whispers.

“You’re okay now.”