Provoke

“Yeah? If you have something else in mind, I’d love to hear it,” Mace growled. That was just it. I didn’t. Sighing, I shifted in my seat, wrapping my jacket tightly around my body.

Ben sniggered in the back, mumbling something under his breath. I could make out what he was saying, but I got the feeling he was enjoying our bickering.

“It’s just we’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Yeah, and I seriously need to piss,” mu

ttered Ben, hanging over the back of my seat.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re a guy, Ben.” I yanked my arm in the direction of the park opposite us. “Just run over there, and use a tree for God’s sake.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” he said. He jumped out of the car and disappeared into the darkness.

I stared out the window, trying to ignore the intense stare Mace was laying on me. I could feel his eyes burning into me. Turning around and acknowledging that would mean talking to him, which would probably end up in another argument about Ben and why I’d called him.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I jumped as his hand touched my thigh. Oh god. The feel of his hand I liked much more than I wanted to.

“I’m fine.” I swallowed, peering at the house, trying to pretend I was looking at something. Then I saw it. I blinked and looked again. Was I seeing things?

“Is that him?” I asked, pointing to the front of the house. A hooded figure walked across the lawn to the car parked in the driveway.

“That’s the same car he met me in at the roadhouse,” Mace said after a moment.

I guess that’s a yes, then.

“Here we go,” muttered Mace. “Where the fuck is Ben?”

I squinted toward the park, trying to spot him among the dense row of trees, but it was so dark, I had no hope.

“What do we do?” I asked, panicked as Luke began to back out of the driveway.

“We can’t lose him, Leet. He’s my one and only link to these guys.”

“We can’t just leave Ben here.”

“Don’t really have a choice.” Mace started up the car and drove off. I narrowed my eyes at him. He seemed way too happy about it.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I accused, retying my hair in a ponytail.

“Leet, if you’re asking me if I’m glad to be leaving your ex-fiancé behind to find his own way home, then yes. What I’m not happy about is following this asshole with you as my only backup,” he growled.

My mouth dropped open. Had he really just spoken to me like that?

I narrowed my eyes. Of course he had. This was Mace. He had done a lot worse than that before.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mace

From one of Melbourne’s best neighbourhoods to one of the worst. This was the kind of place I expected lowlife scum to live in. We followed Luke, staying back a few cars, to an industrial area on the outskirts of town.

“What are you doing?” Leeta screeched as I flicked the headlights off.

“It’s him and us in this street. Don’t you think headlights kinda make it obvious he’s being followed? And if he’s being followed, do you really think he’s going to stop?”

Besides, we were barely even moving. It’s not like we were at risk of having an accident.

She didn’t reply. We crept along the street, waiting for him to do something. Up ahead, Luke turned into a driveway. Bingo. My heart pounded. For the second time that day, I could smell victory.