Make Me Up (Killer Style 3)

“Drop me off at the nearest Greyhound station.” She rubbed her upper arms. “I’ll catch the first bus out of town. I can’t let you risk your life for me. I thought you’d died back there and it was my fault.”

He almost slammed on the breaks in shock. “But I didn’t, and I promised I’d see you out of this fucked up situation I created.”

“You didn’t make this mess. They’ll find me again. It’ll never end.” She shrugged. “I need to get the hell out of here before I really do get you killed.”

It was bullshit. Total bullshit. He switched lanes and went around the slow moving sedan and then hit the gas. “What happens to me doesn’t matter. All that’s important is getting you safe, then I’ll get out of your life for good.”

“After everything we’ve been through and the other night at the hotel, you think leaving me as soon as this is over will make me safe?” Her words boomed in the SUV’s vast interior, part accusation and part question. “If so, you’re a bigger asshole than Diamond Tommy.”

Forget target-guided missiles, there was nothing that could inflict damage with as much precision as she did. And it pissed him off. There was nothing about the two of them together that was easy, but that didn’t make it any less right.

“Yeah, I do.” He hooked a right turn onto Fergus’s street and slowed down enough to meld into the normal flow of traffic. “I’ve spent most of my life running—first from home, then school, then to the Army and the hostage rescue crew.” His voice rose with each word until he was full on bellowing. “You’re the first person who ever made me want to stay, but all I do is hurt you.”

It wasn’t until he’d yelled the words that the truth of it hit him. He loved her. That was why it had been different with her. That was why he couldn’t stop chasing her, no matter how many obstacles she put i

n his path.

Drea snorted, but there was no missing the moisture gathering in her eyes. “Bullshit. What did you tell me in my kitchen? To live to fight another day. Well we did, and if you want to blame someone, blame Tommy.”

His entire body ached. This was not how it was supposed to go. This was not the plan. “This shit with Diamond Tommy ends today. That’s all I know.”

She didn’t have a quick answer for that. Not that it made Cam feel any less miserable.

They approached Fergus’s building, the silence in the car like an ever-expanding balloon filled with poison that was about to pop at any second. It pressed against his chest and made it hard to breath.

He slowed as they neared. That was when he spotted the tattooed man who looked like he’d tangled with a grizzly bear and lost.

“Oh, shit.” Cam slid into an open parking spot. “That guy should be down for the count.”

Drea looked around. “What?”

“Isaiah Knight just went into Fergus’s building. He’s gonna kill him if we don’t get there first.” He’d fucked up before by not letting others in on his plan. He wasn’t about to make that mistake with Drea. “You ready to end this?”

His world hinged on her words.

She reached for the door handle, refusing to look at him. “Past ready.”

They rushed across the street and into the building right as the first in a line of speeding patrol cars turned the corner.

They reached Fergus’s door in time to see it shake as something inside the apartment was thrown against it. A low moan snuck through the crack under the door. He had to get in there now. It wasn’t that he cared what happened to Fergus, but he couldn’t save Drea if Knight killed the butler before he had a chance to confess. For the plan to work, they had to keep Fergus alive until the cops were there to hear the butler’s confession.

He turned and grabbed Drea, pulled her into a kiss that contained all of his regret for missed opportunities. He didn’t expect to come out of this unscathed. No doubt, Knight was nursing a well-deserved grudge against Cam right about now. Pulling away from her sucked, but if he didn’t, they’d be running for their lives forever.

“Don’t die yet,” Drea whispered.

“Don’t worry about me, babe.” He stole one last barely-there kiss. “I always figure something out.”

He rammed his foot against the door near the doorknob. Pain rattled his bones, but the door didn’t give. He planted his feet, then rushed forward and hit the oak with everything he had. It flew open.

Chaos reigned inside. Broken glass littered the floor. Side tables were turned over. The couch sat at an odd angle.

Knight had one hand wrapped around Fergus’s shirt, holding him upright, the other hand cocked back for a punch.

“No, please,” Fergus begged. “No more. The police are on their way.”

Cam rushed inside, ready to rain down misery on Diamond Tommy’s thug. Knight had other plans. He whipped around and half tossed, half pushed Fergus into Cam’s path. The butler crashed into Cam, throwing him off balance. Cam righted himself, but not before Knight had put the cockeyed couch between them.

Cam ignored the butler cowering on the floor and turned his full attention onto Knight. “I knocked you out once. I can do it again.”