Ruthless Bastard (Dangerous Love 3)

Rhett glanced up, finding Boone’s determined gaze on him.

“And when we do,” Boone added, “I think you’re gonna need this.” He offered him a card in a brown envelope.

Rhett took the card. “What is it?”

Boone gave a soft smile. “To be honest, I don’t really know. It wasn’t mine to open when I received it. You’ll have to tell me once you open it.”

Rhett glanced down at the envelope, which was slightly weighted. The van hit a pothole, and Rhett hurried to slip the envelope into his cargo pants, zipping up the pocket.

The men across from Rhett suddenly sat up a little straighter, shifting their clothes and bulletproof vests and righting their helmets. They were close.

Not even a second later, the van pulled up to a large square warehouse. On the outside, there were no distinguishing features, nothing telling anyone what lay inside. Probably just how the Wild Dogs wanted it. Rhett let the Whitby team exit first and lead the way inside. They moved as a highly trained unit, and Rhett didn’t want to interfere with that.

In seconds, they blew out the door and triggered the alarm. The team rushed forward, and mere moments after that, the flash grenades were launched and immediately followed by rapid gunfire. With Boone behind Rhett and Asher at the rear, guarding the back, Rhett took the hallway on the left lined with offices. Each one he passed was empty. They’d studied the building’s layout, and Rhett wanted this hallway. Logic told him they’d keep Kinsley as far away from the main entrance as possible.

The gunfire got louder and closer together as Rhett closed in on a doorway at the end of the hall, which led into the open space at the back of the warehouse. Rhett burst into the room, his assault weapon trained forward. He scanned the room in a quick sweep. No one noticed their arrival, every man there focused on the SWAT team putting them under heavy fire.

Rhett moved then and said a silent prayer for their safety as he looked for Kinsley. A pulsating energy filled the room, like a beacon, calling him forward. She was there; all he had to do was find her.

A man suddenly jumped out from behind a cement post, and Rhett fired, the threat immediately removed. The gunfire became nearly deafening, but he kept on, needing to get to her. To keep her safe—to keep them both safe—like he’d promised.

Two more men stormed from the back, their guns spitting bullets. Rhett stayed behind the beam, keeping cover. He caught sight of Boone, hiding behind a large metal barrel. He held up his fingers and counted down: 3, 2, 1. Rhett spun and fired, taking out the first threat while Boone took out the other.

Rhett moved quickly, his gaze trained ahead of him, knowing that he had Boone and Asher at his back.

As he passed a sports car, his gaze flicked left. There, in

the corner, Kinsley sat with her head down, her hands covering her ears. Everything stopped for him then. Rhett wasn’t thinking at that point. He sprinted for her then slid on his knees until he had his hands on her. Alive…She was alive.

She jerked her head up, teary eyes wide with surprise and fear.

“Hold on to me,” he told her.

“I can’t,” she gasped.

He began to pull her away when he caught sight of the rope binding her wrists. He grabbed his knife from his leg and cut her free then helped her to her feet. “Stay close.”

“Yes, yes,” she cried, her legs barely supporting her.

Boone was there a second later. Once he was by their side, Boone spun around quickly, taking the front, his weapon ready to keep her safe. Rhett positioned himself beside Kinsley, keeping his attention on their left, and Asher closed in and took the back. He fired off two rounds, and Rhett knew that whatever threat was coming for them was now gone.

With a quick look ahead, Rhett saw three SWAT officers taking up position near the door they’d entered, clearing a path out. With a guy now on Rhett’s other side providing cover, Rhett grabbed Kinsley’s arm, keeping her close, and placed a hand on her head, covering her body with his as much as possible. Bullets rained down, and the noise ricocheted, making it impossible to identify where the gunfire came from.

On the way to the door, his foot slipped on blood, and he held Kinsley tighter, hoping she hadn’t seen the river of death on the floor. Boone went out the door first, with a SWAT officer in front. The door was right there, so damn close. Gunfire burst into the hallway. Instinctively, Rhett pushed Kinsley down and shielded her with his body.

When the noise silenced, he had her up again and moving swiftly toward the door. She didn’t belong in the middle of a gunfight. She was too pure. And this was too raw. Too real. His two worlds were meshing, and he fought to pull them apart.

Once outside, Rhett squinted against the sunny day, quickly guiding Kinsley toward safety. The van doors were still open. Boone stopped just before the doors, providing more cover. Rhett picked her up by the hips and hoisted her into the van, blocking her body with his. He lay over her until Asher and Boone jumped in the van, and the SWAT officer yelled, “Go!” He slammed the doors shut.

The van took off, squealing out of the parking lot. Rhett knew another van would arrive any minute to replace this one. But nothing else mattered except the woman lying next to him.

“Kinsley,” he said, helping her to sit. Her ashen face and dull eyes made his chest ache, and she shook violently. “Blanket,” he said to no one in particular, rubbing her arms, knowing exactly what she needed right now.

He wasn’t even sure who handed him the blanket. He simply wrapped it around her and brought her into his arms, holding her against his chest. Shock was a very real thing that happened to a body. Rhett had seen people take hours to come out of it. Boone’s hand came down on her shoulder, and Rhett dropped his head into her neck on the other side.

Safe. He’d almost lost her. He held on tighter, feeling her trembles get harder as a sob broke free.

“That’s it. Don’t hold it in,” he told her.