Sweet Salvation (Ruthless Games 3)

“The priority right now is getting out of here. Getting you out of here.” Marcus’s grip on my hand tightens, and for the first time since Luca’s announcement, I hear a hint of emotion in his voice.

Fear.

Not for himself. For me.

It ramps up the fear clawing inside my own chest, the horrific feeling that the men I love are about to die in front of me.

I pick up my pace, and our footsteps ring loudly on the polished floor as we reach the front door. We step out into the quiet, cool night, and goose bumps rise on my skin.

“There.” Ryland jerks his head toward one side of the property, where cars are lined up in orderly rows.

We don’t wait for the valet to bring Theo’s around. Instead, he grabs his keys from the valet stand and we move toward the vehicle, finally breaking into a run as we near it.

Marcus practically shoves me into the back passenger seat before taking the seat up front next to Theo. Ryland climbs into the back with me, slamming his door shut as Theo guns the engine and peels out.

Both Ryland and Marcus suddenly have weapons in their hands, and I don’t know if they were armed beneath their suit jackets or if the guns were stashed in the car. It doesn’t really matter.

As Theo turns onto the street leading away from Luca’s house, I dig beneath the layers of my skirt, fighting against the centrifugal force as he whips the car around with dangerous speed.

My hand closes around the warm metal of the gun’s grip, and I pull it from the small holster. Just as I do, headlights flash brightly from behind us, lighting up the interior of the car.

“Fuck!”

Theo’s curse is barely out of his mouth before someone rams us from behind, making the car jerk forward. I don’t have a seatbelt on, and the force of the impact nearly sends me sliding off the seat. I scramble to right myself as Marcus fires out the window at the car behind us.

I can hear the metallic pings of bullets striking the other car’s frame, and the headlight beams fade in intensity a little as it backs off. A second later, more gunshots ring out, from the pursuing vehicle this time.

“Who the fuck is it?” Ryland shouts, grabbing the back of my neck roughly and forcing my head down.

“Dunno.” Theo curses again, turning the wheel sharply and making the car zig-zag wildly. “Maybe Michael. Cocksucker.”

The car jerks as whoever it is rams us again, and this time, bullets shatter the back window. Marcus whips around in his seat, firing through the now-open space. Glass cracks, and although I don’t know if he broke the windshield, I hope he at least obstructed their visibility. The roads are dark, not very well lit farther out of the city like this, and if we can blind them, maybe we can run them off the road.

But before I even have a chance to feel hopeful about that prospect, another engine revs behind us, its roar joining the first.

Gunshots ring out, and I feel a sickeningly familiar dropping sensation as one side of the car tilts downward.

Someone just shot out our tire.

Chapter 9

“Motherfucker!”

Theo cranks the wheel, trying to regain stability as we fishtail wildly.

Flashes of déjà vu almost blind me as I force my head up, ignoring the pressure of Ryland’s hand on my neck.

I know he’s trying to protect me, but I have to see. I have to help.

Another car has joined the one behind us.

They take up both lanes of the two-lane road we’re on, crowding us as Theo guns the engine again.

Our car is shaking, jerking every time the shredded tire rotates, and I know it’s only a matter of time before Theo loses control, especially at this speed.

I don’t know where we are. It’s not a part of Halston I recognize, and I think Theo drove away from the city instead of toward it in our attempt to escape. The road we’re on is narrow and straight, crisscrossed by other small roads.

Keeping my head low, I turn around in my seat and fire out the back window toward the car that’s behind us and slightly to one side. It’s Gabriel, I think, the other player with mafia ties. I wonder if the two men struck some sort of bargain to try to take us out together.