My pulse is going nuts as he grimaces and looks skyward, fingers thrumming on the dash. Any second, armed men could round that hill, and we will end up sprayed with bullets. Any second, we could die if I don’t get him to drive the car.
Chapter Twelve
ANA
I grab Luke’s arm and twist to look up at him, my body pressing quite intimately to his. Nevertheless, that’s not me playing a game. I can’t move anywhere but on top of him, with the band on our wrists. “I don’t want to leave you,” I say. “That was never, ever what I wanted. I don’t know what happened with my brother—”
He jerks away from my touch and cuts his gaze, staring out the window, but I don’t think he’s seeing anything but memories, and definitely not good ones. “I tried to explain, and you fucking shot me, Ana.”
“Luke, please. Drive. You came for me. You saved my life. I appreciate it and—”
“You appreciate it?” He laughs bitterly. “Right. Good. That’s sure the fuck what I want from you.”
“Can we please work through all of these feelings when we’re both safe? You said so yourself that we don’t have time to do this now.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He shifts into gear and sets us in motion.
Finally, I think, sinking into the cushion, but I’m holding my breath, waiting until we turn out onto the road. He cuts right, using his left hand almost as well as he would his right if it were free, maneuvering us from one lane to the next, with no bullets in our wake. Traffic is light, and I sit up straighter again, eyeing the rearview.
“We’re clear,” Luke says. “No one is behind us, at least not yet. I left Savage and Adam on foot. Pull my phone out of my front pocket.”
“I’m not feeling you up to get your phone,” I say. “I’m not doing it.”
“I’d rather you feel me up because you want to, but I’m one-handed, and I need that phone. I need to connect with my men.” He flicks me a look. “Or I can pull over. It’s not smart, but then I think we’ve proven we don’t make smart decisions together, so why break from the norm?”
He went from kissing me to resentment pretty darn fast, and it punches at me rather roughly. Actually, it downright hurts, but he’s also acting as if he’s hurt, like really hurt, deeply, and intensely—a man who was in love and then betrayed. Guilt and confusion collide and twist me into knots. This reaction fits the man I once called a sensitive yet deadly warrior. The man I loved. Not the one monster who destroyed my world and shattered my heart.
“I got it,” I say softly. “Your men aren’t safe on foot. Which pocket?”
“The one next to you. And they’re fine. They’re resourceful. Adam told me to take the car and save you. I’d bet on them over the other guys any day.”
I hope he’s right because my intent tonight wasn’t to get good men killed, and right now, I’m thinking Luke’s men are the good guys. I reach down with my free hand, feeling for his phone. His lips curve ever so slightly. “Stop smiling.”
“I’m not smiling.”
I grimace, forced to use the hand that’s connected to his hand. In the process, I pretty much end up holding his hand before managing to leverage myself on his leg and pull out the phone. And not without noticing the bulge in his pants. My gaze skyrockets to his, and when I want to shout my outrage, there is a part of me that is pleased that I can still turn him on. A part of me I don’t want him to read.
“Seriously?” I challenge.
“What can I say, sweetheart? I feel like I was just taken advantage of.”
“Good lord, did you really just say that?”
He ignores my remark and says, “My code is 7118. Call Adam on speakerphone.”
I quickly do as he says, but the call goes straight to voicemail. “Who’s next?” I ask.
“Savage.”
I try the number with his named assigned with the same results, and now I’m worried. “Go back,” I say quickly. “We have to go back.”
He pulls into the turning lane. “Dial Blake. He’s one of the founding Walker Brothers and my boss. If they called anyone, it would be him as a central coordinator.”
I’ve heard of Walker Security. Most people in law enforcement have. They're worldwide and work almost as an extension of our operations, without quite so many rules. How appropriate, Luke, or should I say, Lucifer.
I tap Blake’s name, and the call is answered on the first ring. “Talk to me, asshole,” Blake says. “Did you save your girl? Are you both in one piece?”
“I’m not his girl,” I say, “and we’re safe, but we’re worried about Adam and Savage.”