Pretending She's Mine

“As soon as the door opens I’m going out,” he whispered. “If something happens to me, back up will be here in less than ten minutes. I’ve already triggered the Westbrook Securities alarm.”

“Ten minutes?” I panicked. I knew it only took two seconds to fire a gun. Ten minutes was an eternity when waiting for help. “Don’t go out there,” I begged. “Don’t leave me again.”

His eyes locked on mine. “I have to. I don’t have a choice. You can survive. I know you, Journey. You’re strong. You’re vibrant. You can survive this. If you do end up outside the car, you need to listen to me.” He paused. “No matter what, stay away from Claire. The longer you avoid her… just keep moving. Don’t get in her line of fire.”

“She’s here?” I creaked.

He nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t think there’s any other reason the car detoured. She has to be behind it. I’m operating under that assumption right now. You know she’s armed. You know she will shoot. Keep her safe, Dante.”

The door opened and Asher hurdled himself forward, stepping over my back and throwing Dante out of his way. The door slammed behind him. I wanted to pull him back in and be the one to shield him from whatever was out there. He was strong and fast.

Dante and I huddled together. I couldn’t hear anything on the other side. I’d never regretted a decision so deeply before. The selfishness of my actions hit me like a smack in the face. Why was I determined to go to the awards dinner? Why did I put my spotlight moment ahead of our lives? What if something happened to Ashe? What if he died because I wanted to eat gourmet mousee and drink French champagne with Meryl Streep? I buried my face in my hands.

“Oh God,” I whimpered.

“He’s going to be ok, babe,” Dante whispered. “We’re going to get out of here. You’re not going to miss your first awards dinner. No way.” His teeth chattered, but I squeezed his hand.

I didn’t care about the awards dinner any longer. I just wanted Ashe back in one piece. I wished we were still in Big Bear in bed. Or fighting over who made the best pasta sauce. We should be anywhere but here.

“Just hang tight, babe. I’ve got you,” Dante repeated.

I didn’t know Dante had a heroic bone in his body, but I was glad it had decided to kick in right now.

I nodded, holding his hand. We had to make it through this. I hadn’t found Asher just to lose him to a crazy ex-girlfriend.

Twenty

Asher

I tumbled out of the car as quietly as I could. The engine still ran, muffling the movements I made. I crawled on all fours toward the front passenger door. I peeked through the window to see Rick lying unconscious in the seat. He was slouched forward. Fuck. I hoped he was still alive. It was then I saw the needle sticking out of his neck. I presumed everything that happened was because of Claire, but I was trying to assess how such a small graceful woman would have been able to overpower him.

How long had she been in the car? I tried to calculate when the last scan of the vehicles had taken place. When had she been able to infiltrate the drivers’ check of the cars? How was it possible? The plan was secure. Locked down. What the fuck had happened?

I turned as I saw her walking around the rear of the car. I only had half a second to scramble out of view. I rounded the hood and charged along the side. I had to get to her before she opened the back door.

She wasn’t expecting me to pounce like a jaguar.

“Arrr,” she wailed.

“Stand down,” I ordered.

Claire lost her breath for a second when I knocked her to the pavement in the surprise attack, but as soon as I rolled off her she pointed a gun at me. I was ready to shoot. But we were locked in a target battle. Who would shoot first?

“Claire, what are you doing?” We both eased off the pavement, standing slowly. “Why are you doing this?”

I hadn’t had much time to obser

ve where she had driven us, but I knew we were behind a warehouse. We were still in Hollywood. Westbrook Securities pinged our location. I just had to keep her talking for nine more minutes before my backup arrived. They were on the way.

I still had no idea how she had hijacked Rick, but it didn’t matter. She had pulled it off. The other cars had gone in different directions and we were here alone.

“Are you starting to take me seriously now, Asher?” She tilted her head to the side. She was dressed in black, wearing form-fitting pants and a long-sleeved shirt. There was nothing as obvious as the yoga shirt Tristan had recalled.

“I always took you seriously.” I lowered my hands, keeping the gun at my side. I could tell she wasn’t ready to shoot. She had too much to say to me. Lying was my best option. Stalling her with conversation was the only way to keep everyone here alive.

“I wish that were true.” She kept both hands on the gun.

“It is. I’m taking you very seriously right now. You’ve made your point. I was a dick. I fucked up. I should have been more honest about my intentions. I’m sorry for that. I am sorry.”